Thesis 81- We must stop passing judgment on one another.
It is all too easy, when the culture is veering wildly to the left to think the solution is to veer wildly to the right. The world has planted its flag on its intentionally obtuse misunderstanding of Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, lest you be judged” and taken the view that the only sin left is to call something sin. Much of the church has drunk deep of this heady wine as well.
That this perspective is wildly off, however, doesn’t mean our calling is to “Judge all the time, as much as you can, as vehemently as you can.” There are times we are to take up the prophetic mantle and speak against evil in the world. There are times as well when we are to gently correct a brother, and to receive such corrections. There are other times, however, when we are not to do so.
Paul writes the church at Rome about what he calls “doubtful things,” which are often those places where we are most apt to pronounce judgment. He judges us for doing so,
“Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand (Romans 14:1-4).
This is not the only time Paul addresses this problem, doing so also in his first letter to the Corinthians. Which ought to tell us that we are prone to this problem. One problem, of course, in avoiding this problem, is that we don’t always know what the “doubtful things” are. We should push back against anyone arguing, “For one believes he may kill the unborn, but he who is weak would not do so.” In our own day we have increasing numbers of professing Christians, desperate to curry favor with the world, negotiating the clear teaching of God’s Word on homosexuality, foolishly trying to drag it into the realm of doubtful things. Let it not be so.
There are, however, doubtful things, things we ought not to judge our brothers and sisters over. Romans 14 covers not just issues of food and drink, but days and holy days. How we sing praises to God is likely another “doubtful thing” over which we war within the church. If we would have a Reformation, however, we need to get past these petty squabbles. If we would stand together against an increasingly aggressive onslaught from the world, we need to stand together. If the world would know that we belong to Him, we need to learn to love one another (John 17).
Reformation comes when our focus and energy is poured into those things we must not find doubtful- that we are sinners, that Jesus died for us, that our Father loves us.