Are you an advocate or an accuser?

Mister Rogers inspired millions with his childlike faith, love and trust in the goodness of others. “How could he be so kind?” many have wondered.

Amy Hollingsworth, author of “The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers,” commented in an interview on Beliefnet

Probably the central tenet of his faith and the theme of the Neighborhood is just the idea of loving your neighbor. When I asked him who is your neighbor, he said, whoever you happen to be with at the moment. So right there, there’s no loophole—that means we have to love everybody.

He said, once you realize that everybody’s your neighbor, you have a choice. You can either be an advocate or an accuser. An accuser is somebody who only sees what’s awful about themselves so they look through those eyes and look for what’s awful about their neighbor. An advocate is somebody who looks through the eyes of God at their neighbor and sees what’s good about that person because they’re created in God’s likeness. That’s a very simple, basic truth, but to live that out in our daily lives is tremendously difficult.

The words, “An accuser is somebody who only sees what’s awful about themselves…” jolted my attention. Paul wrote similarly in the book of Romans,

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

I asked myself, “If I see awful things in others, does that mean I am seeing awful stuff in myself?”

This is not cool. Mental red flags started to wave. A whole new view of how to view judgementalism surfaced in my thought.

I concluded that anytime I see something bad in another, I’m really saying I need to quit seeing the same bad in myself.

Last night I played tennis with someone who got very down on himself when he started to lose. I was dismayed, and a bit angry, at his sinking attitude the nearer we got to the end of the game. It was not good sportsmanship.

This morning I realized that I allow the same type of demoralization to occur in my own thinking at times when I perform poorly. I judge myself harshly for not doing as well as I’m capable. I don't get upset with others, but with myself. “This needs to stop,” I proclaimed.

After reading Mister Rogers’ comment about objectifying into others what we see in ourselves, I decided to quit getting down on myself, no matter how much I need to improve. I must always be a mental force for positive, uplifting, unconditional, nonjudgmental healing love. I need to be a consistent advocate for the good person God created me to be, and not let the accuser of mortal mind fog my view by pulling thought downward into error.

Each of us can choose what side we’re going to take today—the role of advocate or accuser.

Which side shall it be for you?