One of the things I’ve noticed about Christians in general is that they like to judge others, or at least that is the appearance many give. It is unfortunate. It turns a lot a people away from God.
There is no doubt that it is our responsibility as Christians to help guide one another through this walk. That includes calling out sin and improper behavior. But I don’t think it is the place to start. Obviously, one must understand sin to seek forgiveness. That’s not what I am talking about…I am talking about nitpicking each other to the extent that people do not want to hear the Truth about Jesus.
Too many people get bogged down on too many small details and miss the larger points. First of all, we all continue to fall short. We continue to grow in our new lives and leave the old ones behind, but it is not an instantaneous process…it is a lifelong one. Actually, there is an instantaneous process…it is called salvation when one believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ…that saves us from sin and makes us holy. But it is a constant growing process from that point forward until we die, in terms of our earthly behavior. Consider what our Lord said…
7:1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 7:3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.
If you search the web on the title of this post, you will find several essays saying this verse is used by hypocrites being too tolerant of bad behavior. I am not condoning bad behavior…what I am saying here is that we are running people away from the Gospel by judging them first and loving them second. It is that simple.
There is an extensive bulleting board on Bible.org that is a very good resource. Under the pastor’s boards, you can find some interesting and educational posts. You can also find some that illustrate my point. I was reading one the other night about a pastor trying to determine if he should marry a couple. His dilemma wasn’t about their love for each other or some issue they had between them…it was about his issues with them. They were living in sin, they didn’t come to church very often, etc. It was so unloving of an approach that the moderators even stepped in to point out how negative and judgmental he sounded…to paraphrase the site admin’s comments, it was basically “if I heard all that, I wouldn’t be coming to your church either.”
That’s my point here. The entire Church has this image. You would think we were preaching the gospel of Moses with the Law rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Grace of Salvation. We can all improve our walk with God, and it certainly is fine to admonish the brethren when they walk astray. But how ’bout we let the fledgling brothers and sisters get their legs under them first?
By the way, no one should make any mistake about it…I am at the top of the list of brothers who need to improve their walk. But if I waited until I was perfect to start spreading the word, we’d all be dead, ‘cuz that’s when its going to happen. Until then, I seek to gradually improve with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and approach people with love and caring rather than slander and judgment.
Judge not lest ye be judged means judge people the way you want God to judge you. Personally, I know I need some mercy and than means I need to show some, too.
Peace!
Originally posted 2007-08-17 on http://amencomelordjesus.com/blog
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