Cornerstone Blog

Wednesday, Mar 14th 2012

Judge Not by Nate Yoder

It’s one of the most often quoted passages in the Bible; “Judge not that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1 KJV).  In fact, even in the last week I’ve seen at least parts of this concept all over the place; on Face Book, in conversations, in advertising, all over the place.  There are a number of problems I see with the way this idea is evidenced in our world.  I want to mention just two that are really on the opposite ends of the spectrum. 

The first is that this verse is most often used to excuse behavior we already know is wrong.  I’m not going to go into much depth on this one today.  It’s enough to say that we all struggle from time to time with this “Who do you think you are?” mentality when someone tries to speak wisdom into our lives even if it is coming from a place of love.  For me, even when a close friend offers unexpected and unsolicited advice, it takes some time to process that before the smoke clears enough for me to realize that it came from a place of love not malice.  I get there, but it takes time.  That brings me to the second problem. 

We as Christians are often really bad at living this verse out as well.  We fail here when we treat one neighbor more kindly than the other simply because of a sin we see in that person’s life.  The passage in Matthew goes on to say, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (7:2 NIV).  In other words, if we act as if one neighbor isn’t as deserving of our love or kindness or grace (because he’s living with his girlfriend) as is our other neighbor who looks on the outside like she’s living according to the Word of God, then we’ll be judged the same way.  We would have to not sin in order to receive the grace and love of Jesus...good luck with that.

This is a big problem especially when your neighbor experiences a crisis and you sense an opportunity to share how God can help them through that crisis.  We sometimes get so excited and focused on wanting to help them move towards God who has changed our lives that we forget to love them through the crisis as well.  The result is missed opportunity and strained relationship.  One of the things that got brought up in some of the conversations around this topic is “building relational bridges strong enough to bear the weight of the Gospel.”  When we build relationships with those around us simply out of our love for God and the love He has for them, we are putting ourselves in a position to demonstrate the love of Jesus to someone who otherwise may be closed to what you have to say when the opportunity comes.  People want to know that you care before they care about what you know.  Would you take a moment right now and think about your circle of influence?  Is there a relationship you need to restore, or maybe even initiate?  Are the relational bridges you’ve built strong enough to show them you love and care for them when it’s time to give some difficult advice?

Be a witness,
Nate