Judging others seems to be one of the biggest sins these days. However, the Bible tells us that we should exercise judgment in evaluating people’s actions and handling them as described in the Bible. That kind of judgment is healthy and necessary in a Christian life.
So how do handle tough situations and judge appropriately!?
There are four relational areas that we should consider when it comes to judging others. In the last devotional, I shared about our personal relationships and the relationships we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In this devotional, I will share about the role of the church, and our responsibility in the world.
The Church
False Prophets and Teachers
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 2Peter 2:1-3
The above scriptures written by Apostle Peter may sound harsh and judgmental to some, but in reality Peter is writing as a father to his spiritual children. Just like any good father who would try to warn his children of the wolves around them, Apostle Peter is warning the church and the believers about the impostors in their midst.
The church leadership needs to shepherd the flock by guarding people from false teachers and false prophets. They cannot look the other way and hope for the best. They need to be watchful of any wolves among them, and they also need to teach people to discern between true teachers and the false ones.
Elders held accountable
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.1Timothy 5:19-20
The church leaders have been called to live with a high level of integrity. The Bible protects the leadership from unnecessary judgments and accusations by people. However, it still recognizes man’s sinful nature, so it provides an avenue for sin to be handled appropriately. The elders are not untouchable, but the above scripture tells us that we should only receive accusations against an elder when there are two or three witnesses. God cares about His bride, and He cares about the health of His leadership as as well as the health of His sheep.
A Leader confronted
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 2Samuel 12:7-9
In the above passage, we see prophet Nathan confronting King David. David had Uriah killed to cover his adultery with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. He had sinned and had kept it to himself for about a year. In the meantime, he ruled the country and acted like there was nothing wrong. However, Nathan knew that David had blood on his hands. So he, courageously, approached the king knowing that David may get angry and possibly put him to death.
Nathan was willing to risk his life for the sake of God’s kingdom and His righteousness. He came to the king calmly and respectfully. Nathan masterfully shared a story to get the king thinking about his duties as a judge and how he would handle an unjust situation. When Nathan finally confronted David, the king saw the error of his way clearly. He received Nathan and admitted to his sin. David was willing to repent.
Many Christians fail in confrontation because they are offended and have lost respect for the leader and his/her position. Therefore, they don’t approach the leader the right way, and they convolute the issue with personal feelings. That complicates the matter by being offensive, and, as a result, they are not being heard for the real message they were delivering. As the saying goes, the baby is thrown out with the bathwater.
The truth is not every situation is going to turn out like David’s story of repentance. Are we still willing to try? How many people are willing to take those tough steps and risk their livelihoods, ministries, or their relationships with the leadership!?
The world
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Matthew 7:15-18
Jesus tells us that we should not just accept or receive anyone who claims to be a prophet of God. We need to examine the fruit of their lives. This is not judgmental but it is wisdom. This also applies to those who claim to be a Christian. We cannot just assume everyone is a Christian because they claim to be. We have a responsibility to examine their lives. This is not about judging them but understanding what the person needs and the kind of relationship we can have with them.
If a person is a believer we have a different responsibility towards them than if they are unbelievers. Our relationship with a believer is about mutual spiritual support. On the other hand, an unbeliever needs encouragement towards salvation, but we cannot hold their lives accountable to the Bible. We can lead them towards choosing the true Life. We also need to know if someone is not a believer, because the Bible tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That applies to marriage, business, etc.
We all have seen examples of couples getting married because one person thought that their mate was a believer. However, in a few months they found out that the person is not a Christian; they just acted like they were interested in the things of God. We all need to take our time and evaluate the fruit of people’s lives before we believe what they claim.
I hope this series has helped to bring understanding on the subject of judging others. To live a healthy Christian life, we need to exercise judgment and learn to evaluate situations Biblically. This keeps the body from pollution of the world, preserves relationships, and helps believers from being deceived by what someone claims.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay