Good Morning Friends,
When we see a person in sin, we do not know how hard they have tried not to sin. We do not know the power of the forces that are prompting the sin and we do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. With that in mind it should be difficult for us to discriminate against a person based on the behavior we see. Thankfully God has set forward rules to guide behavior in a better direction and nudges us through the Spirit to love people into turning direction before undesired consequences result. Still, disapproving in a disparaging way of another’s behavior is typically seen as being politically incorrect.… even when turning to a different way is clearly wisdom. Being critical of others has consequences too. Still, Can We Judge Without Hypocrisy To Show Others We Are Christians?
Scripture: Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had introduced. Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” They would not listen but were stubborn, as their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their ancestors, and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah alone.
2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18 (NRSV)
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5 (NRSV)
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
John 7:24 (NRSV)
Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.
Romans 2:1-16 (NRSV)
Message: Paul is really pretty clever. He realizes it takes one to know one. In Chapter 1 of Romans he paints a picture of heathens who had forgotten how to be human and just as he is about to get an Amen from the reader agreeing that these poor souls are on the dark spiral downward, he expands his argument to show that self-righteous moralists are no better. Somehow, he knew that few experiences get our blood to boil more that seeing the actions of a hypocrite who needs their comeuppance…especially so when they are successful. Oscar Wilde’s picture of Dorian Gray captures the idea. So too the moral townspeople in Nathanial Hawthorne’s, A Scarlet Letter. Unfortunately, two-faced protagonists are often of the religious variety. But sometimes we miss the hypocrisy. So, we need to watch where we point the finger. We need to watch our heroes. And the message is in scripture too where Nathan confronts David with his sins or the Pharisee praying in public or the Prodigal Son’s elder brother. Friends, religion can get pretty sick. People in the pews and even the pulpit need to realize that judging other people is dangerous because it lulls us into a false sense of security, blinds us to our own faults, and usurps God’s role as judge. Of course, God sees right through the smoke screens. There is nothing that God does not see. But until a person recognizes that he stands guilty and condemned before God and that he is a sinner who does not meet God’s standard of righteousness, there is little possibility of salvation. Perhaps the evilest of sins is the pride that blinds the unrighteous to despise mercy. The lack of the law or provision of the law is not the problem, the issue is sin. And all can have inner knowledge of God’s law and some have the external law. But it is not so much which law you have, for all have sinned. The Bible is full of hypocrites and our churches are as well, but it does not mean we cannot be saved. David was indignant at other people’s shortcomings, but indulgent in his own, even though he had a heart for God. Still, David makes the cut. Friends, there is no escaping it. No one today is always obedient to God’s law of love. One day all our secrets will be exposed, and we will have to face Christ. It is all laid out as plain as can be. We will not be able to blame anyone for our sins and decisions. Forcing a perspective is not the Christian way. Yet when we feel something it is hard to deny it. Still, maybe if we can judge without hypocrisy, then such judging is allowable, as long as we try not to stand in the place of God. In general, we need to worry about beams in our own eyes. But it can be appropriate to judge others at times, as long as we do so with love. There is a massive hypocrisy with those who claim not to be judgmental. But this is not the same as saying that all judgements must be hypocritical.
And So, the stakes are high when we consider the fate of a nation, a community, a family, a friend. But as soon as we take a stand on any issue, we risk being judgmental and politically incorrect. Productive discourse is difficult in this kind of environment. And we face it today. But as Christians we are not to be just spectators. Political correctness does not require us to approve of what other people believe and do. We are to love the sinner and hate the sin. When it came down to people’s lives Jesus was not always politically correct. In community as Christians we walk a fine line between making judgements and not being judgmental. For there is a higher calling than pointing out people’s sins. If we have too rigid a belief system, we may have trouble loving God and others. We are therefore to judge our beliefs because others will judge us for ours, and ultimately, we must face God for the decisions. We are not to pick nits. We are to use our heads and hearts. Yes, we are to judge the sin in a person’s life and lovingly and gently restore them. But first we must judge our beliefs and motivations to see clearly. We are to test everything and hold fast to what is good. There are some things more important than the laws we make to rule our lives. The governments of nations need to guarantee everyone freedom of conscience and religion, as well as the ability to express their faith publicly. Here the scriptures explain the witness which Christians are called to give by their lives. But it is to be done in love.
Pray we realize that God is kind, but not soft on sin. Pray we realize that we are never going to get away with anything. Pray we realize that every refusal and avoidance of God and even playing the God card to get our way just adds fuel to the fire of hell. Pray we realize that religion cannot save us only Jesus’ mercy. Pray that we realize that all hypocrites will be judged according to the truth and that our works will be judged without favoritism and so will our salvation. Pray we realize that sin will take us further than we want to go; keep us longer than we want to stay; and cost us more than we want to pay. Pray we are not deceived. Pray we realize that God knows we are ethically challenged people and still wants to save us. Pray God changes us from within. Pray we have full access to God’s presence even as we are transformed. Pray we are freed from sick religion and the bondage of being a hypocrite and instead embrace a relationship with the model of life and compassion shared in Jesus. Pray God’s Holy Spirit strives with us forever. Pray we realize that we need God’s mercy. Pray we realize that being judgmental may not be just. Pray we realize that we see the outward person but not the inner life of others. Pray we judge rightly and love compassionately. Pray we not judge a book by its cover but open it and read it.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 