Except that recently, God has been revealing to me ways I've judged others without even recognizing it. Yikes.
I think of my faith at age 15, that held everyone to Biblical laws in a very black and white fashion. I felt loving, but was really a little self-righteous and a lot pretentious. I remember looking at people in the spotlight, like Amy Grant, and being disappointed in her for leaving her husband and marrying Vince Gill. Or feeling betrayed and critical when Katy Hudson left behind the Christian music scene to become Katy Perry. How many times I've looked with contempt upon the "other woman" or "other man." I wouldn't have defined it then as "judging"...but on the contrary, that's exactly what I was doing.
I have no idea what it's like to be in their shoes. I don't know anything about them, or the situations that prompted their "sin". Their actions are between them and God. And I can still show them love despite their choices....because that's what God says I'm supposed to do. We're all human people who make human mistakes, some just are more public than others.
I had this epiphany driving to NC the other day: maybe I've built my faith upon a foundation of God's rules, not necessarily Jesus. For instance, divorce is wrong. Black and white. That made sense before. But now that I have had friends experience it, and come out better on the other side, it feels like the foundation has crumbled underneath me. When in reality, if my foundation was Christ alone, I wouldn't feel as shaken and confused, because HE NEVER CHANGES. His LOVE NEVER CHANGES.
If I choose stupidly...if I fall away but then come back to Jesus...He doesn't change, and He doesn't see me any differently either. He doesn't love me more on my "good" or "holy" days, when I'm on my best behavior, or when I'm making good choices. Honestly it's way more than I can begin to grasp. But I'm trying.
It takes every bit of HIS power to defeat sin in our life. But He is still the firm foundation EVEN if (when) we fall.
And seriously, y'all...let's stop this judging business. I'd like to retire from it permanently. Sin causes grief and sorrow (Isaiah 53:3). Do we really want to make someone's burden heavier by throwing judgement at them? Or will we tenderly and deliberately show them love? Which one do you think will lead them closer to Jesus?
Jen,
ReplyDeleteI know what you are getting at, so forgive me if I'm simply stating the obvious.
I think a distinction can be made between judging the action and the character of the person who performs it. The only reason I bring it up is because I think we fall into a trap sometimes of not speaking up because we don't want to seem "judgemental."
If I look after another woman besides my wife, and lust after her, then that is sin... black and white... case closed... end of story. There is no grey area in there, no wiggle room. Jesus said it was the same as adultery, and if you saw me doing it, then you would have every right to smack me and say "what are you doing!"
Jesus was pretty harsh at times as well. He called the Pharisees a "Brood of vipers" and "Hypocrites." The primary difference seems that Jesus always had compassion for the person. He never skirted around, or ignored their sin. He didn't however, write them off.
As Christians we tend to go to one of two places:
1.) Hold our noses up at other people's sin, forgetting about our own, and deciding that the person is just a bad apple. Usually this is when the gossip starts.
2.) Never bring up, or confront people about their sin because we don't want to be "judgemental" about it.
Unfortunately I think both options are really bad. We should have a lot of grace, and be very patient towards those who are not Christians, as they are simply acting like they are supposed to. Eventually the topic of sin will come up, and we need to be unapologetic about what the Bible says.
As for Christians who misbehave... I think we should call them on to the carpet for it. It just needs to be done in humility, and done in order to restore that person to the faith. Paul withstood Peter "to his face" because of his actions. Sometimes I think the church would be a lot stronger if we had a few more face-to-face talks like Paul and Peter had.
As you said though, this requires a right relationship with Christ, and ultimately love. But love isn't always tender. Sometimes it means telling a person they are wrong, because you don't want them to keep going in that direction.
Good points. There is definitely more to it than I got into! I appreciate your wisdom on the subject. I guess I was just mostly looking at myself and the way I look at people, versus the way God sees them. Anyways, thanks again for taking the time to give me some more truth on the subject!!
ReplyDeleteHey Jen and Josh, great conversion, relevant and timely. Josh, could you tell me more about your thoughts on what it means to "call Christians on the carpet" for their sin? Why would you treat Christians and non-Christians different?
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