“You do what?!” You can
imagine the shocked tone coming from someone’s mouth as they say these words.
We are often surprised to find out that other believers are crossing over our
lines of conviction. It seems that everyone judges each other, one way or
another, and for some of us, it has become a hobby or obsession to judge those
around us. Being judgemental is part of our human nature, but that doesn’t give
us the right to be mean and spiteful. How many times have you seen someone and
immediately you have an opinion of them without having ever met them? In many
cases, the way someone appears isn’t anything like their character (physical or
spiritual.) However, it isn’t a bad thing for you to make a judgement of someone;
for example, it can help steer us away from physical harm or from spiritual
downfall. God judges, so we can also judge…simply be careful how you judge. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it
shall be measured to you again.” – Matthew 7:1-2 When you judge someone,
remember, you could very well be judged with that same judgement. This is why
we MUST apply our judgements of others to ourselves first. You could be just as
out of tune with God as they are, if not worse. Let’s look at what the Bible
has to say concerning judging our fellow believers, but we need to make sure that we apply these principles to ourselves first!
(NOTE: Don’t start making a mental list of people who REALLY need to read this
essay!)
Romans 14:12 “So then every one of
us shall give account of himself to
God.” We are first responsible for ourselves
– how can we explain our actions? We
are always so keen to point our fingers at other people that we forget that one
day WE are going to have to account
for what WE have done, not what
everyone else has done. Are you really doing what Christ would do? (He is the
example for CHRISTians, you know.) Or are you fulfilling your own lusts and
desires? Examine all things in your life…should you really be doing
those things? II Corinthians 13:5 “Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” I
Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” Do me a
favour, stop reading, and answer the above questions before you continue. It is
so important that you KNOW that you are doing what is right in every area of
your life, because some day you are going to be judged accordingly. Some people
say “Only God can judge me.” The Psalmist in Psalm 43:1 entreats, “Judge me, O
God,…” God does judge, he will judge us ALL someday! Are your works “gold, silver, precious stones,” or are they “wood, hay, stubble;”? I Corinthians 3:13 “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work
of what sort it is.” II Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad.”
These next several passages deal with: judging one another, and why we
shouldn’t do certain things for the sake of our fellow believers. Romans 14:1-6
“Him that is weak in the faith receive
ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all
things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him
that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for
God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his
own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able
to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth
every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that
regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the
day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for
he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and
giveth God thanks.” Romans 14:10 “But
why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?
for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Romans 14:13-15
“Let us not therefore judge one another
any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion
to fall in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that
there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be
unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now
walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ
died.” Romans 14:20-21 “For meat
destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for
that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink
wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made
weak.” Romans 15:1-2 “We then that
are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please
ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.”
I Corinthians 8:8-13 “But meat commendeth
us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat
not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours
become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which
hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of
him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye
sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no
flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”
According to this last set of verses, it is a sin against God for us to cause
another believer to sin. We may do something that honestly doesn’t bother our
conscience at all, however, there are those who are incapable of doing that
very same thing without feeling guilty of having sinned. Because someone else
is more conservative or more liberal in the way they do things, doesn’t mean
that you or they are wrong. Do you not expect them to respect or accept your
convictions or beliefs? You will always judge people by the way they dress, talk,
and what they do, but you need to do what is right. God deals with every
person individually, so their convictions can’t be your convictions or vice
versa. For example, Christians seem to get stuck on the way other Christians
dress compared to themselves…what they are forgetting is: What someone wears
doesn’t dictate their spirituality, but modesty DOES! As the Bible dictates in
I Timothy 2:9 “that women adorn
themselves in modest apparel,”
When someone has a spiritual change in their life, things will start to change.
They will dress differently, talk differently, and even do things differently.
So be careful not to compare yourself with other Christians…maybe they are
still growing in the Lord or perhaps God hasn’t convicted them yet. II
Corinthians 10:12-18 “but they measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not
wise.” If you think about it, everyone is also judging you by your “cover”
and they are making assumptions and opinions based solely on how you are dressed, how you talk, and how you act. We need to do what is right despite what other believers
(or the world) do, say, or how they dress. Concentrate on your life, on your
spiritual state – not everyone else’s.
The Bible says in I Samuel 16:7b “…for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” You may be spiritually
right in your heart, but guess what- men can’t see what’s in your heart! This
is why we must “Abstain from all APPEARANCE of evil.” People can
only judge you by what they see. If an unbeliever doesn’t see any difference
between you and them, most likely they won’t even think about getting saved
because they can’t SEE any difference! When you get to Heaven
someday, you aren’t going to want to find out that a friend or colleague has to
spend an eternity in Hell simply because you didn’t APPEAR any different. We are supposed to be a peculiar people! No,
that doesn’t mean weird, simply different -different from the world. Titus
2:12-14 “Teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly,
in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for
us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works.” People should KNOW that you are saved, not just by your words, but by your
appearance and actions too. Now, don’t get this confused…you need to set the
example for the unsaved, but that doesn’t include impressing other believers,
following other Christians, OR comparing with other believers appearances. Galatians
1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God?
or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ.” You are here to please God, not men, not other believers, or even so-called “Christians.”
God will fine tune you to his perfect will if you sit down and shut up
long enough. God will show you what pleases him and how you can please
him, all you have to do is listen and then OBEY! II Corinthians 10:7 “Do ye look on things after the outward
appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself
think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.” Once
again, I reiterate, appearances aren’t everything. Your fellow believers (although
they may have different convictions) are also
part of Christ and can be just as spiritual as you, so be careful when you
start accusing them of being ungodly simply because they aren’t dressed just
like you.
As stated at the beginning, to judge and criticize is part of our
nature, but we can control it with the help of Christ. Don’t try to do it on
your own, you will fail miserably. Let God help you control your judgements.
Solomon asked for wisdom concerning judgement in I Kings 3:9-12, and God gave
it to him. Why wouldn’t he give it to you? “Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:” –Matthew 7:7. Please notice that Solomon didn’t ask to be
freed from judging others…rather for God to allow him to judge righteously and
justly. Also, remember to pray for those you are judging. If you think someone
might be backslidden, trapped in sin, discouraged, or simply doesn’t know which
way to go, don’t start comparing yourself to them, pray for them! The Bible
says: “Pray without ceasing.” “I will therefore that men pray everywhere,…”
“…,and pray one for another,…” “…that men ought always to pray,…” “Brethren, pray for us.” Be an example to
the brethren, and PRAY for the brethren! It isn’t wrong for you to judge, but
don’t make it your life’s work. Check out your own life first, are you doing right? You do what?! You do
right!