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Should We Judge Others?
Jesus said in Matthew 7:2, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Jesus teaches that the rules you use to judge others, those same rules will be used against you to judge you. Let's look at some examples of how this principle works.
Take for example the Christian couple who believes that life begins at conception and it is murder to stop the life after conception. What if the wife of this married couple takes the birth control pill?
The way the birth control pill prevents pregnancy, is this: When the married couple has sex, the sperm and the egg unite and conception takes place. But the wife does not become pregnant because the birth control pill prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus. The fertilized egg continues to grow inside the mother's womb but it never grows to a full size baby. Instead during the mother's next menstrual cycle, the growing baby is washed out of the mother's womb during her normal monthly flow of blood.
So as it turns out, according to this Christian couple's own personal convictions, they are aborting their baby each time they get pregnant and the birth control pill prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus.
So will God judge this couple according to the measure they use to judge others? Will God hold this couple accountable for murder, because they consider it murder to stop a pregnancy after conception?
Jesus indicates in Matthew 7 verse 2 that God will judge the couple according to the way they judge others.
But what about another couple, who believes God gives a baby a soul and a spirit when the baby is born and who is in favor of allowing abortion in the first trimester, and who takes the birth control pill. Will God judge them for murder also, for taking the birth control pill? God will not judge them for murder since God, in the Bible, does not condemn abortion in the first trimester and since the married couple does not condemn abortion in the first trimester.
Let's take another example. What about a Christian man who considers it adultery to admire the beauty of beautiful women who are not his own wife. I remember several preachers, preaching that all men have a problem with "lust".
They explained "lust" which they said is "adultery" as any time a man takes a second look at a lingerie ad in the newspaper, a women with a low cut top, a woman's legs who is sitting with a short dress on, attractive women in movies or in bathing suits. They explained the you can't help noticing but taking a second look or a lingering look is adultery.
These same preachers admitted that they too have a problem with this looking at women, which they call "lust". Christians, who believe this way, believe it is sin or lust to admire the beauty of a female, especially one without clothes on, who is not you wife.
So will God judge these Christian men according to the measure they judge others? Will God condemn these Christian men for adultery when they look twice at the cleavage of a woman with a low cut top? Will God judge these Christian men for adultery when no one is around and they take a second look at the female models on the full page Foley's lingerie color ad in the Sunday newspaper?
The only verse in the Bible about sexual lust being sin is Matthew 5 verses 28. But to understand Matthew 5:28 you need to read the beginning of the same sentence which is Matthew 5:27.
Matthew 5 verses 27 and 28 is where Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” When Jesus spoke these two verses, scholars tell us, Jesus most likely spoke in Hebrew and most likely used the word “covet” instead of the word “lust”.
It is clear that Jesus was talking about adultery with a married woman. Jesus was saying that coveting or lusting to have sex with a married woman is just as bad as actually having sex with a married woman.
When Jesus said that "lusting" or coveting to have sex with a married woman was "adultery", Jesus was referring to the 10th commandment in Exodus 20 verse 17 where God said, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
So what about a Christian married couple who has studied the Bible and believes that Jesus in Matthew 5 verses 27 and 28, was not referring to a man who admires the beauty of a woman. This couple believes that Jesus was referring back to the Old Testament law on “coveting” and Jesus was saying that “coveting to have sex with a married woman” is just as bad as committing adultery with a married woman.
And so this Christian married couple can watch erotic videos with nudity, to help each other get turned on; with a clear conscience because they do not covet to have sex with the pictures in the videos.
And so God will not judge this Christian married couple who watch erotic videos, because God in the Bible does not condemn them, and the couple does not condemn others because they have correctly interpreted what the Bible says on the subject of “lust”.
And yet the other Christian men and preachers who believe it is adultery to admire the beauty of the opposite sex, and who openly admit they continually struggle with second glances at beautiful women and lingerie ads in newspapers and magazines – those men God will judge, because God will judge people based on the “measure” they use to judge others.
But what happens when someone who is in a position of authority misinterprets the Bible and imposes their own personal convictions on others? For example, what about the preacher who teaches that it is sin to admire the beauty of the opposite sex?
Jesus in Matthew 23 condemned religious teachers who make up lots of rules that make it difficult for people to keep. In Matthew 23 verses 2 to 4 Jesus says, “2 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees … do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “
Those “heavy loads” that Jesus refers to, are rules that the religious leaders came up with, that are not in the Bible. Today, those rules might be things like saying that life begins at conception, or saying it is adultery when a husband and wife watch an erotic video to help each other get turned on.
The apostle Paul warns in 1 Timothy 4 verses 1 to 3 that there we be religious leaders who will make up rules. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4 verses 1 to 3, “ 1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.”
So when religious leaders make up new rules for us to keep, beyond those the Bible clearly teaches, Paul calls those rules “doctrines of demons”.
We should keep the rules God has given us in the Bible. But those rules that our preachers and priests have made up - if we adopt them, God will use those rules against us, to judge us with the same “measure” we judge others. Those man-made rules are not in our best interest to adopt, because we condemn ourselves when we don't keep them.
They become, as Jesus said, “heavy loads on men's shoulders” that unnecessarily cause us to feel guilty for things God does not want us to feel guilty for. Paul in Romans 14:23, teaches that when you think something is sin, then for you, it is sin. Romans 14 verse 23 says, “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
So it is important that we not call something sin, if it is not sin. Why? Because we condemn ourselves if we end up breaking our own man-made rules. But more important, we end up causing others to stumble and not get saved by making up man-made rules.
In Matthew 23 when Jesus was condemning the religious leaders for making up man-made rules that were difficult for the people to keep, Jesus also mentioned how those rules can hurt those who want to know God.
In Matthew 23:15 Jesus said, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”
Jesus is saying that the religious leaders would go make converts, but once the people got saved, they ended up “twice as much a son of hell” as they were. Why? Maybe because those people wanted to know God but instead they ended up buying into all the man-made rules and began condemning others. And since the rules were impossible to keep they ended up condemning themselves and thus going to hell - since God is going to judge them with the same “measure” they use to judge others.
Paul in Romans 14 verse says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.”
Paul says we are a stumbling block when we judge others for things God does not judge others for.
Paul warns those who judge others that they will regret it. Romans 2:3-5 says, “3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Paul says people who judge others have a stubborn and unrepentant heart and Paul says they are storing up wrath against themselves at the day of judgment.
The positive side of what Paul says is that we don't need to judge others because God leads people to repentance by showing people kindness, tolerance and patience.
God wants to make it easy for people to get saved. This idea was taught by Jesus and also by Paul.
This is why Jesus said in Matthew 11 verses 28 to 30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
And the elders and Paul did not want to make it difficult for people to get saved either, and so they said in Acts chapter 15 verses 19 and 20, "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood."
Why do Christians judge others when God tells them over and over to not judge? The reason is, that people don't understand what God desires of people. People think that somehow we are more holy when we keep more rules. But Jesus said in Matthew 12:7, "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.”
Here Jesus teaches us that keeping rules which Jesus refers to “sacrifice” is not what God wants. Instead Jesus says God wants us to show “mercy” to others. And Jesus says that if we would understand this, we would not “condemn the innocent”.
So what should we do to be “holy” or “righteous”? The first thing is to believe in Jesus. When we admit to God that we are a sinner and we ask Jesus to forgive us for our sins, then we are “holy” in God's eyes.
Once we are saved, what should we do? Well, we are called to good works. Help the poor, tell people about Jesus, be a good neighbor, be thankful to God ... and don't judge others. Live a life with the purpose of building God's Kingdom.
Paul said in I Corinthians 6: 12 and also in 1 Corinthians 10:23 the apostle Paul says as Christians everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. In our quest to build God's kingdom and show love and mercy to others we can have the freedom in Christ to try things to see if they help us be better servants for Christ. If they help, great! If we find they don't help, then we try something else. But God really doesn't want us to feel guilty in the process. God wants us to have the right attitude - that is what Jesus meant when he said he desires "mercy" not "sacrifice". That attitude is one of not being judgemental of others and one of wanting to do everything we can to show love and mercy to others while telling them the good news of Jesus Christ.
We can write much more about this and we will in future writings. God bless … I've got to go help my wife deliver “meals on wheels” …
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