JUDGE NOT LEST YE BE JUDGED. Seems that is the most important scripture to everyone in the world today… even non-believers who loathe the Bible love to boast this verse. Unfortunately Judge not lest ye be judged has been turned into a 21st centurys scapegoat for every sin that people do. It has become our Christian duty to just allow people to live immoral, Godless lives with no conviction or confrontation simply because I dont want to OFFEND you... this is even being taught as doctrine by countless preachers in their churches from their pulpits to their congregation. Yeah, well, heres the thing… the Bible tells us that we ARE to judge people with righteous judgment. Even Jesus himself called the Pharisees a brood of vipers and Hypocrites… WHOAAA slow down Jesus, how could you be so judgmental? And Paul... just read all the books of the Bible he wrote, he consistently pointed out the sin of the people and called them to repent. Shame on him... he just didnt get it, like we in the 21st century do, I guess. To begin with, YES, the Bible does say “Judge not lest ye be judged”… but as with most people who enjoy quoting the Bible and applying it to political and social agendas, they forget to put the scripture in context and prefer to distort it. Let’s take a look: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye.” (Matthew 7:1–5) Taken in context, what does this say about Judging others? Jesus is making it clear to not Judge in a condemning manner and to be certain to judge yourself FIRST, show correction in your own self, THEN you will be in a position to more clearly help your brother. If we are slave to the sin we are trying to help another in, we have made ourselves a hypocrite and will be distracted by our own struggles, however, if we have confronted our own sin and overcome it, then we can lovingly help our brother with the sin in their life. There are many times the Bible clearly outlines how we are suppose to judge others, ESPECIALLY those who claim to be Christian because you can witness it in their fruit… their works, their lives. This doesnt mean w’ere suppose to CONDEMN them, but if you see them falter or living in sin we ARE suppose to confront them about the sin… like Jesus did… Paul did… and John… and all other examples and teachings in the Bible (1 Tim. 1:19-20, 1 Timothy 5:20, 2 Tim. 2:16-17, 2 Tim. 4:14-15, 3 John 1:9-10, Galatians 2:11-14, Matthew 18:15-17, to name just a few). When it comes to dealing with sin it IS our responsibility to confront sin, not excuse it. Our culture has dictated to us that we should only love everybody and not correct them because it’s not our place to do so… in fact, Loving others requires that we compassioantely correct them when they fall into error (Matthew 18; 1 Corinthians 1:11; Galatians 6:1). We have to realize that those who DO walk in error don’t necessarily know they are in error; they are possibly deceived or ignorant. So we gently and carefully correct the error in regard to teaching, no matter what the situation. After all, this is one of the responsibilities of the church: to teach sound doctrine and correct erroneous teaching (2 Timothy 2:25, 3:16; Titus 2:1). We have to use discernment (judging between right and wrong) if we are to obey verses like 1 Corinthians 5:11–13; 6:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:20; and Titus 3:9, just to name a few. Again, we are to confront, NOT condemn. Telling someone about their sin does not instantly mean judgment or condemnation of that person, in fact, it is what we are SUPPOSE to do as believers. People flaunt Jesus around as a tolerant teacher who never confronted sin, when in fact, Jesus consistently confronted people about their own wickedness and sinfulness BUT He did so out of compassion and love, if they walked away disappointed or untouched, it was because THEY CHOSE not to believe or follow. It comes down to this, I know people get tired of hearing it, but love the sinner, hate the sin is true... but we MUST go one step further, we must love the sinner and help them understand that God FORGIVES the sin so you are no longer slave to it. So for this Sunday I implore you all to counter the logic of this modern culture which is to just ignore sin and accept it because it is what it is, because we aren’t suppose to judge others… when reality is that at the end of the day failing to judge righteously is actually the greatest disservice to the unbelievers and fellow Christians who are willfully lost in their own sin. Have a blessed Sunday my friends!
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 16:33:44 +0000
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