Christians are often accused of being bigoted or overtly judgmental. Some claim Christians should never judge anyone, because Jesus spoke against it. It’s funny how critics often quote scripture to back up their own prejudice. In this lengthy broadcast Carl takes time to review key scriptures regarding judgement, and the conditions under which judgement is warranted as a believer. Carl shares an historical anecdote from his own nation, which serves as a cautionary tale of judging too hastily. Join him now for this thorough expose on whether Christians have the right to judge…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Our subject today, will no doubt ruffle some feathers, heck it might even upset some people. Nevertheless, this subject of ‘judgement’ needs to be discussed as I believe it’s an area where many Christians have been duped. Some claim Jesus never judged anyone, nor should we, because He preached love and acceptance. Well, Jesus preached love certainly, but He did not accept all forms of behavior. He called the pious Pharisees ‘white washed tombs’ and ‘of their father the devil.’ Jesus wasn’t afraid to call out hypocrisy especially. He was loving certainly and preached the truth, because of it, and so should we. It is a false, ecumenical, ‘touchy, feely,’ Jesus who preaches love and acceptance, and the church has swallowed this lie. In fact, the church is in danger of being robed in rainbow colors, as we speak.
Now, God is our ultimate judge, heck there is even a bible chapter called judges, so He is passionate about the topic. In essence, judging is a function of the theocratic nature of God. To judge rightly in His kingdom, we must judge our own beliefs, behavior, and fruit, in the mirror of God’s Word. God’s primary concern when carrying out judgment, is to protect the righteous from the wicked. There are righteous and wicked people in this world. This is why murderers, thieves and rapists are thrown in prison. Our society is structured after the Levitical theme of crime and punishment. Punishment for the wicked is God’s invention and If people do not receive the gift of His Son, they will end up in a spiritual prison called hell, forever tormented by the devil and demon forces. This is not God’s desire and man goes to hell as an intruder but this will occur if the gift is shunned.
Unfortunately, justice, is waning in our judicial system today. The victim should be protected at all costs. There should be no fluffing of pillows in prison, for the perpetrator. In Gen 18:25, Father Abraham, makes the statement, “Shall you destroy the wicked with the righteous?…Should not the judge of all the earth do right?” Here is the precedent set for judgement in the bible friend, a separation of evil and good, the wicked and the righteous. 1st Peter 1:17, says that God judges without partiality and he judges the work of our hands in service to him. God is just and He is fair. If someone is given responsibility to rule in a certain area or has jurisdiction over others, then they are entitled to make judgements regarding their subordinates. The employee, employer relationship is a classic example. We must never separate responsibility from authority. Those who are given positions of authority in society, are also granted the authority to judge at their discretion, providing those judgements, are fair.
Obviously for the Christian, fairness is determined by the Holy Bible. As a father, I have the right to determine if my daughter’s room looks like a scene from a disaster movie and judge accordingly, you get the picture, amen. Then we have folk who judge other people’s parenting skills, when they have no children of their own. In scripture we are called to judge our personal conduct and relationships. If we judge ourselves, we will not fall under Gods judgment. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul mentions that some were sick and died prematurely because they had not judged themselves. Indeed, judgement is a very serious topic.
You know the old adage, ‘now don’t be judging other people because Jesus said “Judge not lest you be judged.” So, let’s look at that passage right now together, as I read from the King James Bible in Matthews Gospel, chapter seven, verses one through five, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why do you behold the mote or speck, that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how wilt thou say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote or speck, out of your brother’s eye.” The takeaway from this passage is clear, Jesus stresses that we must be careful because any judgment we pass on others will eventually come back to us and ultimately, people will judge you, as you judge them. It is not so much, the judgement itself, that is called into question here, but the ‘way’ in which you judge others. In addition, lets not forget, the law of sowing and reaping is still in effect, in other words, if we have a habit of judging others without considering the mote or speck in our own eye, then judgment and its consequences, will boomerang back to us eventually.
Jesus also uses the term, ‘hypocrite’ here which intimates, the person, doing the judging, has most likely done the very same thing. We should judge with righteous judgement as God does, we should not judge before all the facts are presented, and of course we judge on the basis, of two or three witnesses with regard to any accusation, as scripture attests. We must also choose to err on the side of mercy, as James 2:13 states, ‘’mercy triumphs over judgement.’’ If we want God to be merciful toward us, we should show mercy to others. Again, symptomatic of the law of sowing and reaping.
Along these lines, I will share a quick tale from Welsh lore of the foolishness of judging too hastily. In the village of Beddgelert, in North West Wales, there is a large stone grave, with the following words etched upon it. ….”IN THE 13TH CENTURY, LLYWELYN, PRINCE OF NORTH WALES, HAD A PALACE AT BEDDGELERT. ONE DAY HE WENT HUNTING WITHOUT GELERT “THE FAITHFUL HOUND” WHO WAS UNACCOUNTABLY ABSENT. ON LLYWELYN’S RETURN, THE DOG STAINED AND SMEARED WITH BLOOD, JOYFULLY SPRANG TO MEET HIS MASTER. THE PRINCE ALARMED HASTENED TO FIND HIS SON, AND SAW THE INFANT’S COT EMPTY, THE BEDCLOTHES AND FLOOR COVERED WITH BLOOD. THE FRANTIC FATHER PLUNGED THE SWORD INTO THE HOUND’S SIDE THINKING IT HAD KILLED HIS HEIR. THE DOG’S DYING YELL WAS ANSWERED BY A CHILD’S CRY. LLYWELYN SEARCHED AND DISCOVERED HIS BOY UNHARMED. NEARBY LAY THE BODY OF A MIGHTY WOLF WHICH GELERT HAD SLAIN, THE PRINCE FILLED WITH REMORSE IS SAID NEVER TO HAVE SMILED AGAIN. HE BURIED GELERT HERE. THE SPOT IS CALLED BEDDGELERT.”
In a moment of confusion friend, the prince realized he had slaughtered his beloved and faithful dog. The story of Gelert is a cautionary tale for all of us, who have jumped to conclusions regarding our friends, family or colleagues. Many have slaughtered others with the sword of their tongue in heated gossip or slander, without knowing the full story. When God judges, He sees all and knows all. Prince Llewelyn did not have that luxury. God is a moral God who judges righteously, showing no partiality, and his laws exhibit moral restraint. God’s word warns against the works of the flesh, namely, Adultery, malice, murder, hate, fornication, so on and so forth. We Christians have a moral code to live by and don’t you doubt it. If we see other people living loosely, it is a loving act to warn them of their behavior and consequences for their sin. If a Christian falls into sin, we should lovingly approach them, grieve for their loss, share a pointed rebuke if necessary and restore them on the right path. But effectively we must judge ourselves and others in line with God’s demands for living, not our own. This is our calling of consecration and separation toward sanctification, which is choosing a life set apart and marked for holiness. This is a gift we give to God after He gave us the gift of righteousness, by His son’s precious blood.
But aren’t judgmental people fun to hang around with, friend? lol. Just like the Pharisees who were superficially smug, yet oblivious to the huge beam in their own eyes. People who are always looking down on other people are setting themselves up for a fall. If you give everyone a piece of your mind, eventually, you will have nothing left to give away. In fact, the only time you should look down on someone is to help them up. Then we have to consider how God feels about judgement. Is there a divine component to this? We are judging his creation after all, God sees everything that person has gone through in their lives, He knows why a person behaves the way they do, but we don’t have all the facts at our disposal regarding this person’s background. Some people have been abused friend, and they act out of that abuse as a self-defense mechanism. Some people are touchy, they are sensitive because they are the walking wounded. Some folk purvey arrogance because they feel inadequate deep down on the inside. Some folks are shy because of their aching heart, saturated with shame. Friend, judgment is a very serious business and we need to be careful when we pass judgment on others. What did Gandalf have to say about it?, “Do not be too eager to deal out death or judgment Frodo, for even the very wise cannot see all ends. “Now I’m not using Lord or the Rings as a source text, or Tolkien as my go to. Some believe Tolkien was a Christian, others do not. But regardless this whole judgment business is likened to a tinder box ready to explode at any moment. We must be careful playing on the jump to conclusions mat, without hearing all the facts concerning the matter or person.
Proverbs 18:13 says, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” Proverbs 18:17 says,” He who is first in his own cause seems just, but his neighbor comes and searches him.” Without investigation and the facts, we can quickly jump to the wrong conclusions about a person’s character, and that is a sin! 1st Corinthians 4:5, also warns us not to judge before the time. In 1st Cor 11:31, we are called to judge our own conduct, and moral behavior, lest we will be judged by God. Romans chapter 14: 4 says, “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. “ When we judge other Christians we are judging Gods servants. Ultimately, they are accountable to God not us. Later on in Romans chapter 14 verses ten through thirteen, it says, “ 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. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
And again, in the New Testament, the Book of James speaks of the seriousness of judging other believers in James chapter 4 verses 11-12, “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” In James it also says, “do not complain against one another, that you might not be judged (Jas. 5:9).”
However, in sharp contrast, there are scriptural passages which advocate judgment, and are often overlooked. In John’s gospel, 7:24, Jesus said, “judge not according to the appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” This is the way God judges friend, he judges the secret motives of the heart and does not judge by observing the outward appearance. A great example of this would be the selection of the rugged, teenager, David as the choice for the open vacancy of the king of Israel, in the first book of Samuel, chapter 16: verses 6-7. In this passage the prophet Samual mistakenly chooses Eliab, one of David’s brothers as the obvious candidate for king, but God has other ideas, saying, “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” It is the motivation of the heart, which is Gods primary concern, for good or evil and God sees all. This should serve as a warning to us, to be ever mindful of judging by appearance only.
Along these lines, Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace, which others are just as entitled to, as we are.” That is food for thought. Friend, God is a judge, he judges righteously. He will judge His people at the Bema seat of Christ and of course because we are already saved, our works will be called into question, in other words, what we did with the gospel on his behalf and the many talents he granted us at birth. In fact, God said that all judgment has been passed to His son Jesus Christ, who is qualified to judge humanity having lived in a physical body. It refers to this in John 5:22. Jesus understood our frailties, He understood our infirmities and was tempted in the flesh as we are, therefore He is perfectly qualified to judge us rightly.
But friend, there are many examples in the Bible where we are explicitly called upon to make judgements. It says, we will sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30); in the book of revelation (Rev. 20:4), it mentions thrones on which those who are given authority to judge were seated. It also states that, the saints (that’s us) will judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2). We Christians are called to judge the message we hear in the pews each week and whether or not, it lines up with scripture (1 Cor. 10:15); We are called to let the prophets speak and judge their prophetic utterances (1 Cor. 14:29). In fact, it even mentions in 1st Cor. 6:3, that one day, we will judge angels, so how much more, the matters of this life? It is unclear whether this judgment of angels refers to the fallen angels of Gen 6, currently held in Tartarus, or if we will one day judge our guardian angel. Who knows.
God entrusts us to make judgements on a daily basis because we have the word of God as our compass to navigate life and the Spirit of God who bears witness, on the inside of us. The notion that we are not supposed to make any judgments as Christians is absurd. Each day I need to make a judgements regarding the clothes I wear, which school my kids should attend, which car to drive, which person to marry, which area to live in, which house to buy, which soccer team to support (maybe I didn’t seek the Lord on that), and all the while I seek God in my decision making and so should you, because we seek to glorify Him in every aspect of our lives.
Friend, there is one place you never want to be and that is in attendance of the coming Great White throne judgment. This will occur at the end of the millennial reign, when God empties hell and brings all the damned before him for one last sentencing. We never want to see that day. Jesus made it clear in John 12:48, that His word will judge them in that terrible day, saying, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him. The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. “Christ will open the historical record of every person’s past, to see whether their works are worthy enough to pay for their wage of sin, but alas it will not. No amount of good works will atone for sin. For them, their wage of sin will remain unpaid, as they are cast into the eternal lake of fire, which burns forever and forever, and will never be quenched.
Friend, I urge you to place your faith in the blood of Christ today and walk in love with your fellow man. I will leave you with the words of John Wesley, “We should be rigorous in judging ourselves, and gracious in judging others.” You do what God called you to do and leave the judgment of others, up to God.
Bibliography:
Derek Price, Judging: When? Why? How? (Whitaker House Publishing, New Kensington, PA, 2001).
Colin Day, Collins Thesaurus of the Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009).
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