JUDGE OR JUDGE NOT

Judging is unavoidable. We judge our children; a teacher judges her students; the employer judges her subordinate; a spouse raises critical issues against her husband; the church disciplines its members; we even judge when we vote.

Against the assertion of some, Jesus did a lot of judging Himself. However, Jesus insisted that judging has to be done with great care. For one thing, we first have to judge ourselves before we are in any condition to judge another:

·       “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log [blindness and self-deception] out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck [the smaller sin] out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:4-5; ESV)

Paul taught the same thing but in a different manner:

·       Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. (Galatians 6:1-5)

Paul made it clear that, sometimes, judging or correcting is necessary. However, not everyone is in a “spiritual” state where they can judge. We have to be gentle! Where does this come from? From examining ourselves! What do we find? That we are “nothing” without Christ and His forgiveness.

When we examine ourselves, any basis for pride is eliminated. We find that we stand only by the grace of Christ. How do we acquire this necessary self-awareness? Through the Bible’s requirement that we love: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

When we attempt to love others by bearing their burdens, we discover that we fall far short of Christ’s calling. This is why Paul wrote: “But let each one test his own work.” When we do examine ourselves with an un-blinded eye, we are humbled by our failures.  However, our failures can reinforce our understanding of the mercy of Christ.

Notice that Paul didn’t write that we come to this self-awareness by comparing ourselves with others. This might just breed arrogance and pride. Instead, Paul wrote: “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in [comparison with] his neighbor.”

This is not an acknowledgement that any of us have a reason to boast. Instead, boasting is our human tendency. We want to feel good about ourselves, even superior to others, and so we look for occasions to boast by comparing ourselves to others. We, therefore, tell ourselves, “I’d never do what he did. I’m better than that.”

Instead, we have to measure ourselves against an absolute standard – Christ Himself. This standard takes the air out of our sails, as it is intended to do. We see our spiritual failures, and this humbles us.

Does this mean that we are not “spiritual” and that we cannot judge? Of course not! We are required to judge. However, it does mean that only those who have been humbled by the truth and continue to confess their sins can judge. It is these believers who can judge humbly, gently, patiently, and redemptively.

But can we judge with confidence and boldness? Yes, we can! How? We know that we are in the light and, consequently, are judging by the light of God. We also know that our corrections or judgments are not of our own invention but come from Him.

Therefore, when someone accuses you of judging, you can respond, “My judgment is now my own. It is my Lord’s.”

You might also turn the table and rhetorically ask, “Well, aren’t you judging me?”

SPIRITUAL HEALTH REQUIRES JUDGING AND CORRECTING

 

We are to be self-critical. If we do not examine ourselves, God will, as Paul had explained:

* Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. (1 Corinthians 11:28-31; ESV)

If we do not judge ourselves, there will be serious consequences. We are also required to judge our brethren:

* My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)

Of course, before we judge others, we must hold ourselves accountable to a standard at least as stringent as the standard we use to judge ourselves. This is what it means to be "spiritual":

* Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

We have to first be humble, realizing that we too are liable to the same kinds of temptations. We should never think that we are above them, lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12).

There is also a calling, especially for pastors and teachers, to correct other Christians in leadership positions, lest they bring disrepute upon the Church. In this regard, apologetic or discernment ministries play a vital role. For example, Hank Hanegraaff has often exposed the false teachings of prosperity ministers:

* Paul Crouch, founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), went so far as to suggest that if God does not kill “heresy hunters,” he will. Benny Hinn took it a step further. On TBN’s Praise the Lord program, he said, “You have attacked me. Your children will pay for it.” On another occasion Hinn shouted, “If you care for your kids, stop attacking Benny Hinn; you’re attacking on the radio all the time. You will pay, and your children will. Hear this from the lips of God’s servant. You are in danger.” Other threats could be cited, including the time Hinn ominously snarled, “I’m not exactly the normal kind of guy, you know. I’m from Israel. Sometimes I wish God would give me a Holy Ghost machine gun. I’d blow your head off.” ("Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century")

If the Church fails to expose and to distance themselves from ungodly teachers, then the world will distance themselves from the Church and the brethren will be led astray.

For an example of the disrepute that these teachers have brought upon the Church, Hanegraaff writes:

* This cancer has now reached the epidemic stage, and is spreading with such speed as to genuinely warrant the words “Christianity in Crisis.” It has so disfigured the face of Christianity that pagans looking on from without either smile with condescension and cynicism, or, with CNN founder Ted Turner, caricature Christians as “bozos” and “idiots.”

However, the damage done to the Body of Christ by false teachers is even a greater concern. Therefore, Paul warned the Ephesian elders:

* “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.” (Acts 20:28-31)

Because of the inevitability of false teachers arising even within the church, the elders had to be vigilant. Why? Because false teachers could ravage the flock! Consequently, Paul had insisted that the elders had to be able to scripturally defend their churches:

* He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. (Titus 1:9-11)

The only remedy to error is truth. The only answer to Scripture twisting is sound teaching and correction.

This means that we must judge, if we love the Church. Besides, sometimes even loving God requires us to judge. For example, God had warned the Church at Pergamum to repent for tolerating false teaching:

* “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Revelation 2:14-16)

Their tolerance of false teaching was a sin against God, and they were called to repent of this sin.

To be a friend of the world by tolerating what we should not is to be an enemy of God.