Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matt 7:1.
Talk about sin and salvation to an unsaved person and a favorite come-back
or defense is a misuse of the verse above. The unbeliever would like to make
you believe that if you talk to him about sin and salvation you are judging
or condemning him. So you are the guilty one according to the Bible.
Of course we find such a tricky approach amusing, and we need to inform such
folks that they are already dead
in trespasses and sins (judged)
and have no hope of life except as they receive it in Christ.
But what about believers? Are they entirely free of this kind of twisted
thinking? After talking to some believer have you ever been left with this
feeling: "Don't talk about my sins and I won't talk about yours." Closely
related to this is the thinking that what a person doesn't know he won't be
responsible for. Poor judgment!
Does the Bible actually condemn judging as such? We know it is necessary
for all of us to make various judgments (decisions) every day. This is true
even in Bible study. What you believe and strive to stand for in regards
to the Bible is a judgment.
In John 7:24 the Lord told His critics,
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment
. Before making a judgment on anything gather all the available facts before
acting. This is what a court of law is supposed to do. In the verse above,
Matt 7:1, just the opposite is implied. It is the unjustified condemnation
of someone else that is given as a warning here.
Most serious of all though, is how we judge God. Instead of letting an all-wise
God plan and direct our lives, we fall back on human wisdom. Many people
in the world think of God as some sort of absentee landlord. Do we? Many
times young people judge God as indifferent and unfaithful by the marriages
they enter into. They won't trust Him to provide a Christian wife or husband
as the case may be. They will marry in haste to an unbeliever and spend the
rest of their lives regretting it with bitterness and tears.
Evidently we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10)
to receive the things done in the body,
whether it be good or bad. Will this accounting we give include how
we judged our Lord in this life?
