I’m about to drop a bombshell . .. . . . ready for it? I don’t think some, a lot really, are, but here it comes anyway!
Guess What??????
Christians are NOT supposed to judge anyone
who is outside of the faith! Nope! Not allowed to judge who is
sinning, who isn’t, or who is worthy of salvation!!
We are ONLY ALLOWED to judge our
fellow Christians!!!!!
Where do I get that?
That can’t be true!!
Right??? Wrong! Paul said it when he wrote the church in
Corinth condemning them for overlooking a fellow member of the church for
living in sexual sin with his father’s wife in 1 Corinthians 5.
As it is written in verses 9 – 13 (taken from The Living
Bible):
“When
I wrote to you before I said not to mix with evil people. But when I said that, I wasn’t talking about
non-believers who live in sexual sin, or are greedy cheats and thieves and idol
worshipers. For you can’t live in this
world without being with people like that.
What I meant was that you are NOT to keep company with anyone who claims to be a Christian but indulges
in sexual sins, or is greedy, or is a swindler, or worships idols,
or is a drunkard or abusive. Don’t even eat lunch with such person.
It isn’t our job to judge
outsiders (those outside faith). But it
is certainly our job to judge and deal strongly
with those who are members of the church,
who are sinning in these ways.
God alone is the Judge of those on the outside of our faith. But you yourselves must deal with this man
and put him out of your church.”
Ouch!!! That stings a little doesn’t it? When was the last time you heard that used in
a sermon? Probably Never!!! Shoot! Just putting the gossipers alone out
of the church would drop the attendance numbers to at least half!
Why is it we don’t hear that taught in church? Because we Christians love to put ourselves
on a pedestal up there with God, deeming ourselves equally as holy as God
himself. And we love to have other
humans praising us for our “holiness” instead of praising God.
We love to rub our self-proclaimed “righteousness” in other
people’s faces as we judge them for being sinners and unworthy of God while we worship our idols of money, power,
social status, vanity, gossiping, possessions, TV, Internet, Sports stars,
entertainment stars, authors, and even our own self-proclaimed holiness.
The Bible, which is the voice of God, tells us that we are not
allowed to judge unbelievers, only other Christians.
So pull yourselves down off of those self-serving pedestals,
get on your knees and ask God to forgive you.
And I’d do it quick!
Remember what happened to Lucifer when he deemed himself equal to
God? God created Hell just for Lucifer
and then kicked him out of Heaven!
Hmmm . . . I wonder if God has a personal hell waiting for
each of us Christians who are sinning against God in this manner?
