http://www.theothersideofdarkness.com/thou-shall-not-judge/
Thou Shall Not Judge
For
most of my adult life I was a pagan. I was in rebellion against God,
and a lover of all things of this world. I hated Christianity. I had
met some of those Christians and they were a judgmental bunch of
hypocrites. And so perfect. How can anyone be so perfect and pure? It
really made me sick. I was not alone. Society as a whole seems to have
the same views on Christians. Judgmental. Perfect. Hypocrites. It is an
age-old idea that has permeated our culture in America. I really thought
that I would be perfect too, when I became a Christian. Boy was I in
for a shock when I found out that perfection belonged only to Jesus.
Perfection is not a status that a human being can ever attain. So why do
so many people think Christians are perfect?
My transformation from a pagan into a lover of Christ was quite
dramatic. A complete 180. I went from a witch who took Jesus name in
vain; a drug addict, who watched everything violent and sexual, to a
Christian who leads worship at church and doesn’t watch anything above a
G rating. I am totally sold out for Jesus. So when I became a Christian
I removed myself from a lot of the things I did in the past. It was
only natural because I wanted to show my allegiance to God after being
rebellious for so long. I wanted to purify myself from all the evil I
had exposed myself to for so many years. I needed it so I could begin
the process of changing the way I thought and acted. Somewhere in this
process I got things mixed up though. In wanting to separate myself from
the sins of my past, I was actually separating myself from sinners as
well.
I actually started to look down on people who did all the same things
I did in my former life as a pagan. Watching all the shows and movies
with violence and drugs and cussing, listening to music that was sexual
and provocative, drinking, smoking, taking God’s name in vain, etc. I
was appalled and horrified by this behavior – especially when it was by
my fellow Christians. What a bunch of sinners! I mean, sure I used to do that stuff – but now I was doing what was right!
These people should know better! Haven’t they read the Bible? It was
enough to get me really upset. I really wasn’t trying to make myself
better than anyone else. I just didn’t know that separating myself from
sin didn’t mean separating myself from sinners.
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. Matthew 7:1-2
I read the verse that says to not judge people and soon started to
think I was doing something wrong judging others. If Jesus says we
shouldn’t judge others, then it must be wrong. What I didn’t understand
was that I was taking that verse out of context. As a new Christian I
still had so much to grasp. Learning about God and who He is and His
character is a lot of work. It takes a lot of time and a lot of study.
It is difficult to throw yourself into being a follower of Christ and
get a grasp on what that really means right away. I just was fearful
that I would offend a holy God. I didn’t want to make more mistakes in
my life, because so far that had led me to misery. Besides, I was on my
way to being perfect – and I couldn’t let anything get in the way of
that.
I think the people of this world love to take Matthew 7 out of
context. They grab onto the words “do not judge” and want to use it
against Christians. After all, Christians are all judgmental hypocrites.
So here they are judging everyone around them for their sin, when in
fact Christians themselves are sinning too! Then Christians feel guilty
because even Jesus says not to judge. And we feel like hypocrites for
judging others when we are just as bad as everyone else. So we stop
calling out what is wrong and start compromising so we can be accepting
of other people. We stop speaking the truth in love to help redeem
people from their sin, and start making excuses for why it is OK for
them to sin. And if it is OK to make compromises for the world, then it
is OK to start making compromises for ourselves as well.
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24
The problem with that is that we are called to judge, but to judge
rightly. It is impossible for a human to not judge and God encourages us
to do so. We judge on a daily basis things like what is right and
wrong, what is safe and unsafe, what is a good choice in decisions we
are making. The Bible tells us to test prophecies so we know what is right and to test the spirits so
we can be aware of false prophets. If we do not make judgments we are
potentially putting ourselves in danger, because we are then going to
accept everything that comes our way. There is a difference between
being a judgmental person and making a sound and right judgement.
For starters we need to begin by judging ourselves. Romans 12:3
tells us to use sober judgement when thinking of ourselves. Otherwise
we might think more highly of ourselves than of other people. And that
is perfectly in line with Matthew 7. Jesus is not telling us to never
judge another person. What Jesus is saying is that we ourselves need to
get right with God, before we start to judge other people. We need to
repent for our own sins, be open to the Holy Spirit working in us to
help us change and grow closer to God. It is through that right
relationship with God that we begin to have an understanding of how to
judge others, and the world around us.
I wrote to 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. 1 Corinthians 5:9-10
It is through God’s standards, not our own opinions that we are to
judge one another. Our opinions are conflicted with emotion and sin. God
is the only authority by which we can define what is right and wrong.
We need to align ourselves with the Word of God so that we may learn to
judge in a way that brings people back into a right relationship with
God. It is sin that separates us from God, and we need to help others
who are trapped in sin to come back to Him, in repentance. We do this in
love and with humility, not condemnation. Satan is the accuser and the
one who condemns us, not God. God is our loving Father who wants nothing
more than to have a restored relationship with us. He does not look
down on us or think badly of us when we are trapped in sin. Our sin
hurts Him, because sin leads is a sign of a broken relationship with our
wonderful Father.
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister
is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they
have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20
If
we were to separate ourselves from everyone in the world, we would
never have a chance to do some amazing work for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus wants us to partner with Him, to bring many into His presence.
When we are looking down on others because of their sin, that is not
judgement, that is hate. If we hate one another, then we do not know
God. Our Father wants nothing more than for you to come into His loving
presence. Sit at His feet and learn from Him. Learn to love others, and
to have compassion and mercy on people in a fallen world. We were once
dead in our own transgressions, so we know what it is like. No one, even
those who have been saved as a child, can say that they don’t know what
it is like to experience death – separation from God. Because at one
time or another we have all sinned and fallen away from Him, whether we
like it or not. Yet we must be careful to not let our love for one
another turn into an acceptance of sin. We are to turn each other away
from sin, not turn a blind eye to it. Whether or not someone has felt a
conviction from God that what they are doing is right does not mean you
should not help that person out. Leading a brother or sister away from
sin and back to God is salvation, not judgement.
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
