|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Judge Not? |
|
| |
| |
For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." |
|
| |
—1 Corinthians 5:12–13 |
|
Judge not, lest you be judged. . . . We have all heard it. It is in the Bible, in Matthew 7:1, where Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged."
But let's understand these words contextually. A better translation of the statement would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned." In other words, God is the final judge. He decides who gets into heaven and who does not. Greg Laurie doesn't decide that. You don't decide that. No one else decides that. We are not to condemn, meaning to pass final judgment.
But we are to judge, in the sense of making evaluations—even corrections when necessary—regarding fellow believers. Paul addresses this very subject in 1 Corinthians 5:
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. . . . For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? (verses 10, 12)
Paul was saying that it is our job to judge those inside the church. But a lot of believers ignore this. They say, "Oh, no. Just be loving." But I would say that they don't really know what love is. Love cares enough to confront.
We are so into loving everyone, not even understanding what the word means, that we have lost our sense of discernment in standing up for what is right. We should do it with compassion, concern, and humility. Yet we should make the stand.
Have Pastor Greg's devotionals blessed you? Write to let him know at Greg@harvest.org!
©2007 Harvest Ministries; All Rights Reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 |
|
| To leave a comment or start your own blog: |
 |
or |
 |
Already a member? Login |
|
|
|
|
Pastor Greg,
I truly agree, the first thing most people will cry.... we're not suppose to judge!
God Bless,
Pastor Aminata |
|
|
Denise |
 |
October 15, 2007 at 1:55pm |
|
That is biblical, but you are right, there are many things slipping through the cracks right in our churches, and we act as if we have blinders on.
Thank you for sharing |
|
|
| I understand what you are saying here, and I agree with it. Most of the time I hear the phrase "we're not supposed to judge" used, it's valid. I think a lot of the issue depends on what a person means by the term judge. If a homeless person, or a prostitute or someone in some other socially "unacceptable" live situation shows up at Church, we should look past their situation and show love to them. In that sense, we certainly should not judge them. |
|
|
| I agree with you Jess, we should be accepting of everyone otherwise, they'll go right back out the door without recieving the help and salvation they came for. I also agree with you, Pastor Greg. When someone in the church is not growing spritually--when they're still in the mess after having been discipled in the word, we should address that. However, I don't believe in giving up on people ever. |
|
|
Denise |
|
October 16, 2007 at 6:18am |
|
Birdie
I agree with both you and JessIAm we should never ever turn anyone away that is trying to change their life, anyone who comes to our church looking for what is missing. And as you said we should not overlook it when someone is not where they should be after having been discipled in the word, either way their blood would be on our hands if we fail them. It is a very thin line but God gives us the power of discernment.
I have been in churches where people tried to change a person the minute they walked to the altar, which only succeeded in driving them away. Let them come God will change them, our job is to show them love, and to guide them through love, and what is God? God is love. |
|
|
| Well said Denise, I agree that discernment plays a huge role when it comes to disciping others. Love reaches much deeper than knowledge-and love does not fail. |
|
|
JessIAm |
|
October 16, 2007 at 10:11am |
|
I have been in churches where people tried to change a person the minute they walked to the altar, which only succeeded in driving them away. I've come to the conclusion that I should never try to change anyone. God's the expert on that. If He uses me (which happens often), that is Him using me to change them, not me changing anyone. |
|
|
Denise |
|
October 16, 2007 at 10:30am |
|
| You are so right JessIAM |
|
|
More Posts from Greg Laurie
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listen to today's radio program!
back to top
