Am I following Christ if I judge others?
John 5:22 [Jesus speaking]: "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son....'' John 8:15 [Jesus speaking]: "You [Jews/Pharisees] judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one." John 12:47 [Jesus speaking]: "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." Should my judgments be on small things such as whether people read the bible or should I only judge people who appear not to be Christian.
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Asked November 18 2013
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Brian Ansell
Supporter
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Lynn Willis
John 7:24 "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."
Romans 2:6 "He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who o by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and s peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality."
I'm SO glad the Lord works the way He does because I wrestle with this one myself, especially of late. I'm in the middle of a situ where i befriended a woman who outwardly by all appearances and voice is a believer and exalts the Lord with great physical demonstrations of dancing, screams of Halleluyah, and even going so far as to kneel on the ground barefoot (this is in a worship service at a homeless shelter), yet her words and actions aside from that are far from righteous. She can quote scripture far better than i, and she makes it a point to pray for everyone, staff included, in an authoritative way, even goes as far as to say she is anointed and receives an immediate answer from the Lord whenever she prays about something, yet in the short time I was 'friends' with her, she used me for her own comfort, lied to me, stole from me, was malicious and has gossiped about me on numerous occasions, and as recently as this evening does all she can to aggravate me in my place of worship where i initially welcomed her with open arms, and where she now infuses herself into ALL my relationships there. It has been a huge test and when i find myself judging her, being annoyed by her phoniness (something which I confronted ALL my life) i simply PRAY. I do not talk to her, but i prayed the Lord would forgive her for she obviously does not know what she does, but HE knows her heart. As a fellow believer, she has done nothing to set things right between us - no apology, no discussion - only done more and more to make this situation worse. HOW do i resolve this for myself PERSONALLY? It is SO very difficult I must admit.
When i find myself judging her outward falsity, her arrogance, and begin to feel upset when i see her guiding newborn Christians knowing she may be misleading them, when i consider that she may well be one of those false Christians Jesus spoke of, I turn it BACK to Him. It is His job to deal with the false prophets, not mine.
I think often of the scripture "Faith without works is death." If i fall into judgement of her without compassion (love) I am as bad as she is. It is by our LOVE that nonbelievers will know we are Christians, no other way. I still work on having a heart like the Lord - in being able to love the unlovable. It aint easy. But Jesus never said it would be easy - He only said it would be worth it.
Romans 2:1 "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things."
So i forgive her the wrongs she has done me, pray for her to have the Lord change her heart, to protect those she may be misleading from the false doctrines and example she may be demonstrating, and for Him to guide me in His ways more and more each and everyday.
I hope that helps a wee bit!
Bruce Morgan
Consider also the words of Jesus himself on dealing with sin in the Church:
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
(Matthew 18:6)
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".
Matthew 18:15-18 (NIV)