To Judge, or not to Judge

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”
Matthew 7:1,2

Growing up I often heard the old adage “you shouldn’t point because there are always three fingers pointing right back at you.” So being the ornery boy that I was I would typically respond by using my elbow instead.

Clever right? Not quite.

As I became older I put away my childish ways and now I just point and say to heck with the fingers pointing back. However, with this new found wisdom comes an understanding of what that adage meant. Essentially, none of us are without flaw or flawless or faultless or sinless. There has been only one who had the right to point and instead He embraced.

As I meditate on this fact and look over the church as a whole today I see in many ways the church getting those three fingers right back at them. Time and time again through the centuries the church has pointed at all the sinners saying they were not good enough. Sinners were too dirty. Sinners were too lost. Sinners were not like the white washed tombs the church had become. And now we are receiving the judgement right back.

The above scripture spoken by Jesus is often thrown around with little understanding. Everyone is ready to quote the first sentence, but few know the second. It is important to know that Jesus is not saying that we are to stop judging, He is saying that if you do be ready to be measured in the same way.

Are you saying it is okay to judge, you ask? NO!

What I am saying is that we need to spend more time on ourselves, and less time criticizing others. True, iron sharpens iron, but make sure you are iron first!

Let us look at what else Jesus had to say. He said that we should not look at the speck in our neighbors eye, while ignoring the plank in our own. Later the Word also says that we are to confess our faults to one another. Again, Jesus tells us that if we have aught with our brother we should leave our offering and seek forgiveness. At what point did He say grumble and blame others?

It is time church to stop acting as if we do not know why the world hates. First, Jesus told us they would because they first hated Him. Second, to often Christians have sat on their pious pews pointing at the world in self righteousness. I know that is harsh, but tell me it is not true. Maybe not everyone acted in such a manner, but at times the loudest ones did.

So what is the point of this berating of my fellow Christians in such a way that verges on a judgmental rant? Simple. I am not perfect and either are you. I have judged people and most likely so have you. I am a sinner and I need God, and I need you so that we both can be better people. I just ask are we willing to help each other become a better people today?