judgment

It’s easy to get the whole judgment thing wrong, backwards even. I want to judge all those people out there who can’t see the truth about Jesus. I want to judge the pagans.

It’s good to be reminded this morning that Paul refused to go down that road. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 I read these words he wrote: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.”

There are two critical errors I make that Paul points out here. The first is, I tend to give my fellow church members a pass. After all, we in the church like to say, “Don’t judge each other.” If someone shows up on Sunday and supports all the right causes, I’m likely to look at questionable behaviors and think, “That’s between them and God.” 

Paul says here that if someone else chooses to carry the name of Christ, then I and other Christians should hold them accountable. We need to help each other make our faith look as attractive as possible to the world, and at the same time never compromise the hope that it holds.

My second error is what I said at the start: I’m pretty quick to judge all those other people. I’ll judge slow drivers, people with bad grammar, or followers of pointless (to me) hobbies. If I’m that curmudgeonly with these harmless things, imagine how I can get when there’s actual sinning going on.

Again Paul corrects me: My job as it relates to non-believers is to win them over. Of course they sin – they don’t know Jesus yet! They’re still falling for all the things the Father of Lies whispers in their ears. They need to be rescued. 

Today I pray for good judgment, as in, being able to see those instances when I’m the right person to judge. I suspect it will turn out there aren’t very many.