To Judge or Not To Judge
This is a question that many of us are rather confused about
from what I have seen. Some believers are becoming afraid
of being seen as judgemental and other believers are using
this word as a weapon against fellow saints who are holding
fast to standards and righteous living. Let's look at what
God says about judging. First of all, yes, God says not to
judge other people...in that we shouldn't be going around
pointing our finger at other people's failings while
ignoring and living in our own sin. That is just pure
hypocrisy and is what God has always abhorred. We see that
that was a big failure in the Pharisees of Jesus' time.
However, does that mean we are never to address sin?
Are we to never go to a brother in Christ who is sinning and
talk to him about it? Of course it doesnt. If you will
remember the passage about taking the mote out of your own
eye? The entire passage is as follows:
Matthew 7:3..."And why beholdest thou the mote that is
in thy brother's eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let
me pull out the mote out of thine eye;
and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam
out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out
of thy brother's eye."
Look at the last verse in this passage. Doesn't it say we
will then be able to see clearly to help our brother? None
of us will ever arrive at that point where all of the beams
are out of our own eyes while we are here on earth. BUT as
we grow in Christ there are some sins that we can overcome
through Him. That means that older, more mature believers
will have overcome some sins and will be able to help
younger believers overcome those things. This is not
judging, this is helping the brother or sister in Christ to
grow more Christ-like.
I've seen people who call themselves Christian be pretty
mean to each other sometimes. To the best of my knowledge I
have strived at all times to be loving in my dealings with
anyone, saved or not. Please, think before you call someone
judgemental. Remember that by saying someone is being
judgemental you yourself are making a judgement. Sometimes
that term is warranted, at other times it isn't. I have had
believers interrupt my attempts at witnessing to take sides
with the unbeliever in calling me judgemental. There are
times when the lost need to realize that they are indeed
lost and to realize the magnitude of their sin and the fact
that it is against God. So remember, before you call
another believer judgemental use discernment. Is this
person repeating what God said? or is he making up his own
rules and trying to force them on other people?
Links to other sites on the Web
Get your own Free Home Page