6. Don't Judge Me!

By Thomas M. Parsons

What Christian Religion Teaches
It is not my place to judge anyone. After all, I’m a sinner, too, and I have no business telling someone else that what they are doing is a sin in God’s eyes.

Christians are called upon to share God’s love with everyone, not to call people down for the way they choose to live their lives. That is God’s business, not ours.

I have plenty to do where my own sin is concerned. It takes all I have just to judge my own sin and keep myself pure before God. I don’t need to judge others.

It is always easier to see someone else’s sin than it is to see my own, so I have to work at making certain I am dealing with the sins in my own life.

Besides, if I really want people to get their lives right with God, I must be careful that I don’t offend them, which I might easily do if I judge them for what I perceive to be wrong in their lives. Have we not done irreparable harm to our ability to witness to homosexual people, for instance, because of our strong and public denouncement of their chosen lifestyle? Wouldn’t we have a greater opportunity for Christian witness if we softened our harsh judgment of them?

No one likes to be judged. Judging is negative; it puts up a wall between others and me. And, besides, Jesus Himself said, “Judge not that you be not judged.” That statement alone should settle the matter. Judging sin in other people’s lives is not what God wants His people to be doing.

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from all these things: Don’t judge me.

What the Bible Actually Says
There is some truth in what Christian religion says about this matter of judging others. Jesus did warn about judging. That warning appears in Matthew 7: 1-5.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Jesus then went on to talk about the speck in somebody else’s eye as compared to the “plank” in one’s own eye. My sin, it would seem, is worse than the sins of others. I need to take care of my own sin.

However, all this being true, Paul did pass judgment on the Corinthian believers. Most of this judgment occurs in the first letter he wrote to them.

In chapter one of I Corinthians, Paul judges the fact that the believers there were terribly divided in their allegiance to this or that servant of God.

In chapter three, he judges them as being “worldly” instead of “spiritual” because of the jealousy and quarreling the church had become accustomed to.

In chapter four he judged the way in which the believers perceived Paul and his fellow servants. “This is how you ought to regard us,” he said, and then proceeded to tell them what they should be thinking about him.

In chapter four he judges that they have become arrogant. In chapter five he judged a serious case of sexual immorality in the Corinthian church. A man in the church was having sexual relations with the woman who had married his father (his step-mother). The church is judged because it did not do anything about this terrible situation. The list goes on, but the point is, Paul did judge others when he felt there was a need to do so.

Paul’s judging of the Corinthians, however, was a result of his love for them, not of his hatred for their sin. “I do not say this to condemn you,” he says in today’s Scripture. Paul had a special place in his heart for the Corinthian believers. He would “live or die with” them. Paul wrote to the believers “with great frankness” concerning their struggles with sin. This is a reference to the first epistle he sent them. Their reaction to his letter brought him encouragement and joy.

When Paul was in Macedonia, the mainly Greek area of the ancient world which included the city of Corinth, he was beset with weariness and in need of rest. Instead he found himself “harassed

Sep 6 - Problems Are For Losers 2 Cor 1:1-2:4
Sep 13 - The Old Ways Are Better 2 Cor 2:5-3:18
Sep 20 - Pie-In-The-Sky Religion Won’t Cut It 2 Cor 4:1-5:10
Sep 27 - I Have To Do It Myself 2 Cor 5:11-6:2
Oct 4 - God Doesn’t Want Me To Suffer 2 Cor 6:3-7:1
Oct 11 - Don’t Judge Me 2 Cor 7:2-16
Oct 18 - I Don’t Have Enough To Give It Away 2 Cor 8:1-9:5
Oct 25 - God Gave It To Me For Me 2 Cor 9:6-15
Nov 1 - I Take Pride in Myself 2 Cor 10:1-18
Nov 8 - You’re Okay, I’m Okay 2 Cor 11:1-15
Nov 15 - My Heritage Is Important 2 Cor 11:16-12:10
Nov 22 - Don’t Make a Fool of Yourself 2 Cor 12:11-21
Nov 29 - Don’t Tell Me What Not to Do 2 Cor 13:1-14
Classes taught by Tom Parsons at Maranatha Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio Sunday mornings at 9:30 am.

at every turn.” Conflicts abounded. Fears also. But God comforted Paul by sending Titus to him. Titus had recently returned from a visit at Corinth. The report he gave Paul about the believers there was the source of comfort and joy to the beleaguered apostle.

There were three things Titus reported to Paul that encouraged him about the church at Corinth. First, they had a deep longing for Paul. This is most likely a reference to their desire for him to come and visit them himself, something Paul wanted to do, but was hindered by the Lord in doing.

Second, they had deep sorrow. As we learn as we read further, this sorrow was produced by their conviction over the sin they had harbored in their lives and in their church.

Third, they had an “ardent concern” for Paul. They truly loved him and desired him to be successful in his ministry for the Lord.

Paul did not regret causing the sorrow they felt when they read his first letter to them. He admitted that the letter hurt them, but he acknowledged that it was only a temporary hurt. Paul was now happy, not because they felt sorrow and hurt resulting from his letter, but from the fact that their sorrow led to repentance. The sorrow they felt was God-sent sorrow used by the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and repentance.

This godly sorrow on the part of God’s people brought some tremendous benefits to Paul, to Titus and to the believers at Corinth.

Titus was greatly refreshed and encouraged by his visit at Corinth. In addition, his love for them had grown tremendously. Paul had boasted to Titus about them, and they had proven Paul’s boasting of them to be accurate. Paul was greatly refreshed and encouraged as well, especially when Titus, a man Paul trusted, brought such a good report. It was the sorrow that led to repentance that was the greatest encouragement to Paul. The manner in which they treated Titus gave Paul confidence once again that he could trust them.

But the greatest benefit came to the people themselves. Dealing with sin in a godly manner led to significant changes in the life of their church.

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation [over sin], what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” Paul’s comments reveal his heart-felt devotion to the Corinthians believers.

Where once their attitude toward sin had been lackadaisical and indifferent, now they were indignant about sin in the church and worked hard to bring each one to repentance. No longer willing to “be, and let be,” they worked to keep themselves and their church pure.

All of this made them a stronger testimony in the wicked city of Corinth. By coming to the place of not tolerating sin in their own lives and their own church, they came to be more respected both in and out of Christian circles.

Godly sorrow accomplishes great things in the lives of God’s people and in the testimony of the churches in which He places them.

Next: I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO GIVE IT AWAY