God is the Judge, But We Want to be the Jury

Today we return to a devotional writer we first introduced five years ago. The site is Your Bible Quotes, and the writer is Sonya Richards. Although the page is no longer active, we visited recently and found this older article which we hope will resonate with you. There are links within the piece to other devotionals she has written.

God is The Judge But We Are Not The Jury

God is the Judge, but we are not the Jury

The Bible is a mirror, not a gavel with which you strike the bench to pass judgment on other believers. When you read the Bible are you humbly seeking to do God’s will or feverishly looking to see where others miss the mark? We all miss the mark on a daily basis, but the flesh wants to divide sins into categories and degrees of sin. Homosexuality is a sin and Christians are quick to judge that sin; however, if you bring home a pencil from work, you have stolen it and are just as culpable as a homosexual. All sin is sin and God is the judge of it all.

Because God is the judge, He is a just judge, giving not punishments that we deserve, but more grace for all who repent. We do not know what lies in the heart of another person, but we know God looks on the heart. Do not be tempted to play God.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7(NLT)

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:11-12 (NIV)

Lawbreakers All

Our job is to keep the law, not administer it. God is the judge; we are his subjects. That is a powerful Biblical truth. Think of it this way, when we see someone breaking the law, should we arrest him? We do not have the authority to enforce the law; only policemen can do that. So instead of pulling your neighbor over and telling him he is speeding, pay attention to your own speed because the only person you can control is you. You might wish the police would catch your neighbor speeding, but you cannot even make the police pull him over. If you call the police station and tell them they should stop your neighbor for speeding, I think they would tell you that was not your concern. If you call the police station and tell them they should stop your neighbor from speeding I think they would tell you that was not your concern.

Judging another’s sin is a slippery slope because God is the judge, the Name above all names, and He says if you start pointing fingers you might call down a heavy judgment from Heaven upon yourself. There is no chance that anyone is not sinning; it’s the nature of the beast. The Bible says to forgive your enemies, and the Lord’s Prayer says “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). That means to forgive us in the same portion that we forgive others. I’m fairly certain we do not earnestly desire that.

Throw Out a Lifeline

As a matter of a fact, instead of contemplating the depth and frequency of another’s sin, we should be on our knees praying day and night that they would come to the knowledge of their errors so as to be forgiven, rescued from death, pass into eternal life and turn to God. We know that prayer changes things.

God didn’t save you so you can gloat; He saved you so you can spread the gospel. A Christian is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

 

Scripture Back at Ya: Don’t Judge

Ouch! Nothing worse than having a scripture verse thrown back in your face. Like “Judge not…” That’s our topic for today, which is taken from PleaseConvinceMe.com, the blog of author J. Warner Wallace, whose book Cold Case Christianity is being reviewed Thursday at Thinking Out Loud. As always here at C201, you’re encouraged to read these articles at source; here’s the link for this one, originally titled: The Verse the Culture Misquotes Most Regularly in an Effort to Quiet Christians

As a Christian, I’m often at odds with the culture around me. As our society embraces a growing number of unbiblical behaviors and attitudes, I find myself becoming more and more vocal in my opposition. I’m not alone; many other conservative Christians are also taking a stand for what the Bible teaches, particularly when it comes to moral behavior. Maybe that’s why I seem to hear Matthew 7:1 tossed around so frequently by those who want Christians to quiet down:

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.”

Whenever we, as Christians, speak out against something in the culture, one of two labels is immediately employed in an effort to silence us: we are either branded “intolerant” or “judgmental”. To make matters worse, the second label is often attached to the teaching of Jesus Himself. Are we Christians defying the words of our Master when we speak against the behaviors, attitudes or worldviews affirmed by others? Did Jesus command us to be silently non-judgmental?

This selective use of scripture by the opposition is perhaps the finest example of what we at Stand to Reason are addressing when we caution people to “never read a Bible verse.” Matthew 7:1, when read in isolation from the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount, may seem to command a form of silent acceptance and tolerance advocated by the culture, but a closer examination of the verse reveals Jesus’ true intent. If Jesus was advocating some form of quiet tolerance, how do we explain the following statements?

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (verse 6)

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (verses 13 and 14)

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (verse 15)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (verses 21, 22 and 23)

Wow, Jesus seems vocally judgmental in these passages. Some people are dogs and swine, unworthy of our efforts. Some people are wrong about the path they choose. Some people are false prophets. Some people are true disciples and some are not. Jesus sure seems comfortable making judgmental statements about people in these passages. How could Jesus say such things when he began this part of the sermon by saying, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged”? Maybe we should revisit the first verses of Matthew 7:

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

It turns out that Jesus is not prohibiting vocal discernment in these passages, but is cautioning against a certain kind of unbecoming behavior: hypocritical judgmentalism.  We are called to live differently so that we can effectively identify and address un-Biblical behavior in our culture. I cannot be a practicing thief and effectively caution against thievery. I cannot be an active adulterer and effectively advocate monogamy. I’m going to have to “first” stop and assess my own behavior (take out my own “log”) before I can “then” caution others about their behavior (help them take the “speck” out of their eye). This is a “first / then” commandment. Both sides of the directive are important; Jesus is commanding two equally critical actions. First, we must change our behavior; become people of God who are above reproach. Second, we must actively engage others about their behavior. Some ideas are good and some are bad. Some prophets are true and some are false. Some people are right, some people are wrong. We are called to make statements about such things after we eliminate hypocrisy in these areas of our own lives. We, as Christians, are called to (1) live righteously, and (2) speak out about unrighteousness. We are less likely to do this, however, if we allow folks misquote Jesus in an effort to silence us.

J. Warner Wallace is a Christian Case Maker at Stand to Reason, and the author of Cold-Case Christianity

 

Scripture portions from various translations quoted at Christianity 201 are always in green to remind us that the Scriptures have LIFE!