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Danville Enlightener VOL. VIII, No. 29
Is It Wrong to Judge Others?“You gotta be kidding!” The evidence was in and in the estimation of the jury the man was guilty; “Guilty,” with the exception of one lone juror. Ignoring the evidence that included phone records, an eyewitness and the written confession of the accused – we had to declare a deadlocked jury. There was a good chance the D.A. would not retry the case, and if there was not another trial the criminal would go free. I was on this jury and as chance would have it I served as jury foreman. We took an initial vote when we began deliberation “guilty, guilty . . . not guilty.” After some deliberation to see if we could persuade the holdout, we took another vote and again all but one juror voted to convict. Despite the overwhelming evidence the prosecution presented in the case, this bleeding-heart had the audacity to quote scripture. “Judge not, that you be not judged” he said in a voice that seemed to spit out the words of Jesus. I seriously doubt that he could have located the verse in the Bible if he was asked to, but he sure was quick to apply it to this case. He said that because he was not there and did not actually witness the crime being committed that he could not pass judgment. “Who are you to pass judgment?” asked the mother of a daughter who had proclaimed her right to engage in lesbianism. This mother was defending her daughter’s lesbianism to another relative. At first the mother was shocked, hurt and appalled, but now she is much more accepting. Now she consents to her daughter’s lifestyle and even chastises those who seek to decry her lesbianism. With an air of piety she says: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” So far as she is concerned, case closed; it is her daughter’s choice and no one has the right to judge her behavior. With
a look of incredulity he
asked: “What gives
you the right to
question my marriage?”
He, years before,
divorced his wife after
he had an affair. He had
not loved his former wife for some time and so he got out of the marriage. He remarried a divorced woman and they seemed very happy. However, a Christian had asked him about Matthew 19:3-9, but he was having none of it. When it was pointed out to him that Jesus gave only one reason for divorce and remarriage and that was fornication (sexual immorality), his response was: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” All three of these people are hiding behind a misapplication of the words of Jesus in Matt 7:1. They are not alone, there are many people who believe that all moral and religious controversies are wrong, and under no circumstance is one to question the practices of another. The juror felt he could not judge the criminal, the mother could not judge her homosexual daughter and the Christian could not make a determination as to an adulterous relationship. If one is ever to come to an understanding of the Bible, he must first handle it correctly. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth,” (2 Tim 2:15, NIV). An inaccurate management of the Scripture is to completely ignore the context in which a statement is found. Such is the situation relating to Matt 7:1. Reading the first five verses of Matthew 7 one immediately notices that Jesus is NOT forbidding all judgment. Instead He is condemning hypocritical or self-righteous judging of others. “That you be not judged” is the point the Lord is emphasizing. In fact, throughout Matthew 7 Jesus underscores the need to “judge.” For example, He says “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces,” in verse 7. This cannot be obeyed without first judging what is holy, and who is a dog. One cannot obey this without judging those who are swine. The Lord also cautions, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves,” in verse 15. To do this one must first determine who is a false teacher. This determination cannot be made without first judging the content of the teaching. In this case, the Lord gives us the basis for judging, when He says, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Vs 16). Once Jesus warned, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment,” (Jn 7:24). The righteous judging of others (teaching, deeds, etc.) is something Jesus expects us to do. In
Matthew 7 Jesus is
reminding us that
the basis or
standard of judgment
we use will be used
when judgment
against us occurs.
This is indeed a
freighting thought.
I, therefore,
better
exercise
mercy,
compassion
and
complete
honesty
when
passing judgment.
“For with what
judgment you judge,
you will be judged;
and with the measure
you use, it will be
measured back to
you,”
(Matt 7:2).
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jrb
Reflections about the P.T.C. I want to share with you some of my thoughts about the “Preachers’ Training Camp” I participated in at Camp Brim Shire near St. James, MO. Last week, August 6-10, I, along with three good and godly gospel preachers – L.A. Stauffer, Gale Towles and Ken McDaniel, taught twenty classes to nearly thirty men. These men were all gospel preachers, some “part-time” others “full-time.” This was done at absolutely no cost to the students; individuals contributed generously to pay for the facilities and food. Teachers donated their time and expenses. I had in the past participated in such training classes, but they were conducted in Nigeria and the Philippines. However, this was the first time I had done so in America and therefore I did not know what to expect. I came away very encouraged and I believe that an immeasurable amount of good was done. Every day we had four classes, each 90 minutes in length. During those studies the students (men ranging in age from late teens to mid sixties) diligently took notes. At least six took notes on laptop computers. Eager to learn they peppered us with questions; especially when we discussed how the Holy Spirit revealed to the apostles and prophets the mystery that had been hidden, even from the O.T. prophets who anticipated the coming Messiah. On Tuesday and Thursday evening, the men presented lessons; each night we had singings and prayed together. On Wednesday night we all drove to a nearby local congregation to worship. I discovered that many of these men had taken their vacations in order to attend these studies. Their love for the Lord and their determination to spend their lives preaching the Word was refreshing. Anytime the students would find one of us teachers alone, they would get out their Bibles and want to study a text or they would have a Bible question they wanted to ask. I felt that their attitudes and commitments suggested they would serve the Lord well as gospel preachers. Part
of the work of evangelists is to prepare other men to
preach. Paul told Timothy, “And the things that you
have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to
faithful men who will be able to teach others also,”
(2 Tim 2:2). These are the men who
will fill
the ranks when men like me are no longer around. They will
carry on the
I want to express my thanks to the church at Danville. You had a part in this, not financially, but in permitting me to take part. I was away from this local work for a week and you picked up the slack. In this you were helping in the work I did in Missouri.
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jrb
What Kind of Town is This? During Pioneer days in America an old man was sitting on the porch of his house on the outskirts of town. One day a family in a covered wagon drove up. “Mornin’ neighbor” the driver said to the old man. “We are heading west and are looking for a town to settle in. What kind of town is this?” “What kind of town did you leave?” asked the old man on the porch. The driver said: “It was an awful town, filled with gossips and cranks. The people were narrow-minded and snooty – we couldn’t stand them.” The old man rubbed his head and said: “We have folks like that here, you may as well move on.” A week or so later the old man was on the porch again when another covered wagon drove up. “Mornin’ neighbor” the driver said. “We’re heading west and looking for a town to settle in. What kind of town is this?” The old man answered: “What kind of town did you leave?” The driver said: “Oh, we left a wonderful town; the people were so kind and helpful. They were so friendly, we just hated to leave them, but we had to move.” The old man rubbed his head and said: “We have folks like that here, you may as well settle in.” Sound familiar? This is the way many look at local churches. Some can only see the bad while others can’t see anything but good. Usually what we see in others is what we have in ourselves in abundance; “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection,” (Col 3:14).
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jrb
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