Are Christians NEVER Suppose to Judge?

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Matthew 7:1-2

I have seen some of the harshest statements of judgment made by the very people who are called to be the most compassionate.  In my third year of college I was working with a teenager who was struggling with an addiction.  We went together to talk to a local minister who in a matter of minutes proceeded crush the spirit of this teen by letting him know that unless he stopped, he stood condemned because God had already rejected him.   I was shocked.  How could he judge this person so harshly?  It lead me to ask, How do I live out my belief and convictions in a way that helps to bring life-changing hope to people instead of condemning judgment?

How did Jesus “judge”, confronting the behaviors of those around him?

Let me take the example of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11).  What she was doing went against both God’s and the community standards. The religious leaders came forward with the consequences for this woman.  Here is the judgment:  she must die by stoning her.  They turned to Jesus, hoping they would trap him in a no win situation. If he said she didn’t do anything wrong, then he would not be a person who had the standards to act justly. If he condemned her, then the crowd would see him as merciless.  What did he do? First of all – he agreed with them.  There were God given moral standards that he lived by.  This was one of them.  She did deserve the punishment, but he took gave us an example of how we judge without condemning.  1) He reminded us that we all fail… “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”.  2) He extended grace and forgiveness… “neither do I condemn you”

3) He showed her the better way… “Go now and leave your life of sin”

He didn’t say, “I’m personally uncomfortable with it, but if it works for you, then that’s okay.”  He called it what it was, SIN!  BUT he confronted with the outpouring of compassion towards himself, the one who offered hope and grace, NOT  condemnation!  John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

This is where so many Christians get it wrong.  The best course of action is to NOT stop assessing out immoral, hurtful behavior – judging what is right and wrong according to God’s standards, but to do it with the compassion of Jesus.

Let me give you three keys to make this a reality based on what Jesus did in Matthew 7:1-6.

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

KEY #1: The same standard you use to judge others will be the same one God will use for you.

“And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck out of your eye; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brothers eye.”
KEY#2: Deal with your own sin first before tackling someone else’s.

⁶“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

KEY #3: Don’t give out your insights to those who aren’t ready to hear.

Proverbs 9:8 “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.”

Ironically the NT is pretty silent when it comes to harsh judgments and condemnation of the Roman Government and it’s leaders.  While it does speak of societal decadence in general, it usually does so in the context of reminding those who were followers of Jesus that they were to no longer live that way.  The reason was simple.  The early church understood their job was not to condemn those around them.  Their role was to compassionately confront by showing others a better way… the best way.

Have you read the story about this great leader, King David who made a massive mistake that he was going to pay for the rest of his life. He looked out from his balcony, saw a beautiful married woman, Bathsheba…  he took her into his palace… had a one night fling… tried to cover it up… had her husband killed… once she was done grieving… he brought her home to be his wife and she gave birth to a little baby boy.   The guilt and grief that overcame him hits pretty close to home for many of us.  It may sound like a present day soap opera episode, but this situation happens to be true.

You can find it all in the Bible by reading 2 Samuel 11-12.

When you read it, you can’t help but ask,  “how could a great guy like this could make such a blundering choice that caused his household to live under the pain of it the rest of his life?”

It’s ironic that the automotive technicians have such a unique name for the dashboard warning symbols in our cars today.  They call them, “idiot lights.”    

These lights indicate that something is wrong somewhere in your car.  Anywhere from, “your seatbelt is is unbuckled” to “check the engine”.  The average person cannot assess out what is really wrong, but there is a nagging sense with that light on, that impending doom is just around the corner.  You don’t know anything, until that light comes on.  But when it does… you better do something about it right away!

That’s kind of how guilt works.

Guilt has a greater purpose than just to make you feel bad. Guilt is like an “idiot light” on the dashboard of your life.  Just like the warning lights in your car, guilt tells us that something is wrong in your life. Something is not working according to the manufacturer’s specs.  Left unchecked, you WILL be in more trouble than you are right now.

Q:  Have you made some really bad choices in your life that now have signaled the “idiot light” of guilt to come on?  Don’t try to hide it away.  David did and here’s what he said about it his writing of Psalm 38:4-5,

“My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.”

Let that GUILT move you to GRIEF.  You need to experience the reality of the wrong you’ve done.  Let it pervade that best part of you that is human.  Someone else may be paying for your mistakes.  Your guilt light is flashing… the grief is raw… now where do you go with it?

The only long term solution that really works is for another to offer you GRACE.  This is the unmerited gift of forgiveness that moves towards restoration.  This is what God most wants us to embrace.   Like David we ask, “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!” (Psalm 25:7).  Landing on His grace is the only way to relieve the guilt, heal the grief, and bring you back to real life.

Pastor John

Pastor John DuBall… NewDay Church @ the Y

A question I was asked early on in my ministry was: “Why do some really good people often get tripped & fail in some really big ways?”

Most of us have heard about those leaders who are doing good things for others make some real stupid moral choices that almost totally cancel out all the good they have done.

Here are four warning signs that you should be aware of to keep you from becoming one of those who find themselves in a trap you never intended to get caught in.

4 Warning Signs You Are About To Fall

1. Any time I think I’m stronger than the temptations I will face.

1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

I found what Gordon McDonald said about his moral failure many years ago to be very helpful.

“I’ve spent more than a little time trying to understand how and why some men/women in all kinds of leadership get themselves into trouble whether the issues be moral, financial, or the abuse of power and ego. From those terrible moments of twenty years ago in my own life I have come to believe that there is a deeper person in many of us who is not unlike an assassin.
This deeper person can be the source of attitudes and behaviors we normally stand against in our conscious being. But it seeks to destroy us and masses energies that – unrestrained – tempt us to do the very things we “believe against.” If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage.” Gordon McDonald, 11/5/2006  Christianity Today, “Out of Ur”

2. When you tell yourself, “No one will ever know”.

Don’t believe the major marketing campaign of Las Vegas, “What Happens Here, Stays Here”.  Remember this: “Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows”.
3.  When you are experiencing great success and you change the rules.

We often began to feel God must be pleased with me and my success demonstrates my
superiority.  You start to say, “I have certain rights & privileges other people don’t”.  Whenever you let success dictate a new set of rules, you are in danger

4. When you go through extreme hardship & failure and you change the rules.

Here is what you start telling yourself, “My situation is very different, so the normal rules don’t apply here to me.” The justifying & rationalizing of your situation can bring you down.

So… what are the warning signs tell you today? Watch and heed the “Do Not Enter”, the “Caution”, and the “Dead End” signs along way in order to keep yourself from ending up in a place it’s difficult to get back from.

Friends… I want to change.

I want to change the thinking patterns that make me feel like I can never measure up.   This nagging sense of inadequacy that reminds me I’m not quite “good enough”.   When it comes to the end of each day I often find myself looking at what I did not accomplish compared to what I did do.

Do you get the feeling that there is just TOO much information to learn…

TOO many projects that need to be finished…

TOO many people to catch up with?

I stopped adding entries into this blog because it just seemed like another function I had to complete.  Well, no more.  This is going to become my journal of struggle and discovery in everyday life.  You are welcome to come along on the journey but know this… I am just an imperfect person seeking to live out my love for God in tangible ways.

I want to change… how about you?

A few people have commented that something is “seriously wrong with you”. They usually say that after I tell them I get up about 4:40 am and go work out. Maybe they are right. I wasn’t always this way. I am a night person by nature. But a few years back, a friend encouraged me to come to do a cycling class with him at the athletic club. I just happen to show up on the day we had the “go all out and almost die” instructor. I thought I was going to die. Instead, it was the beginning of a life-change for me.

Change… it’s an inevitability of life. I’m thankful we get to have a hand in some of the change that happens to us. The part we get to chose is a sliding scale between freedom and discipline. I’ll side with the writer of the book of Corinthians…

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will
not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that
after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

For me that means my life is a series of choices about what direction I will head.

The getting up early is just one of many. It’ a new day, every day – what will your life be about?

I’ve been thinking about a gift we received last week. NewDay was given over 200 chairs to use for our ministry. A place to sit and belong. Right now we have about fifty people who have felt God’s call to be here. Who are the rest of the chairs for?

I look around my neighborhood and see faces of people who I have talked to. Some of them know our Jesus and his great love for us. Many do not. Is one of those chairs for them? How about the people I talk to each week at the HyVee, the YMCA, and in our local coffee shops? Where can they find a people who will listen, care and help them discover the purpose of their life?

I am thankful we have 200 chairs. But I’m more interested in people who will fill them.

I don’t believe we are just some randomly formed organisms trying to eek out a survival here on earth. There is something of intricate worth and value in every person. When I look at another, I try and see the beauty and wonder of who they are. To the One who designed them, they must be very special.

Tonight I met another couple that moved to Rochester less than a year ago. They were originally from Paraguay and moved here to work at the Mayo Clinic.

Why should I take time to get to know them? They don’t speak English very well. It doesn’t look like we have much in common. It is too cold here for them and they are not sure how long they will stay. Why invest any time in sharing my life with them?

Maybe a better question is, “why not?”

Every encounter I have with person may be a life-changing one. I’d like every person who comes in contact with someone from NewDay to experience what Brian McLaren mentioned in his book, “More Ready Than You Realize”…

“We are a community bound together and energized by real faith, love, and commitment to Jesus Christ. Even though you don’t yet share that faith, love and commitment, you are most welcome to be with us, to belong here, to experience what we’re about. Then, if you are attracted and persuaded by what you see, you’ll want to set down roots here long term. And if don’t, you’ll always be a friend.”

Take a chance and open your life up to others… it may make a lifelong difference.

Pastor John