Judging Others

[Julie.S]

Is it our place to do so?
I bring this up after being on another Christian forum I frequent and seeing something along the same lines so I thought I would pose the question here.

There are those who do judge others and say they are not going to Heaven and start throwing Bible verses at them. Some tell them they are a bad Christian etc.

Others keep to themselves and let God do the judging instead of them.

I see countless people asking others "Do you read the Bible?" I often ask them the same back just to see. Personally what they do is out of my hands.

What do you think?

 

[amadeus2]

Is it our place to do so?
I bring this up after being on another Christian forum I frequent and seeing something along the same lines so I thought I would pose the question here.

There are those who do judge others and say they are not going to Heaven and start throwing Bible verses at them. Some tell them they are a bad Christian etc.

Others keep to themselves and let God do the judging instead of them.

I see countless people asking others "Do you read the Bible?" I often ask them the same back just to see. Personally what they do is out of my hands.

What do you think?

What is it that I do with my time instead of reading the Bible and talking to God? Should I not be filling in all of the blank spaces with God and His Son? I need to pay close attention to what "I" am doing rather than with what the other guy is doing. When my slate is completely clean then may I open my mouth and speak to another about what I see as his faults:

"...be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Jesus overcame the world, but until I have overcome all of my world of temptations I had really better to slow to speak...

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:" James 1:19

 

[InTouch]

Is it our place to do so?
I bring this up after being on another Christian forum I frequent and seeing something along the same lines so I thought I would pose the question here.

There are those who do judge others and say they are not going to Heaven and start throwing Bible verses at them. Some tell them they are a bad Christian etc.

Others keep to themselves and let God do the judging instead of them.

I see countless people asking others "Do you read the Bible?" I often ask them the same back just to see. Personally what they do is out of my hands.

What do you think?

"All judgment is merely the reflection of the soul. For it is the one who judges that gazes upon the darkness that only resides within himself.A mirror that reflects the face of the spirit that dwells within his heart.Only when one ceases to judge, can his judgment be true"..

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

Is it our place to do so?
I bring this up after being on another Christian forum I frequent and seeing something along the same lines so I thought I would pose the question here.

There are those who do judge others and say they are not going to Heaven and start throwing Bible verses at them. Some tell them they are a bad Christian etc.

Others keep to themselves and let God do the judging instead of them.

I see countless people asking others "Do you read the Bible?" I often ask them the same back just to see. Personally what they do is out of my hands.

What do you think?

As others have stated we should not be too quick to point out the faults of others.

I do believe in the body of Christ there is such a thing as accountability and gentle rebuke.
The problem is too many are quick to rebuke, they don't do it gently and those being rebuked don't have a teachable Spirit and they respond with this "Only God can judge me" nonsense.

The truth is we are the body of Christ. We are His hands and feet.

I don't think God sends us to condemn anyone but He does tell is to warn others.

For example God sent Mose to warn Pharaoh. Was Moses judging or just being the mouth piece of God as he was called?

Jonah was sent by God to warn the people of Ninevah. He did not condemn them but wanted them based on what God has shared.

John the Baptist warned Herod of his illegitimate marriage but Herod didn't listen and had John killed. Was John judging him?

The fact is that God is the judge and God uses His servants to send His message. You don't have to wait till you die to be judged by God, trust me God will be sending you warnings in this life and they might come from His messengers.

Another problem is that many are rebuking when the Holy Spirit is not leading them. Many are too eager to share about others. But that doesn't mean that God doesn't send people to deliver a WORD to those who need it. Sometimes it is a WORD of encouragement other times a word of rebuke.

We are sinful and unfortunately the problem is two fold. Many are too eager to tell others what they are doing wrong but are absent when that same person needs a word of encouragement. If you really love someone you will not only show up when correction is needed but also when encouragement and comfort is needed too.

And on the other end many are too hard headed to take any correction. They say only God can judge me, but forget that God uses people to send His message all the next. Just read the Bible, it is flooded with God using people to send His message.

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

Is it our place to do so?...

What is it that I do with my time instead of reading the Bible and talking to God? ...

"All judgment is merely the reflection of the soul. ..

Another point that came to mind.

Kinda repeating myself but in a different way.


So yes, as I stated God is the ultimate judge yes this is true, but God uses his servants(us) to send his message.
Not of condemnation but to warn to people so they can be saved. As John 3:17 reads,
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
God reminds his servants not to judge as Luke 6:37 reads, "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;"

So our God who has all judgement is merciful and does not which any to perish, therefore God wants to warn others before the judgement, and since(this is a thought, may not be biblical) most unsaved people are not filled with the Holy Spirit and don't have God living in them. God sends us who are filled with the spirit and able to respond to his calling to deliver the message. God told Jonah in Jonah 3:1, "The Lord said to Jonah 1 a second time,3:2“Go immediately 2 to Nineveh, that large city, 3 and proclaim to 4 it the message that I tell you.”" Jonah 3:4 reads, "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."

I'm glad that the people of Nineveh didn't respond to the message with, "only God can judge me, go away." Fortunately they were humble enough to hear the LORD's voice even from this foreigner. I say foreigner, because Jonah is told to "Go to Nineveh" and had to get there by ship, and it took the whale 3 days to carry him there as well, so it would seem that it was not his home town.

But don't worry, here is the kicker. What I said above is not sanctioning all those people that point their fingers into the lives of others and warn that God is going to punish or not bless them.

The truth as revealed to me in the Bible is that often times when God chooses a servant and gives them a message to delivery, the message isn't one that they always get excited about. Look for example at Jonah, the message comes and he does not want to go. Read the book of Jonah, and we see that he is running in the opposite direction.

We see Moses, God calls him to approach Pharaoh and Moses is scared and doesn't feel adequate to delivery the message. In Exodus 6:30, Moses replies to God's command, "And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?"

We see that often times, it isn't as simply as I'm telling you this message because God wants me to, because often times the real message God wants his servants to deliver, they often feel inadequate or don't want to do it.

On the other hand look at Saul(before name change to Paul). He was out persecuting Christians, and if you had asked him, he would have sworn that he was a messenger of God doing God's work.
Also look at Sara, the wife of Abraham, she was judging Abraham's faith by questioning if God could really fulfill His promise of giving them a child. Just like Saul made a mess of the situation thinking He was a messenger of God doing God's will, Sara also made a mess when she told her husband to sleep with her maid servant.

So the point I'm trying to make is that God is the only judge but God uses us, as the unsaved don't have a relationship
with Him yet, so we are His body. This is why Jesus came. Jesus came to set up His church(body of Christ) so as He left us and ascended to heaven, He would continue to live in us and do the work through us in the Holy Spirit. So God uses us as His messenger, but let's not be too over zealous and make sure the Holy Spirit is leading us and we always remain humble, as many of the servants in the Bible felt inadequate when the message came, and we should be humble as well.

 

[Daniel Barendregt]

Let's pick apart this text:

Matthew 7:1-5
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.


First:
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Well, so if I don't judge, I won't be judged. Okay, well, what about: 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
We are going to be judged regardless, now don't say, "Well, what if I never judged once in my whole life, How can God judge me? The bible contradicts itself!"
Well, the bible would contradict itself if only the first verse of Matthew 7 was present. But there is a whole chapter to be read!
The first verse of Matthew 7 only makes sense when read with the whole chapter.


2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
If we are going to be judged by God regardless, then what I can say for this text is that we judge faithfully and truthfully with the grace and help of Christ.
Rebuke our fellow brothers in love and not out of spite.
For if we judge harshly, with rage, then so will God judge us with the same measure that we used on others.
Be fearful for His rage is far more worse then ours.


3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
These texts clearly state that we should deal with our own sins fully, and completely through the forgiveness of our Lord, Jesus Christ; Before judging, or even simple telling others what they have done, or are currently doing wrong.


5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
I use this certain text a lot when people tell me that I cannot judge them.
This text tells me I'm a hypocrite if I'm going around telling my brothers that they are all wrong; when in fact, I am currently or have done something terribly wrong,(even stealing a cookie) and I have not dealt with my sin.
This text also states that I should ask for forgiveness, then I will ....see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Matthew 7:5
So if I have dealt with my sin, I am now in a position to judge.
But always remember do not be hasty when judging others, especially acting on it.
You must also pay close attention as to how you act on it, or you'll have another sin to ask for forgiveness for.


God bless you brothers.