Judging
fellow believers
By
Russ Kujawski 11/17/17
This subject is controversial on one hand, not spoke
about often on the other hand, it may require you to take action against a
friend who is living sinful life, it may require you to evaluate your own life
to judge yourself for sin you may be living in. Some will think I’m being
legalistic, because its condemning to them. I’m writing this looking up verses
and trying to keep things in context. I’m not using much as far as commentary’s
just reading scripture and letting it speak for itself. The Bible is its best
commentary for its self. Comparing scripture with scripture. I do often lookup
key words to see the varies meanings.
I’ll be looking at several verses about judging fellow
Christians as a Christian and why we should do this and our responsibility to
do this. Like
the word “works” don’t get caught up in the word “Judging or Judgment”. If it
makes you feel better use the word “discern or discernment”.
Have you ever heard Christians and non-Christians say,
“you can’t judge me”?
For the non-Christian they are right as a Christian we
can’t judge them.
For what have I to do with judging
outsiders? {non-Christians} Is it not those inside the church
{Christians} whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge
the evil person from among you.” {the word purge is a verb its saying take
action and “remove” the evil from you} remove those who are
living in, or walking in sin and not willing to repent and restore their
relationship first with Christ then with the Body of Christ.
1 Cor 5:11 informs us as to who we are judging it’s those with in
the church.
“But now I am writing to
you not to associate with anyone who bears
the name of brother if he is guilty
of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or
swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
This verse makes it clear, if someone identifies as a
brother and I’ll also add sister in Christ and they are living in sin, I would
like to say I think this is talking of a lifestyle of sin, a continual sin.
Christians fail (sin) probably every day in some form or another. I don’t think
this is talking about that. This is about lifestyle of sin, living in undealt
with sin, and claiming to be a Christian. {brother, sister in Christ}
Sin is a cancer to the Christian, if undealt with
through repentance then it will spread. it not only hardens the heart of the
believer but potentially lead to loss of eternal life. (If one can lose their
salvation) It can spread though out the body of brothers and sisters who gather
together.
1Co 5:6 Your
boasting is not good. Do you not know
that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
1Co 5:7 Cleanse
out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are
unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
When sin is not dealt with it can and probably does
cause division in a church and possibly death to a congregation. As part of the
body of Christ we should desire multiplication of the church, not division. A
little yeast makes the whole lump of dough grow. Sin is like that when not
dealt with it will spread, it will grow.
As a Christian are we to judge those who call
themselves Christians and are in sin?
The answer is a resounding YES! It’s our responsibility! There are many verses as to our
responsibilities to each other. Here are 7 verses and my commentary on them.
1. John
15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Isn’t Part of loving
one another approaching a brother or sister in Christ who is in sin? Yes, it
is. Part of loving one another is keeping in touch beyond the church building
on Sundays. I my self-need to practice that better. As Christ love the church.
Think Christ would keep silent? No he would point out your sin and direct you
towards repentance.
2.
Rom 12:10 Love one another with brotherly
affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Brotherly love out do one another with honor. Is there any honor in seeing someone in sin and doing
nothing? No, you’re dishonoring them, by not doing something to help them deal
with their sin. In fact, your saying “you’re not worth my time” This will
probably sound harsh or maybe legalistic. The Church does a good job at showing
brotherly love to each other, but I think when someone is in dealt with sin.
The church has a kind of hands off approach to dealing with the sinner. Now I’m
speaking in generality’s here the church as a whole not any one particular
organization. Although moving someone in sin from one job to another within the
church doesn’t deal with the sin. Only hides it. If the sin isn’t dealt with.
Approach the one in sin and show love and honor.
3.
Rom 15:5 May the God of endurance and
encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord
with Christ Jesus,. Live in harmony by
approaching a brother in sin may disrupt that harmony, I would say the harmony
is already disrupted. The God of encouragement and endurance will grant you the
same to bring harmony back to a brother in accordance with Christ.
4.
Gal 5:13 For you were called to
freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the
flesh, but through love serve one another. As
Christians we have the freedom to live in the flesh or the spirit. As scripture
say’s “What shall we say then? Are we to
continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” {Romans
6:1-2} as a Christian you have the freedom to live in sin by
doing so you weaken, my I say destroy your ability to serve God properly to be
a witness to the world. The chains of sin weight you down and restrict you. If
you have died to sin, then living in sin is bondage to sin. Yet being a
Christian, you are part of a Godly family that supports, and serves one
another. Sometimes that service /support requires judgment. As a brother in
Christ It’s my obligation as well as other followers of Christ to discern {Judge}
that the brother or sister in Christ is living in sin when they are showing
evidence of an un-righteous walk. Let me be clear I’m not saying we analyze
every action of our brother or sister, that I feel would then be truly
judgmental, legalistic in a negative way. Our judgement done in the proper way
would be in love to restore them to a proper walk with Christ, and fellowship
with others in the Body of Christ.
5. 1Co
12:25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have
the same care for one another. As Christians we are all
part of the same body in Christ. Maybe you visit someone in the hospital or
bring a meal to someone that’s homebound, teach Sunday school or lead worship
on Sundays. If you are living in sin, then the body has a cancer {a division in the body} and it needs to
be dealt with. Sin is service limiting. We are to care for one another part of
that caring would be approaching someone in sin to remove the cancer from the
body{sin} by restoring them. 1Jo 5:16 If
anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask,
and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death.
There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. {side
note: sin
leading to death I think is unforgiven sin. A discussion for the green folder}
Let’s look at the guide lines for Judgement of a
Brother or sister in Christ.
Side
note: read the whole thing before speaking about planks
“If your brother sins
against you, go and tell him his fault, between you
and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But
if he does not
listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be
established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the
church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
·
A few things here in this verse on judgment.
This verse says “if a brother sins against you “the word brother is meaning a
believer in Christ anyone who is a follower of Christ, anyone who is a member
of the body of Christ. Male or female this is referring to believers.
·
Next “sins against you” this is making it
personnel. The bigger picture is “if any believer is in sin” Because we are one
unit in Christ that is we are the body of Christ as stated in 1Cor 12:12 For just as the body is one
and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one
body, so it is with Christ. Romans 12:5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
As we are one body in Christ we are also members of each other, so with this in
mind to sin against any one person who is a believer in Christ you are sinning
against the whole body. Sin has a deep impact, it’s a cancerous cell that can
spread like fire when undealt with.
·
“go and tell him his fault” tell him
his fault how do you determine it’s a fault? By judgement! you pass judgement. I’m not
speaking of the kind of judgement that condemns someone to hell. Only God can
do that, only God can determine the heart of a person. We can judge if the
actions are sin, if you know the scriptures if you pray and seek the Holy
Spirit ‘s guidance, seek council from another believer. Then you can see if its
sin. I’ll say this again “Like the word “works” don’t get caught
up in the word “Judging or judgement”. If it makes you feel better use the word
“discernment”. Here are a few other words that can be used to make it sound
nicer: perceived, reckoning, prudence, reason, logic, and the last one
gumption. They all are synonyms for judgement. You can’t tell someone their
fault without determining that it is a fault that it is a sin, without passing
some form of Judgment. {I’ll talk about the speck log conundrum a little
further down in the study in Matthew 7.)
·
“he
does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may
be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” When the
offender refuses to listen to you then take others with you to approach the
offender (sinner) to try and get reconciliation between them and Christ, the
Body of Christ and the two people. Reconciliation is the end goal along with
that reconciliation is repentance and forgiveness. I think the two or three
others would probably be someone who is sum what familiar of the situation.
They become witnesses of the situation, and also there is extra wisdom to draw
on for reconciliation.
·
“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church” If you and probably the pastor and maybe an
elder or two have gone the person in sin (the cancer) and they don’t
listen then bring it to the body of
Christ so the cancer can either be eradicated from the one in sin or be removed
from the church body I know that sounds unloving kicking them out of the church
but to quote from a song from my child hood “one bad apple spoils the whole
bunch girl” And scripture say’s to remove them. 1Co 15:33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals or sin in the body spreads to the rest of the
body
·
“.
And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile
and a tax collector.” When the person refuses to listen,
and does not have reconciliation and again that’s the end goal, (repentance,
forgiveness, reconciliation the word my pastor uses RESTORATION) remove them
from the body of believers, the body of Christ. As I stated above we are of one
body. That’s the Body of Christ and a body to one another. When someone sins
against one believer they sin against the whole body. Let them go the way of
the gentile and tax collector, they were considered outsides to the Jews back
in the day. Consider them an outsider. BUT! The body also has to be ready to
let them back when repentance, restoration and reconciliation has happened.
·
Side thought: In conversations I’ve had
over the years there was a woman and man who had an affair with each other,
both part of the same church. They were told to leave because of the affair. He
left and never came back, she on the other hand broke off the relationship,
repented of the sin, and was seeking reconciliation. A short time after
attending the church she had the affair in she was asked not to return because
she was a distraction to the congregation. Although I can understand the
feelings of the church was that right? The body also has a responsibility in
the forgiveness and reconciliation department too. Don’t they?
I asked the question on
line on FB page and the response I got back was “forgive the person”. Scripture
tells us God blots out our sin. Isa
43:25“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I
will not remember your sins. God blots out our sin as if they didn’t
even happen. That’s how we as a body need to be. When someone repents, seeks,
forgiveness, and reconciliation we as a body need to BLOT OUT the sin as it
didn’t happen. Of course, it sounds good but, our human minds don’t work like
that. We must as a body and as an individual seek the Holy Spirit for the
strength to move beyond the sin that was committed and forgiven. One last verse
here before we move on to the spec log issue.
·
2Th 3:15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Always with LOVE.
Other Scripture about Judging other followers of
Christ.
Matthew 7 Judging
Others (followers in Christ)
7 “Judge not,
that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you
pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be
measured to you. 3 Why
do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not
notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or
how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’
when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
This is a verse that most people know followers of
Christ and non-followers or believers and non-believers. The thing is they only
quote part of the verse to fit their opinion. Normally “Judge not” and,”
take the log out of your own eye,” There is much more to this section
of scripture than those few phrases. In keeping things in context lets dig into
this section of scripture.
·
“Judge
not, that you be not judged. 2 For
with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure
you use it will be measured to you.” Sounds to me if you don’t
judge others then you won’t be judged, but as I have said above sin is a cancer
if we do not take the risk of being judged ourselves and make an attempt to
correct someone in sin then that sin will progress and infiltrate the body and
cause destruction and division. If you’re not willing to reproof, correct,
discern, judge someone because you are afraid of judgement then their eternity
may be at stake here. {If it be possible for someone to lose their salvation}
because they are living in sin and their heart gets hardened towards Christ,
and you know you should say something and don’t then you have sinned. James
4:17 So whoever knows the right thing
to do and fails to do it, for him it is
sin.
·
I have asked a question on Face Book about
judgement of a Christian in sin from other Christians here is one of the
answers I was given” Jesus said Judge Not” then he went on to say by passing
judgment on others you condemn yourself “ I’ll agree with that because of what
verse 2 of Matt 7 say’s” 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you
will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” This verse is telling me that if I
can’t live up to whatever standards I’m using to judge a fellow believer of
their sin {those standards must and have to be biblical standards not
denominational standards} then I shouldn’t be judging their sin. By judging
their sin, I bring commendation upon myself for my own potential sin by my own
standards. I’m self-condemning.
Time for the log and spec scripture
that many use to say you can’t judge me.
·
3 Why do you see the speck that
is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your
own eye? 4 Or how can you
say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is
the log in your own eye? 5 You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
What does speck, and log represent?
According to Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words speck is used
metaphorically of a “minor fault”
and log is used metaphorically “of a
great fault”. Though you may see the faults or sin of your brother the
log is keeping you from seeing your own faults or sins.
Example of speck /log:
you see a brother that appears to you to have been rude to someone and you tell
them you were rude you should apologize to them {speck} but when you get home
you are emotionally and physically abusive to you family {log} how do you
reconcile the two. Sin is sin is sin is sin, sin is a cancer. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The rudeness {sin} may not be intentional
maybe it’s a result of a rough day it’s not a life style, it’s a moment in
life. The abusive sin is a lifestyle it’s an everyday occurrence. I know some
will disagree with this thought. I think there are some sin’s that are of the
moment, unintentional sins, that I think God’s grace covers. Although you
should repent of them even if you’re not sure you committed any. Job 34:32 teach me what I do not see; if I
have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?
Job asked God to show him the sin’s he’s not aware of. We should be
asking God to show us our sin’s we are not aware of and repent of them. Now for
the log type sin. There are a boat load of scripture speaking of living in sin.
1 John 3:4-9 Everyone who makes a practice of
sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he
appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in
him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known
him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices
righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of
sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. I
believe this is speaking to the one who’s lifestyle is in sin, who has un dealt
with sin and continues to live in it. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We
all have sin, we all don’t live in a deliberate, lifestyle of sin.” Speck” sin
of the moment or unintentional sin,” Log” undealt with sin or lifestyle of sin.
·
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let
me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own
eye? You can’t or shouldn’t attempt to deal
with someone’s minor fault when you have a major fault of your own. Why is
that? The answer is in the next verse.
·
5 You hypocrite, first take the log
out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of
your brother's eye. You
hypocrite, what is a hypocrite? Someone who pretends to be something they
aren’t. An actor is a hypocrite. They play the role of a character when is real
life they are not that character. You can’t approach someone in sin minor or
major sin if you have a lumber yard in your own life. That makes you a
hypocrite. Speaking out of one side of your mouth saying one thing, out of the
other side your saying something else. We are all hypocrites to some extent we
all have a failure of the moment. The bigger issue isn’t so much the speck as
it is the log. Never approach a brother about their failures when yours are not
dealt with. 1John 1:9 If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. Seek your
own restoration, confess your own sins, close the lumber yard. You may see that
your brother has already dealt with his speck.
Final Thoughts:
Should Christians Judge
other Christians? Yes, it’s our responsibility as brothers and sisters in
Christ. We are all part of the same body. Sin is like yeast or leaven, when not
dealt with or removed it will spread and affect the whole body of Christ. You
can see it in today’s society allowing those in sin to remain in the church and
just accepting the sin as being OK. It spreads like cancer. As Christ loved the
church we also must love the church, the body of Christ. Christ would have dealt
with someone in sin with love we should do the same. We are to show honor,
harmony, love and service towards each other. There is to be no division. Sin
in one of the members of Christ if not dealt with can causes division. We
approach someone in sin to restore them first to Christ then the body of
Christ. Scripture tells us how we are to approach someone in the body of Christ
that is in undealt with sin. Scripture also tells us if we have sin in our own
life that hasn’t been dealt with then we should deal with our own sin and seek forgiveness
and restoration before we approach them about their sin. It also tells us by
judging others we bring commendation upon ourselves. Using the same standards,
you used to judge them it will be judged on you. Can you live up to your own
standards? The end goal when approaching someone in sin should always be
repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration and always done is the
love of Christ. One last verse as to why we are to judge those in sin. Gal 6:2 Bear
one another's burdens, and
so fulfill the law of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment