We still haven’t discovered what Jesus is condemning when he says that we are not to judge. What is the difference between being discerning and being judgemental? The primary difference has to do with the role of love.
The command not to judge is a part of wider section of ethical teaching that has been called ‘The Sermon on the Plain’ (Luke 6:17-49). Jesus is teaching in the region of Galilee. Central to ‘The Sermon on the Plain’ is the theme of loving other people, particularly loving our enemies.
It is important to realise how radical Jesus’ love ethic is. Myself and Caroline got talking to a man in a church in London who I think came from Egypt. He had grown up as a Muslim. But in a book he was reading he came across Jesus’ command to love our enemies. He felt that there was nothing in the Qur’an like that. So when he came to London he investigated Christianity and came to faith.
We are not simply called to love those who we would happily have as our friends. We are called to love those whom we find irritating and annoying. We are to love those who may have been insensitive towards us. There must be no grudges amongst us. This sort of radical love is to be hallmark of this church community.
Love seeks to promote good relationships between God and people, and people and people (Liggins). Whatever assessment we make of people should be done in an attitude of love. We should always desire their best. So if we are condemning someone simply because we don’t like them, then that is being judgemental; if our aim is to put them down and make them look small that is being judgemental; and if our desire is simply to make them feel ashamed of themselves that is being judgemental too.
Supposing someone hurts you. They say something that you actually find wounding. Love leaves you with only two options. You can either let the issue go and get over it or you can go to them and talk to them about it. What you cannot do is pick up the phone and gripe to other people about them.
Similarly you love for a fellow-Christian, and more importantly your desire for God’s glory, should make you concerned enough to confront them if they are doing things that are obviously wrong. If you really love them then your concern is that what they are doing is damaging their relationship with God. Remember love seeks to promote good relationships between God and people, and people and people. However, be warned they might respond negatively to you.
In confronting someone about their sin you take the risk of having them call you a hypocrite. ‘Who are you to tell me what is wrong, take a look at your own life.’ If we are going to help people deal with the sin in their lives we need to be dealing with the sin in our lives.
‘The Sermon on the Plain’ contains the parable of the speck and the log (Luke 6:41-42). In this parable Jesus asks how someone can expect to be able to remove a speck from someone else’s eye when they have a log in their own eye. How can we expect to deal with some minor issue in someone else’s life is we are not addressing major issues in our own life?
Notice that this parable is not saying that we shouldn’t seek to remove the speck from another’s eye. It is a desirable thing to help other Christians become more like Jesus. But if we are going to approach someone about being insensitive and we are not dealing with our own tendency to gossip then we are simply being a hypocrite. In fact a log in our own eye will cloud our vision. If we are refusing to allow God address us about our sin how then can we see clearly enough to help others deal with their? For example, if you are refusing to let go of bitterness how do you think you can help others become gentler?
First, take the plank out of your own eye. Allow God challenge us about our own sin, and that challenge might come through other Christians who care for us. Are we big enough people to allow others to show us where we need to change? Then as we repent of that sin you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. It is only as we are dealing with our sin that we will gain the spiritual insight to be of value in helping others deal with theirs.
Make it you aim to be like the apostle Paul, who could say without hypocrisy, Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).
Tomorrow I will post some conclusions on this topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment