Judge Me....Judge Me Not

I've been thinking about this post for quite some time. It seems like it is something people struggle with - the "Judge Me....Judge Me Not" idea.  It seems that this topic isn't just a problem with non-Christians, but also with Christians.  So, let's have a look at the scriptures and see what they have to say about judging others. 

This scripture is probably the most quoted of all when it comes to judging others.  Christians use it as a way to not get too involved in the lives of others and non-Christians use it in defense of their sinful lifestyles (not sinful by "my" standards or by "your" standards, but by the standards of God....lined out in His Word.)

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

But, when you read this passage carefully, you will see that it is not saying that we can not judge, but that by the same measure we judge others, we will also be measured.  In other words, if I judge and condemn others, but yet fail to look at the sin and problems in my own life, then I'm being hypocritical and will be judged severely. 

Those who cry out, "Don't judge me!" are, in fact, judging the person they are crying out against!  Have you ever thought about that before?? So, "Judge Me Not" isn't really that simple, is it?

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

Romans 2:1-3

We know that God is the ultimate judge of our souls.  Even Jesus didn't come to judge, but to save. There is no disputing that fact.  His Word plainly teaches that God will judge the hearts of everyone.  He will judge our motives.  He will judge our actions and our deeds. 

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.  God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Romans 2:5-8

Other scriptures tell us to judge others very plainly.  When telling others about Jesus and how He died on the cross to forgive them of their sins, we are pointing out the need for Jesus.  We are pointing out sin in their lives (and hopefully recognizing it in our own lives.).  The judgement that God's Word tells us to pass on others is the judgement of those who are already professing to be Christians.  Read the following passage:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Paul is writing here - being inspired by God - and he is saying that those IN the church should judge those IN the church and not those on the outside.  Is that shocking to you?  Why in the world would Paul/God suggest such a thing?  Isn't what I do my business?  Isn't it true that "no one can tell me what I can and can not do?"  "No one can tell me something is right or wrong!"  Well, it appears that that is, indeed, what Paul/God is saying.  So why?

If a Christian sees a brother or sister in Christ sinning, it is his Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with his sin.  However, this is not judging (or shouldn't be) in a condemning way, but rather pointing out the truth.  Pointing out sin and pointing out the truth strives to reach the ultimate goal - of bringing repentance in the other person and to restore them to the fellowship of God. (Remember sin seperates us from God.  Repentance is what brings us back to God.  The blood of Jesus will continually cleanse us when we have a pentinent heart.) We are to speak the truth in love and proclaim what God's Word says about sin. We are to judge the sin, but always with love toward the sinner. The goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences - the Lord Jesus Christ and He must be the motivation that brings us to the realization that it is our responsibility to talk to our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Another reason it is important that Christians judge sin in the lives of others is because when Christians are continuing in sin, they are being hypocritical.  The world is seeing someone who professes to be a Christian, yet sees no evidence of a changed, transformed life.  Why would anyone want to be a Christian if the example they see is no different than their own life?  Full of sin and full of despair?

"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

John. 7:24

So, in reality, we can and do judge others, as long as we apply the same standards to ourselves and knowing full well that God will use the same standard on us.  We can and should judge others when it comes to sin in their lives and in regards to their salvation.  Hopefully and prayerfully, we want others to judge us, too.....so that sin in our lives might be pointed out and taken care of quickly.

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

On this Gratituesday, I am grateful that God is the ultimate judge of my life, but also grateful for those who love me enough to let me know when there is something in my life that needs to change....according to His Word and not man's opinion. 

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Splinters and Planks

Isn't it amazing how something so small, such as a splinter, can cause so much pain?  I mentioned the other day that a few of our kids had a stomach bug.  Well, I'm beginning to think it was more like a flu, and although I never got really sick, it made me feel "yuck" most all day yesterday and part of the day today.

Last night after getting home from three basketball games and not feeling too good, I sat down on our bed to rest for a little while.  I really was planning on getting up in a little while, but instead I fell asleep.  Around midnight I woke up and put on my pj's and noticed my big toe hurt.  Here it is - midnight - and I have felt "yuck" all day (head, stomach, stuffy nose) and my big toe hurts!  It felt like a splinter.  I hobbled around and found a straight pin and searched for the tiny splinter.  It was so tiny all I really saw was a little speck, but I got it out and by this morning the pain was mostly gone.

Sitting there trying to get that splinter made me think about the scripture Matthew 7:3-5:

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Just like that little splinter became my focus last night, in the midst of those other seemingly more disturbing ailments, we often-times notice the little faults in others and neglect to see the bigger faults in ourselves.  Why do you suppose we are that way?  Is it because we don't want to see our own faults?  I think that most of the time that may be the case.  If we can find faults in others, we can build ourselves up.  We can think more highly of ourselves.  Our pride gets in the way of truth.

When we act this way, this scripture points out that we are being hypocrites.  And, I've mentioned before that the word hypocrit literally means to wear a mask.  We're putting on a front - putting on an act - pretending to be something we're not.

None of us are perfect.  We all make mistakes.  Splinters hurt our physical bodies for a short time.  A big "plank" in our eye, keeping us from seeing our own faults and sinful nature, will hurt our spiritual lives.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  And, watch out for splinters - and for planks!

The Judge

After two weeks of fairs at the county and state level, I guess my mind is on judging.  Last week at the county fair, I went around with the judge who was judging the crafts.  It was interesting watching her and listening to her comments of why something placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or why something placed last.  She really thought through her decision on each and every entry she judged.

This past Friday, our three oldest children were involved in livestock judging at the Oklahoma State Fair.  After they were allowed to look at the livestock animals, they "placed" them in the order they believed they should be.  Then, they were instructed to go and give "reasons".  Reasons are telling someone else (usually college-aged kids) why they placed each animal in a certain order.  This is my kid's LEAST favorite part of the event.  It's hard to give "reasons" (I remember from my 4-H years!) because some of the animals they judge they really don't know very much about.  But, part of the contest is telling the reasons of why they judged the animals in that particular order.  It's good practice for them and makes them think!

Another "judging" event was the table setting contest I wrote about yesterday.  I looked at all of the tables and judged them in my own mind.  I even picked the 1st place tables just as the judges did in the junior division and the senior division.  However, even though my daughter received 2nd place, I actually thought my son's table was more of a correct table setting.  Her's (to me) had a few more mistakes made than his did.  (Of course, I'm very proud of them for how well they did because they both did great!)  But, you know what?  It doesn't matter what I thought!  Why?  Because I wasn't the judge!  The only persons's opinions that mattered at that contest were the two judges opinions.  That's all - no one else's opinion mattered one bit.

Throughout our lives we have times where we find ourselves as a judge.  I'm often a judge between my children's squabbles...even if I don't really want to be!  You may be a judge in your family relationships, too, or in a situation with an employee or co-worker.  In fact, some people appoint themselves as a "juror and judge" of every situation!

The Bible has a lot to say about judging.  Some of the scriptures warn us about judging.  Others actually even tell us to judge, but are careful to explain the situations where it is okay and even necessary.  The verse below explains that whatever measure we use to judge others will be used to judge us.  It's easy to see weakness and sin in someone else, but it's not always so easy (or we don't want to look at ourselves close enough to find out!) to see weakness and sin in our own lives.  But, we must be careful - because when we are too hard on others and have a condemning and judgemental spirit, we're going to get that same "measure" used on us.  That condemning spirit actually condemns us! (Romans 2:1-3)

The reason we are not capable of judging as God and Jesus do, is because we can not look at the hearts of people.  We only look on the outside.  We judge the motives of others when we really have no idea about their motives.  We judge the actions of others when we really may not know their true actions.  We judge on the outward appearance and personality traits.  God judges the heart.  He sees inside the mind and in the soul.  He judges by what is true and real.  We judge by what is perceived to be true and what appears to be real.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:36-3

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?" Romans 2:1-3

These verses are  enough to make us think long and hard about our sometimes-self-righteous judging, aren't they? On this Gratituesday, I am grateful that God is the judge and that He is mericful!

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