What a week! Bruce wants us to call him Caitlin, Brittney and Glory are expecting their first child right after they slug each other in the face, the goody-two-shoes Josh Duggar is found to be not so goody-goody, and Blake Griffin is called Lindsey Lohan freckled face on Jimmy Kimmel.
What are we coming too? And should we even care? Why don't we all just stop judging one another? Live and let live, right? Keep your nose out of other people's business -- it will all work out well in the end for everyone. Won't it? Somehow our culture has been "taught" and has "caught" that we should never...ever...under any circumstance... "judge others." That is the modern day mantra, the cultural code; don't be an intolerant hate monger. Let people be. BIBLE GAMES It can be argued that even the bible preaches this message. Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge..." Seems pretty plain to me. Some may point out that I left out the rest of the verse and chose not to include Jesus' whole argument found in verses 2-5 that tells us pretty clearly, "take out the plank in your own eye and then you can remove the speck in your brother's eye." But let's not nit-pick, it is clear, the first three words say, "Do not judge." Even Paul, the bombastic apostle, tells us not to judge. Listen to 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, "I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear..." See how clear that is? So lets stop caring about what other people do - - Paul says, "it's all good!" Doesn't he? STOP THE FOOLISHNESS Alright, alright, let's not get carried away. We have to treat the bible right - - you can't just make it say anything you want it to say. As 2 Peter 3:16 warns, distorting the word will always work towards your own destruction. So we need to place it in context, and I want you to notice three things about what Paul is saying: (1) He is concerned with us acting as true servants of God, and the goal is to "be found faithful." If you have been given understanding of the gospel, you have a responsibility to share it and live it.This passage isn't about doing anything you want without getting judged, it is about serving Christ with your whole life because you have been entrusted with, "The secret things of God." What an honor! If you are a Christian, your body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit," and you have to be careful because you will "reap what you sow." You are to display honor, integrity and dignity in your everyday life. That means you are not to be a slave to your passions and desires. Act like an adult made in the image of God. Your are not a dog! (2) Paul doesn't judge primarily because he is admitting that as a human he doesn't have exhaustive knowledge nor insight to make an accurate judgement. And this judgement is in regards to himself!. At the end of verse 4, he says even though his conscious is clear, "that does not make him innocent." That is a profound statement coming from the mouth of an apostle. Even though he thinks he is living right, he may not be after-all. We buy into the non-sense of "follow your heart", thinking emotion, feeling and the conscience will always point us down true and righteous paths. Paul says, don't be so sure. We think it is o.k. when a man tell us they want to be a woman simply because they feel like a woman. Paul counters this idea by saying, "even when I think I am doing everything right, that doesn't make it right." We have become over-confident about our own and other's ability to discern what is right and what is wrong. This is a fatal delusion because Jeremiah says our heart "lies to us everyday!" (Jeremiah 17:9) Society teaches our kids to just do whatever feels right. However, if our kids make choices simply on "strong feelings" they could be forever altering their lives and the lives of others. Many of those choices are tragically irreversible. While tolerance tells us "not to say anything" because "you can't judge the emotional tugging on a human heart"; Paul says, "be very careful if you think you are standing firm, you may be about to fall flat on your face." (1 Corinthians 10:12) (3) Even though we aren't to judge, God still maintains to right to do so. The reason Paul doesn't judge others is because he knows he is not God. Look at how 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 reads, "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." I don't know about you, but this scares the devil right out of me. God still has standards, he still is taking out his moral yard-stick and measuring our actions, he is still on the throne. That is scary. (If you don't think it is read Psalm 11). As Christians we are not given the right to fill our souls with hate and throw out condemnation at the actions we disapprove of. God will judge. However, we still must warn. If you see that someone is about to drive his car off a cliff you need to say something. Even if he flips you the bird and tells you to mind your own business; you may save his life by trying to persuade him to stop. According to John 12:48-50 everyone is going to be weighed and measured against the word of God. Scripture is the yard-stick. If a woman wants to marry another woman, we must say "God forbids it." Sure we will be ridiculed and mocked. The world will think we are fools, or even worse, haters. Don't stop loving and warning...do stop condemning. They may even argue with passion and tell you that they are basing their decision on "the genuine love of two consenting adults" that does not make them innocent. Never forget, with everything in life, it is the Lord who judges. That is both a comforting and terrifying thought. And Gandalf was wrong, when in doubt don't follow your nose... follow the word.
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