Dangerous Judgement

I would be rich if I had a nickel for every time I heard a religious or non religious person say 'judge not lest ye be judged', and of course they usually follow that up with some sort of tirade about how we should all just love each other and stop the judging.

I hope to dispel any myths about this once and for all with this posting (yeah, right, good luck haha).  The scripture they are trying to quote comes directly out of the Book of Romans, 2nd chapter.  The English word 'judgest' is actually the Greek word 'krino' which means to 'avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think'.  It captures the methods just as much as the act; in other words, one not necessarily do it with the mouth, judging within one's own heart or mind is just as applicable.

But here is the real kicker for me.  When you really study this thing out, what you discover is that the follow on scriptures complete the thought that Paul was trying to convey; which is that if you judge someone else for doing, saying, thinking or otherwise participating in something deemed 'wrong', and you yourself are doing the same thing, then that is when the problems are created.

It does not state that if you are clean in the matter, and are concluding that person 'such and such' has done something deemed 'wrong', that you can't address the matter with them, because you can.  The Bible calls us to holiness for that very reason.  We need our brothers and sisters 'judging' us within the Body of Christ to help us all stay on track, and confronting us when we do 'dumb' things.  This is supposed to be at work within the Body of Christ, so that the 'world' won't have a leg to stand on; because folks, if we don't judge ourselves internally, the world will, and it will be offensive to them and it will hinder the process of converting their souls.

Do you see the tie in here.  This entire matter has always been about preaching the Gospel, winning souls, and making disciples of all men to Jesus.  When we misbehave, or tolerate evil living within the Body of Christ, we are facilitating roadblocks to those who may otherwise accept the Gospel message and yield their lives over to Jesus as their Lord.  If we don't have this accountability within the Church, we are hindering the flow of the Gospel to those who desperately need it. Nobody within the Church is exempt from this basic principle; nope, not even ministers or the elders.  There is a more respectful method to 'entreat' elders, but I have found that sometimes, its the leaders themselves who are creating some of the biggest problems within the Church, and need to be judged upon if you will.

Suffice it to say that none of us are perfect, which is exactly why we need each other to get our backs; the problem is that when there is sin in the Church, those who are participating in that evil, tend to tolerate it among others who are doing it, because they have no position of strength to address it head on.  For too long, those who are holy in a particular area, and who step out to try to correct the thing, get hammered by those who are captive by it and called vicious names and rebuked for judging when that is exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

If you and I are free in a certain area of our lives, we have the responsibility to help others get free in that area as well; and judging, or concluding, or discerning, call it what you will, is a part of that process.  We should not shrink because of the opposition that we may face doing it.  We, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ are the only people on the planet that possess 'righteousness' and only we can set the bar, or the standard against which everything else in this lifetime is measured. 

If we don't do it, who will?