Standing in Judgement
Imagine, if you will, a fifty year old woman, with short dyed hair, on her third marriage, sitting in a church pew during a Bible study. Her daughter has announced that she likes girls and so is living with one; her son likes girls and has lived with several without bothering to marry any of them.
Meanwhile the leader of the Bible study is waxing eloquent about the very irregular life of several of the patriarchs. Our heroine ends up feeling quite judgemental of all of those nasty people in the Scriptures. It must have been a miracle that God chose to use any of them. How very forgiving and merciful of Him.
Pots and Kettles
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
Let’s start by assuming that the teacher is correct. That he has successfully found a bunch of sins in the lives of the patriarchs. And perhaps they’re not even sins that you are committing. But how do they compare to the sins you are committing?
How many of the patriarchs were divorced, for example. And Jesus says some pretty nasty things about divorce. And the Scriptures say some nasty things about the sins that lead to divorce, eh?
How many of them had children who were running around with one woman after another without marrying them? How many of them had lesbian daughters?
Even assuming that you can identify the patriarchs sins, don’t you need to start by identifying your own? And seeing that theirs are as motes compared to your logs?
Those Nasty Gentiles
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
I Corinthians 5:1-2
Our modern society accepts things as normal and hardly worth noticing that even the most vile of unbelievers would, in previous generations, considered a death penalty offence. The other day the Prime Minister of Canada told the world that he was a Sodomite, and then was most offended when he was accused (sotte voce) of buying an expensive bathtub for a man, with government money, so that they could share it. He called it a ‘homophobic slur’. Which I must admit I still don’t understand.
But the point is that we let whole classes of sins fly under the radar, and ignore them in church. We have people sitting in our pews committing sins, or condoning them, or ignoring them, that would have made depraved people blush a few generations ago.
Right Judgement
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Romans 14:7-12
Speaking now to the Bible study teacher I would ask… are you judging with just judgement? If you were to have Abraham, or Caleb, or James, or Paul, sitting in front of you right now… would you be as comfortable trotting out your ‘the ten mistakes Paul made in his ministry’ list? Would you even be willing to look Abraham in the face and say, “Yeah, I know that the Scriptures call you faithful and righteous and all that… but that whole thing with Hagar just destroyed your whole witness as far as I’m concerned.” How about righteous Lot?
How about this… how about asking yourself if God condemned the righteous man in this story. Not by looking up some law, or bringing us some of your own wisdom… but does He do it, in print. In the Word?
And while you’re at it, did other Godly men do the same thing? Did Godly man after Godly man do the same thing, God never condemning, but you sit in judgement?
Who’s the Example Here?
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:32-40 (but read the whole chapter)
Are you ready to stand up to David and say, “Hey, Dude, you should take my life as an example for how to live.”? Do you remember that Paul brings forward the righteousness of Lot as an example, to us, of how God knows how to deliver the righteous out of His judgement?
When you sit in judgement, do you remember that the person you are condemning not only has Christ as his lawyer, but has his name written in God’s Word. Written and praised?
Conclusion
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Romans 14:4
When Scripture brings forth a man as an example, and calls him righteous, and asks us to follow his example… it would be a very good thing if we did that. If instead of standing up in judgement, we sat down and listened and learned. If instead of using our wisdom to judge them, we used their wisdom, and faith, and patience, to judge our own actions.
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von