Is It Up To Us To Judge?
I believe that as Christians and as disciples we should strive to obey the very words of Jesus Christ. He is our teacher and we are his students. I would love to challenge each and every one of you to purchase a red letter Bible. The red letters being the very words of Jesus Christ. I challenge you to read the words of Jesus Christ daily. Study His words. Meditate on His words. But more than anything, live His words.
In Matthew 7 we read from Jesus, "Do not judge or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
How often throughout the day do we judge others? At church do we judge others? "If so and so was really faithful they would be at church." Do we sit in the judgement seat when it is not our place to do it? Why do we judge others? Has the church of Christ been guiltiy of this in the past? Is it something ofrom which we need to repent.
I pray that we will become less judgemental, understanding that God is our ultimate judge and let us strive to be the disciples he wants us to become.
What do you think?
Share your thoughts.
posted by preacherman @ 10:48:00 AM
56 Comments:
Good Post! We should make every effort to obey the words of Christ - ALL of them! Most Christians desire to obey Christ's teachings, we just seem to practice selective reading, choosing which words - sort of a selective discipleship. When we find those hard to follow teachings, the ones that make us really uncomfortable in our safe home and cushy chair, we find a way of reading something else into them, often making it applicable to a particular person or particular circumstance and not me or mine! Naturally, Jesus did not want me to sell everything I own and give it to the poor! He was talking to this specific person, for this specific reason. Then, there are the words of Christ that we will go to war for. These are the Scriptures that we insist everyone follow or else! These seem to be the ones we think we have "figured out." I need God's help to follow ALL of His teachings, even the ones I don't like!
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." Matt 23:23-24
Cheryl,
Great points.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. You as a Christian and disciple of Christ have a lot to share with us all.
I think that if we all followed the way of Jesus Christ, the church would look very differently.
We would love our enemies.
We would are taken one mile, we will go two.
We will give to the poor.
Judgment isn't a bad thing when it is applied to making decisions and evaluating actions, ideas or material things.. this is exercising good judgment. Where this crosses the line is when we judge people, their motives and their hearts.
For example.. it is okay to judge a denomination's or church's doctrine to be unChristian. However, it is not okay to judge a person unChristian because they are a part of that denomination or church.
In the same way it is not okay to judge anyone as unChristian just because of the sins they commit, the way they vote or other actions they may take. I think that this is the kind of judging that Jesus is speaking of.
If you disagree with me please know that I won't judge you for it :)
cheryl; Jesus did not say we had to be perfect to be saved by him, he said we had to be perfect to save ourselves.
This comment has been removed by the author.
(I deleted and redid my post when I found some rather compromising typos!)
There's always the danger of having a plank in our eye when we tell a brother about the speck in his own. Rather than be judgmental, I think Jesus intends us to build ourselves up together ("accountability partners" or whatever they're called).
But at the same time, there is the spiritual work of mercy: to admonish the sinner (cf. Gal 6:1; Titus 2:15; 2 Tim 4:2).
We are called to perfection by Jesus Christ (cf. Matt 5:48) and we know that neither "the unrighteous [nor] the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 6:9-10), and we know that workers of "fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like ... shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal 5:19-21). Therefore, for the salvation of souls, it is important to admonish them in all charity and with the intention of seeing them saved.
I think the Church of Christ should be less judgemental (when it comes to style of worship, lifting hands, clapping, even what people wear to services). I think it would be wonderful if we were known for our love instead of our judgemental attitude towards other Christians, and denominations. I want to thank you Preacherman for pointing out Jesus words to us, "For the measure judge you too will be judge." God is the ultimate judge and for that I am thankful.
Cheryl,
Again, I appreciate all of your thoughts and comments on this topic. You are always welcome to comment on my blog despite differing opinions of others. In Acts 2:40-ff we see all the believers selling everything and having everything in common. Jesus did in the gospels tell the rich one thing he lack and that was to sell all he had and give it to the poor. I believe Jesus calls us to radical Christianity. I believe it is too radical for many believers today. I hope that when he comes he will be pleased with us. I hope when he returns that he see Christianity the way he wants it. One of the prayers I pray often, very often is that we will answer the prayer in John 17 and be one. I believe it is up to us, believers to be one as He and the Father are one. Jesus tells us, "All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." Can it be done? I believe it can. We see all the many demoninations in the world and I pray for us to settle on to strive on the doctrone of LOVE, Faith, Hope, Reaching The Lost, (not getting cought up in the differences but focusing on the summilarities that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord). I want to thank you for your encouragement that you bring to me and the discussion. Keep it up!
Coldfire,
Imagine how different things really would be if we followed every teaching of Jesus. Loving our enemies. Every point that you make is awesome. I think that we as Christians should follow the teaching and in doing so we will turn the world upside down and really change show the "real" Jesus to the the world by our actions. I believe it will make the difference that the world needs.
Kansas Bob,
I always appreciate your thoughts and opinions. I appreciate your points that you make and adding to the discussion. I do think we are going to have to judge the discisssion we make from from day to day and how we are going to live. I believe the "only" creed should be the Bible. I believe we should strive to follow it with all of it. The docrines that I believe that really matter is: LOVE above all things, Faith, Repentance, Striving to live and walk as Jesus did. Jesus tells us in John 14, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments. His commandments are not burdensome." I think that is what is so wonderful about following Jesus is that we follow Him out of the love Christ has for us. God displayed his love to may and that love motivates us to love and strive to do our best, know that that we all fail and make mistakes but we have gace and his sacrifice that cleanses us daily. So, let us cherish grace. Let us love Jesus for than anything. Let us let the Lordship of christ rule our hearts and desire in all things.
Laymond,
I want to thank you so much for adding to comments on my blog. I appreciate your friendship more than you know. I think you and cheryl agree more than on the differences. It may just be me though.
We cannot be perfect. Eph 2 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith so noone can boast. We must understand in the letter of 1st John as we walk in the light, daily walk in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. As the letter of 1st John goes on it tells us that we can know we are saved is we love one another. Laymond one of my favorite verses in all the Bible next to John 3:16 is 1st John 5:13 which says, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life."
Japhy,
Thank you so much for adding your thoughts to this discussion. I greatly appreciate it. You make excellent points. I totally agree about the danger about the plank. I believe that we should judge our own lives when it comes to morality as you point out.
Anonymous,
I do believe that the Church of Christ has been known in the past for its judgementalism. I hope and pray that it will change over time as we preach Jesus and his message of love, grace, faithfulness, kindness, compassion, and other things that the Church focused on after Jesus was resurrected.
preacherman: Very good! Preach on!
David,
Thanks brother.
I will preach it! :-)
I think judging people is like a basic human thing that we do. I mean, how else are you going to validate yourself if not by comparing yourself to someone else? Its like this built in thing we do as a way of justifying our actions. “Sure I was bad… but not as bad as THAT guy!” It somehow makes us feel better about ourselves. I believe the church as a whole does this as well. We look around at the things going on in the church and we somehow justify it in our minds by saying… well at least we are better than THEM! (especially when it comes to abortion rates, suicide rates, divorce rates… certainly we are better than them… right?)
Ok so Im hoping yall caught the sarcasm…. This is all part of dyeing to yourself. When we begin to sit in judgment I believe it shows where we are getting validation from. Are we getting it from the Father? Or do we need the people around us to validate who we are? I think we also fall into the trap of judging people using us as the standard instead of Christ.
So while I believe we shouldn’t judge others… I think some people take the “thou shalt not judge” a step too far and say… see, we shouldn’t point out sin. Who are we to Judge? I mean, how can I judge his actions… Jesus said I shouldn’t judge or I will be judged by the same standard. So, if its ok for him, then who am I to judge? Right?
Umm no. That’s what I was talking about when I said we use US as the standard measurement. But if the standard I “judge” by is the word of God. Does that mean I will be judged by the word of God? Right? So is it more talking about the standard we use in judgment or judgment itself? Is Matt 7 really focusing on not judging or making judgemnet based on yourself? Don’t we have to look at what all of scripture says on the subject?
I mean, as I look in Galatians 6 doesn’t it say that we should gently help someone who has sinned, back onto the right path? SO maybe “judge” isn’t the right word, but when you look into someone’s life, and see sin, aren’t you making a judgment? But isn’t that kind ok? Isn’t it our responsibility as a brother to help them? Not condemn, not judge… but to put light on the darkness? But, isn’t that a form of judgement?
All through that part of Galatians Paul makes the point… if you make the judgment in comparison with you… then you are wrong… You are not the standard, Jesus is. I mean Gal 6:4 even says basically… if you do what your suppose to be doing, then you don’t need to compare yourself with other people.
So given the context that we normally use the term… judging coupled with condemnation... then no, we shouldn’t judge but given some other context, then we are called to judge each other aren’t we?
(ok, so maybe it’s just semantics and I should say we are suppose to “hold each other accountable” not judge)
Brian,
I want to thank you for you thoughts and comments. I want thank you for adding to the discussion. I believe the person that I should compare myself is Jesus Christ. As a disciple I look at him for my example. As Jesus met and hung out with sinners. He offered them hope and forgiveness. The woman caught in the act of adultry is the perfect example for us all. I love how Jesus told the Pharasee's and teachers of the law and those who were accusing the woman Jesus says, "You who are without sin cast the first stone. One by one they left. Jesus told the woman where are those who accuse you niether do I. God and leave your life of sin." Jesus is the judge to the woman. As Jesus meets other sinners he offers them forgiveness and a chance of hope and a new life. I love that about Jesus. I think the Church needs to see how Jesus did it. Offering hope, forgiveness, new lives for those who need it. We need to understand that God is the ultamate judge. Yes, we should call sin, sin. But we should understand that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God have we not? 1 John tells us that if we say we have no sin we decive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We all sin. We all make mistakes. But the wonderful think is that we have hope through Jesus Christ. Jesus. Isn't that wonderful?
May the Love of God fill you and surround you.
thank you for all of your comments to my thoughts.
stand
and Love
keep reading in Matt 7 and you will see comments about false prophets (which involves making a judgment about what is a true and what is a false prophet) and also about not casting our pearls before the pigs (which involves making a judgment, as well)
the Bible explains itself, pretty well. good balance right in that beautiful chapter
brian
Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 14:10-12 "For we will all stand before God's judgement seat. I is written: "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God." So, then each of us will give an account of himself to God."
Matthew 12:36 the very words of Jesus, "I tell you tht men will have to give an account on that day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken."
As I love my God more and more every day. As I grow deeper and deeper in that relationship with Him. I am glad that He is going to be my judge. As David says in 139:1-ff "O Lord , you have search me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem in- behind and before; you have laid your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in thedepths you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, and your right hand will hold me fast."
You see God knows us more than we know ourselves. God is God. He knows our thoughts. He knows our weaknesses. He knows everything about us. He loves us more than we can begin to fathom. I think of my 3 sons and there is no way I would sacrifice one of them for sinners, for mokers, for people who would reject the gift of grace and salvation. Yet God in his own love for us, sent His son so we could have hope and eternal life. He sent Jesus Christ so we could have a relationship with Him. I tell that relationship is the most wonderful relationship that I have ever had and enjoyed. I feels my Spirit. Gives me hope. Gives me true joy. He provides because I have surrendered everything, and I mean everything over to Him because he is the Almighty. I am blessed to call Him "abba father". I am bless to have the Holy Spirit comfort me when I need it. I am bless the have all the blessing in Jesus Christ.
If you are a Christian I want you to stop and think about your relationship with God. The blessing you have in Christ. The joy that he is going to be your judge.
No man....But God Almighty will judge us. Yes man will try. Men will try to trap us in what they "think" Christianity is and what they "want" it to be. So, called "Christians" will try to look across the aile and judge our hearts, minds, souls, intentions when we worship. I think that is so sad. I pray that it will stop. I pray that we will be able to worship God with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Not thinking about time but enjoy Him and His presence.
I think as time goes on we will become less judgemental people. I think we will understand that it is God who is our Judge and knows the heart.
I want us to understand that we do have the word of God which I see as a love letter and guide for us to follow. We read in Hebrews 4:12"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates to even dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of God of him who we must give an account." I believe the word of God convicts our hearts and leads us into the relationship that God wants. It gives us the faith, repentance, guidance, we need in order to be disciples of Christ.
I believe in the past we as Christians have strived to KNOW the Word of God. I think there is a huge difference in Knowing the Word of God and actually KNOWING GOD. GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIM PERSONALLY.
Read his word, pray not because your required but because you want that relationship with God you want to know Him more.
James 2:22 tells us to "Do not merely listen to the word and so decieve yourselves . Do what it says."
God want us to do what he says because he wants whats best for us as child. If we don't do what he says, we have consequences, but if we do what he says, then he is pleased with us. I know I want to please God more than anyting else.
As we are saved by GRACE let us not take advantage of it but love it, appeciate it, and cherish it.
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My wish is for Christians not to judge me during worship. Thank you Preacherman.
Amen brother, Amen
Laymond,
Thanks for your encouragement brother. I mean so much!
Kinney, I would like to get your thoughts on my latest post "Christian Sinner"
http://laymond.wordpress.com/
just copy and past
Laymond,
I would be honored.
___________________________________
Why is it so easy for some to judge others, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to worship style, when it comes form of worship?
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Steven told me he felt like he couldn't feel comfortable raising his hands in church when moved, because he feels judge by others in the church.
I told told Steven there are other churches of Christ where you can raise your hands in worship without feeling judge.
Would you give him the adice to leave the current church as I did and find one were he can worship in a way where he isn't judged.
Laymond,
I am having getting to your blog.
I will try again later.
Thanks Preacherman! I'm a little confused as to why what I wrote drew any "retort". Alas! This is blogland! I am simply reflecting on my own struggle to accept and follow all of Christ's teachings. Some of them force me to question the authenticity of my discipleship. However, I did not say that my salvation was contingent upon perfect adherence to these teachings. Rather, that we should make every effort to follow them. Thanks to the Cross, my citizenship is secure, even when I fall short!
P.S. No hard feelings, I look forward to checking out brother Laymond's blog.
Forgive me if I repeat some of the comments prior to mine. I am posting with a 100.2 temp but I took a look at this post and wanted to also share my thoughts.
Many of the answers to your questions seem obvious to me accept for "Why do we judge others?" That's a tough one. I dare say it's easier for us to judge others rather than ourselves. Many times we are not honest with ourselves and fail to open our hearts to God because we feel vulnerable. If we can size ourselves up against everyone else's shortcomings, it makes us feel less like a failure. If the truth be told, all of us are failures, so yeah...exactly why is it that we judge others?
Thanks for dropping by my blog Kinney. I look forward to reading more on yours when I am feeling better.
Cheryl,
I want you to know that I appreciate your thoughts, opinions and comments. I personally respect everyone's opinion and thought on my blog even though they may disagree with someone. I do not allow any unChristian writing to other blogs if so I will immediately delete it. I have done so befor will do so in the future. I want you to know the respect you thoughts, opinion and am thankful that you add your thouhgts to this discussion. I means alot.
Ben,
I want you to know first and foremost that you are in my prayers. I hope you get to feeling better very soon. I appreciate your comments and adding to this discussion. I totally agree with what you are saying. Even with 100.2 temp you make wonderful points for us all. Again, I hope you get to feeling better soon.
I believe you did the right thing. I feel like your judged and being looked down on if being moved by the Holy Spirit of God; if you cannot worship God then find a place where you can.
Laymond I finally got over to your blog. Than you for inviting me to your discussion.
Hi preacherman,
I think Jesus was teaching against hypocritical judgment. Immediately after the famous "do not judge" verse, he proceeded to tell them to remove the splinter from their brother's eye (after removing their own plank), and also to avoid throwing pearls before swine. In other places he told us to judge a tree by its fruit; to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees; etc. So we are expected to make some discerning judgments. But we are also expected to live up to the standard to which we hold others.
OTOH we are to accept one another despite disagreements on a wide range of subjects. We aren't supposed to be drawing lines of fellowship over every area where we have a different interpretation of scripture.
Alan,
You are so right.
Thank you for comments and adding to this discussion. I great appreciate it brother.
I believe we are to gently restore those who are caught in sin. We are to help those who need our help. But we must remember that God is the utimate judge of us all. One day we all will stand before Him and give an account.
Anonymous,
I think that is different than judging your brother. I think it is taking care of him. Judgementalism I believe is wrong.
Preacherman,
I know this is completely off-topic, but I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the comments you left over on Keith Brenton's blog regarding the Holy Spirit.
You shared a little bit of your testimony, a little bit of your story. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear more of it sometime. Or is there more somewhere here on your blog? I wasn't sure, since I haven't been a reader of yours for too terribly long...maybe several months or so.
I realize that we must all make judgments. This passage has always reminded me that I am going to be judged my the measuring rod of judgment I use. I especially try to keep this in mind as I prepare and preach sermons, since it is easy to preach wih much judgment.
Rex
Ithaca Church of Christ
Ithaca, NY
Thanks for bringing up this topic for discussion, preacherman!
I think knowing how to judge all comes down to the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself.
I find that often as I think about, and especially as I pray for, the people I am tempted to judge, I can more readily see myself in them--that we aren't so different, that I am guilty of the very things I am placing judgement on.
This doesn't mean I don't ever confront anyone about anything (I should probably be more confrontational, actually!), but I am able to do so, not out of a holier-than-thou attitude, but because I want to help a fellow traveler.
mmlace,
I am planning on writting a book on my story. I may share some of it with you over at your blog if you like? Let me know.
Rex,
Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate them greatly. I totally understand your point. Thanks!
The Walk,
Thank you for joining the discussion. I appreciate the point you make with loving your neighbor as yourself. It is so thought provoking. Thanks!
Yes, I would like that. Or if you don't want to share it in such an open format just yet, you could e-mail me. There's a like to my e-mail address on my Blogger profile. Thanks--Lacey
There's a link to my e-mail address, that is...
Alan has a wonderful post that I think everyone needs to read and check out. It is entitled:
Stone Cambell Union
It is the best post that I have read in a long time and think it goes along with this discussion and is very timely as well. So, please check it out.
mmlace,
Thanks.
Kinney, sometimes we are jarred into judging as a retaliatory, self-defense reflex. Just yesterday I found out about some negative comments a few guys made about me, and the way it was presented to me was that these particular people were being critical of me in order to be able to feel better about themselves. There is no need for me to judge them back, and what would it accomplish?
I like trying to follow the advice of Ecclesiastes 7:21-22: "Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you—for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others."
Preacherman/Kinney, you are always welcome into any discussion at my blog. I agree with Alan about "hypocritical judgment." don't expect more from your neighbor than you are willing to do yourself.
And your comments are welcome on my new post. "Lost sheep and gentiles"
not only welcome "sought"
Sure thing the CofC is known for being judgmental but I have seen a changing church. In the CofC I attend hands are raised. Sometimes we downright look like we are enjoy’n ourselves. I don’t want to raise my children in a church that compromises God’s values.
I saw what you wrote on preachermike.com about him not commenting...and, just to let you know...he is out of the country right now.
Kinney,
We should always remember, not only where we are, but where we came from, before judging others. I really enjoyed your words, and I especially enjoy Christ's words. I pray that He will constantly touch me with words of wisdom and love so that I may be as much like Him as possible. Thanks for jarring my mind a bit with this one.
Keith
Anonymous,
I realizing I was being harsh and being judgemental. :-) I did go back and apologized and asked for forgiveness.
Keith,
I appreciate your comments brother. It means so much to hear what you have to say and think on this issue. I apprecaite you adding to the discussion.
Kinney,
Great thoughts here.
Yes, at least half the battle in becoming holy or changed is to see our sin. And we see it, only as we strive to live out the will of God revealed in Scripture and in Jesus (as C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" well points out).
Good to see it, that we do judge, so that we can repent and begin the growth towards change in that.
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