Judging others.
At what point does seeing sin in someone's life become a sin in my own life by judging them? This has been the question in my mind for the past several days. I've thought and thought and thought some more. Today I asked my hubby what he thought and he asked another question. 'Do you have sadness over that sin that you see or do you wish the person ill over it?' Hmmm.....
I am not sure. The feeling that I am having is not either. It is more of a frustration maybe even anger of someone who claims to be a follower of Christ living so contrary to God's word. Is that judging?
I wonder...do I not think God is big enough to deal with these situations on His own? Am I worried about God's reputation at stake? Do I not think He will deal with things properly or in a timely manner(this is probably the closest answer to me)? The truth is God is God over all situations and things. He's got it all covered. He is a God of great mercy and grace. That is why He allows what He does. Thank goodness I am not judge and jury...
7 comments:
Very good summary. I talked with Lori about some of this too. We had lots of good discussion, but I am not sure we came up with the answer. I like what Ron said. Does it really sadden us or do we just want justice? Tonight I read in Acts 2:42-47 about fellowshipping together with believers. It was helpful in pointing out that we should have intimate relationships with others to help each other. I think that could be/is missing in some of these lives, don't you? We are to hold each other accountable, but if they are unwilling to have their eyes opened or even have a relationship, then what do we do? Hmmm.... Confront or let go? For me, that is the question.
We are to confront those is sin...absolutely...when we truly love others we will want them to be walking in Truth, having their sins confessed and repented of. We need to have these kinds of open relationships with people so that we can correct and reprove in love as well as accept correction from others. It is Biblical. It does not mean we are judging them and saying we are perfect...we are to help eachother along this path of righteousness.
I think this is one of the major problems in today's church...a lack of true love...a lack of Biblical church discipline. Sometimes it does need to come before the church, though...just loving friends helping them through repentance and hopefully it stops there.
The question for me is not whether I am being judgmental, rather, it is this: do I believe God's word is the infallible, inerrent, inspired Word of the Almight Creator of the Universe, or, is it a fairytale?
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I agree with Kim. Somehow as a church "society" it seems we have taken the idea of not judging others and have turned it into never confronting anyone in sin. We just look the other way and say "judge not."
I don't have the solution, but I do think it's worth it to try to be both discerning and caring when we confront others.
Lots of good food for thought...
I agree with Ginger, I don't have the solution either. Portions of scripture that come to mind, are "speak the truth in love", "let you conversation be full of grace", "having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous". Confront sin, but do so with love a heart to see each other restored.
Thanks to all your great words of encouragement.
I lurked again tonight. Saw that you commented on your own blog. Don't think that is right and thought I should confront you right away. Leave the commenting on your blog to others and don't over step your bounds, I mean, really. I am not even sure if you are saved!
=) You are so right about Christians and Judging. I think we have lost the BALANCE that Christ intended. I mean he obviously pointed out other's sin, mostly their hypocrisy (imagine that) but ya gotta know he loved those very same people and cried over their lostness... I think most Christians (myself, very much included) are way over the edge one way or the other. We are either politically correct and call it grace, or we judge, as if we ourselves are the Holy Spirit letting people know when they should feel guilty... God wants us to mirror Himself in other's lives. He is a God of Grace, Hope, Love and forgiveness, He is a refuge in the storm and He is equally a God of Justice, and Judgment, His laws are clear and not gray or murky. I need to remind myself that SIN separates us from God and grieves Him. SIN is all inclusive and I am a sinner. I can't look at one person and say "Well, I may gossip and overeat on a daily basis, but at least I didn't cheat on my husband!" That is why the Bible says "as iron sharpens iron" We all have things that we have done to separate us from God. Your struggle is probably not my struggle though, and where you are weak I can be strong and vise versa. Let's find the balance and in love come alongside one another with a common goal of being more like Christ, and lets not be afraid to speak truth to each other. The very best friends I have ever had loved me to pieces and at the same time they told me things about myself that I did not want to hear, and then they continued to love me to pieces. Because Christians are so screwed up and lack this balance, friends like that are few and if you find one, consider yourself truly blessed. One of my favorite sayings (and I don't know who said it): "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
~carol
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