“So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”
Romans 14:10-13 NLT
Here’s another sobering thought thrown into the air from Pastor Paul. Have we ever noticed that Christians can sometimes have a tendency to offer unsolicited judgement over their fellow believers, for something that they do? So on occasion, surreptitiously of course, we condemn the other believer and, somehow, in the process, we find that we acquire feelings of smugness and adopt a “holier than thought” attitude. Of course we deny it ever happens, but denial won’t eliminate the reality that we can have a tendency to judge others. Or we can offer judgement over some perceived “crime” and then quickly follow it up with a “of course we cannot judge”. In Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus said, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged”. Even the judgemental attitudes we hold within us will be exposed one day. Paul wrote that we mustn’t condemn, judge, or look down on other believers. We don’t walk in their shoes, and instead we must “live in such a way that [we] will not cause another believer to stumble and fall”.
So how do Christians ever get into a situation where they fall into the trap of “judging others”? We know what we should ,and shouldn’t, do and yet we still sometimes, even privately in our hearts, find ourselves comparing others against our own standards, standards which we ourselves fail to meet. It all stems from our journey through life. Step by step the Holy Spirit works within us, cleaning up our lives, slowly but surely. But there are others on a different journey.
So how do we pilgrims avoid the trap of falling into judgement of our fellow believers? Firstly, why do we do it? Are our judgemental attitudes coming out of inner turmoil or insecurities? Perhaps we have in the past been the focus of similar attitudes against us. Or perhaps what we tend to be judging is something we are guilty of as well, and by some distorted sense of logic, we are dealing with it through another person.
Secondly, we need to stand in the other person’s shoes for a moment, and get their perspective. There is an interesting verse in John 7:24, “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly“. How can we hope to have the right perspective on a fellow believer unless we can empathise with them and their perceived actions.
Another thought we must consider is viewing how God sees us, and them. He accepts us just as we are, and so must we of the other person. To be blunt, who are we to expect acceptance from God, with our warts and all, if we can’t do the same for another person. And finally, we have tasted the love of God. His love and grace has made us what and who we are. Surely we too must share that love and grace in our attitudes to our fellow believers. In John 13:34-35 we read what Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples“. And so we must do exactly that, and we pray for God to help us love others, replacing any judgemental attitudes with love.
Dear Father God. You have loved us so much. What can we do but love others, to the best of our abilities. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 