"I know I shouldn't judge, but..."

Today in GD, I was sitting in an overly cramped room listening to a very boring lesson delivered by an at best average teacher. I was making a mental list of mistakes that she was making, both in teaching style and doctrine (like hurrying through the material, asking rhetorical questions, failing to ask class members to read, etc.). My opinion of her was only further trashed when she gave as an introduction to an anecdote the quote titling this post. I tried to help with comments, but was only faced by comments from other class members that demonstrated their own ignorance and bigotry. And then I realized something: I am really hard on GD teachers that aren't me. For someone who touts the importance of non-judgment, I felt pretty hypocritical.

I began to think of why I was being so hard on her. I think that it's probably because in a church that gives its members so much help in learning how to teach, there is no excuse for shoddy teaching. We have many resources available ("Teaching - no greater call", suggestions at the beginning of each lesson in the manual, good examples, training meetings, etc.) and as such, members who don't take advantage of these resources are, "lazy and slothful servants."

However, after a bit of soul-searching, I realized that I should not judge them so harshly. I don't know her background, I don't know if she's shown improvement from the first lesson she ever taught and I don't know if she's nervous or intimidated by the class. So, I should just be understanding and do my best to get what I can out of the lesson. If I don't, karma (or whatever you want to call it) will come and get me and I'll be a crappy teacher.

Then I came to and the lesson was over. Crap.