And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18

If there is one thing that makes us totally united as Christians it’s that we all fall short of God’s glory (Rom 2:23). We’re all sinners who need a Savior. Even at our best, our good deeds are so tainted God compares them to rags (Is 64:6). Whether you or I are seen by others as pillars of the faith or barely Christian, our total dependence on Jesus is the great equalizer.

I know Paul told a church in one case to remove a sinner from their midst, but that was someone who was bragging about their sin—in fact the whole church was bragging about it. To use that to justify judgment of others or a judgmental attitude is to misuse the Bible. It’s plain falseness.

The truth is that we are equal in Jesus. Every time we think less of someone else, we forget that we are also sinners. That truth is easier to superficially acknowledge than it is to fully consistently live out in our hearts and attitudes. Only the humble can walk this one out in our daily lives.

Only the meek and contrite heart can fathom just how far Jesus went to rescue each of us. Humility like that has only one source: Jesus. As we draw near to Him, as we lift Him up, as our heart’s fixation is on Him, we’re too overwhelmed with who He is and what He has done for us to be caught up in judging another. There is a reason why people in the Bible who got a glimpse of God’s glory fell on their faces confessing their own sinfulness (e.g. Is 6:1-6).

So what we do with our own judgmental heart is to fix our eyes on Jesus instead of the people around us (Heb 12:2). Being caught up in Him gives us a truthful picture of ourselves and others.

But how do we handle those who judge those around us? Or maybe they judge us? That can be both bothersome and challenging. We’ll look at that next time.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else… Or do you show contempt for the riches of (God’s) kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? Romans 2:1,4

Accept one-another, just as Jesus accepts you. Romans 15:7

God is a reconciler…a God who accepts us because Jesus became sin for us so that in Him we become the righteousness of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). As “the righteousness of God” Jesus became the instrument of our reconciliation to God (v. 18). As the “righteousness of God” in Jesus we become God’s instruments of other peoples’ reconciliation (v. 19).

The outcome? “we no longer regard anyone from a worldly point of view” (v. 16) because “if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come!” (v. 17). So we can accept one-another, just as Jesus accepts us (Rom 15:7).

So in light of all of this, which is probably been read and understood by most Christians, why do we have problems with judging in the Body of Christ? Probably, a lot of it has to do with our not believing that God has truly reconciled us to Himself, or that Jesus death on the cross is all we need to make us new creations.

Being judgmental is a sure sign of unbelief. Unbelief in what? Firstly, unbelief in the power of God. (That God has the power to save us, to reconcile us, to make us new creations. Unbelief that He can take care of our own sin as well as anyone else’s. 2 Cor 9:8)).

Secondly, it’s belief in our own righteousness. (Belief that we’ve got it more together than our brother or sister. Belief that we have more ability than the Holy Spirit to ‘fix’ our brother or sister. (Rom 14:4)

But a lot of us have fallen into that at times. Why’s that? Because our God is too small, and we are too big (as we said above). Because we’re prideful; because we’re just plain annoyed at other peoples’ immaturity (impatience) or inability to see the truth the way we do—and yes, theologians fall into this trap.

And perhaps, most of all, because we rightly see ourselves as instruments of God, but mistakenly see ourselves as instruments of His judgement rather than instruments of His love. Instruments of His reconciling power.

So how to we deal with judging…either in ourselves toward others, or being on the receiving end? We’ll look at that next time.