"Don't Judge Me"

I'll never forget about a year and half ago being "called out" on Facebook by someone for supposedly being judgmental of them.  I thought it was comical, just for the fact that they themselves were being judgmental of me, by calling me judgmental on a social networking site. It was also comical, because I never said anything to judge them; they were just assuming  that I would preach against their lifestyle at the time. Another thing that was hypocritical, was the fact that that particular week we had about 20 people in our home who were addicted to alcohol, drugs, pornography, and who had many other additional problems. These people sat at my table, in my living room, and spent time with my whole family. I don't say that to pat myself on the back, I simply am pointing out that I want to help people regardless of what problems they have in their life, and I don't want to be "judgmental" of anyone!

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus gives the warning to not judge, lest we should be judged. In the context, He is warning about judging someone's sins/faults, while ignoring even bigger sins in our own life. In other words, take the same microscope that you look at everyone else's sin with, and look at your own sin. That is some excellent advice! Think about how much better of a Christian we would be if we were as hard on our self as we are on everyone else. 

Now I agree, this passage is warning us to not judge others falsely; however, its purpose is not for us to use as our default verse when someone, or God's Word, is pointing out sin in our life. In fact, James tells us that it is our obligation to help convert sinners from the "error of their way." I don't think it's very effective to confront people about their sin that we don't have spiritual authority over, or whom we don't have a close relationship with. However, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we should keep one another accountable in a humble and merciful spirit. Let's make sure we honor Christ with our attitude towards others, and not come across as condescending and "judgmental". Let's also not refuse truth from a brother or sister in Christ, or a Pastor or Spiritual leader trying to help us.

God Bless,

Pastor Joel