On Judgment
On Judgment
Many Christians today seems to think that being non-judgmental is a fundamentally Christian value, and that judging someone means lacking in Christian love. They claim that God's love is unconditional, and so our love should be unconditional, towards each and every human being.
But when you consider the biblical references to judgment, you run into something that looks an awful lot like a contradiction:
"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven", Jesus says (Luk 6:37, see also Mat 7:1), but you should shun those brethren that are fornicators, idolaters etc. (1Co 5:11), and don't let false teachers into your house (2Joh 1:10). Besides these, you find Jesus being rather judgmental about people, calling them dogs and swine that you should not waste your pearls on (Mat 7:6, see also Mat 15:26 and Mar 7:27-28), and Paul promises to those that display the fruits of the flesh that they will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21).
God of course doesn't contradict Himself, He is not the author of confusion (1Co 14:33) and remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Therefore, the above verses only appear to be contradictory if you put the first quote absolute, that is, if you read it to mean that judgment of any type is bad per se.
If you do that, you cannot judge anymore if someone is a false teacher, a whore monger, a swine unworthy of your pearls, a dog unworthy of the bread that belongs to the children, or exhibits any of the fruits of the flesh Paul lists. You have to accept all these behaviors in love and endure them and possibly try to minister to people who display "bad" behavior, though here, you already run into a problem yet again: The determination that the behavior is wrong is already a judgment, and according to this view held, obviously un-Christian.
The biblical point about not judging, however, is that we should follow God's assessment in every way, and not lean unto our own understanding when it comes to judgment (or any other moral and ethical, social and personal issue, for that matter, Pro 3:5-8). Thus, we can follow God in saying that homosexuality is an abomination to Him (Lev 18:22, Rom 1:26-27), without being judgmental on our own accord. Thus, we can say that liars and cowards are going to burn in the lake of sulphur (Rev 21:8), and don't keep company of people who ignore or ridicule God's Law (2Ti 3:2-5), without being judgmental, for we are obedient to His will in doing so.
The general call not to judge anyone and to associate with everyone equally, no matter what they believe or not believe, violates God's commandment of separation and holiness (Lev 20:26) as well as ignores God's own judgments as exemplified above. Instead, we are called to follow God in His judgment, just like Jesus did, and act accordingly.
Technorati Tags: judgment, Christian values, being judgmental, God's assessments, Joshuah's House
Many Christians today seems to think that being non-judgmental is a fundamentally Christian value, and that judging someone means lacking in Christian love. They claim that God's love is unconditional, and so our love should be unconditional, towards each and every human being.
But when you consider the biblical references to judgment, you run into something that looks an awful lot like a contradiction:
"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven", Jesus says (Luk 6:37, see also Mat 7:1), but you should shun those brethren that are fornicators, idolaters etc. (1Co 5:11), and don't let false teachers into your house (2Joh 1:10). Besides these, you find Jesus being rather judgmental about people, calling them dogs and swine that you should not waste your pearls on (Mat 7:6, see also Mat 15:26 and Mar 7:27-28), and Paul promises to those that display the fruits of the flesh that they will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21).
God of course doesn't contradict Himself, He is not the author of confusion (1Co 14:33) and remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Therefore, the above verses only appear to be contradictory if you put the first quote absolute, that is, if you read it to mean that judgment of any type is bad per se.
If you do that, you cannot judge anymore if someone is a false teacher, a whore monger, a swine unworthy of your pearls, a dog unworthy of the bread that belongs to the children, or exhibits any of the fruits of the flesh Paul lists. You have to accept all these behaviors in love and endure them and possibly try to minister to people who display "bad" behavior, though here, you already run into a problem yet again: The determination that the behavior is wrong is already a judgment, and according to this view held, obviously un-Christian.
The biblical point about not judging, however, is that we should follow God's assessment in every way, and not lean unto our own understanding when it comes to judgment (or any other moral and ethical, social and personal issue, for that matter, Pro 3:5-8). Thus, we can follow God in saying that homosexuality is an abomination to Him (Lev 18:22, Rom 1:26-27), without being judgmental on our own accord. Thus, we can say that liars and cowards are going to burn in the lake of sulphur (Rev 21:8), and don't keep company of people who ignore or ridicule God's Law (2Ti 3:2-5), without being judgmental, for we are obedient to His will in doing so.
"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (Joh 5:30)
The general call not to judge anyone and to associate with everyone equally, no matter what they believe or not believe, violates God's commandment of separation and holiness (Lev 20:26) as well as ignores God's own judgments as exemplified above. Instead, we are called to follow God in His judgment, just like Jesus did, and act accordingly.
Technorati Tags: judgment, Christian values, being judgmental, God's assessments, Joshuah's House
