Can I judge?
When I was a young Christian I was told by friends from other denominations, that I was judging if I said that without baptism a person is not saved. The reason given by them was Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.This verse and its application in my experience troubled me and triggered my pondering.
If we cannot judge then should we evangelise? To evangelise is to judge that others are not saved without Jesus. To state that Jesus is the only Way to God is itself a judgement. Furthermore how can we live our daily lives without making judgement? Every decision is a judgement, isn’t it?
The crux of the problem I realized was the misunderstanding by many folks, between judgement and judgemental. The former is a Process of weighing, deciding or formulating an opinion whereas being judgemental is an Attitude. A judgemental person judges but a person who judges is not necessarily judgemental. Another reason is emotion. Inevitably when someone cries foul that others are judgemental, is when emotionally this person’s experience is unpleasant. If it is pleasant (and it does not concern him directly) there is a good chance this is not an issue. To a non-Christian, Christians are judgemental and arrogant to believe we have the only Way. On the other hand, to us, we do not see ourselves as judgemental, just concerned and loving. Right? So we are told (and we also tell others too), we should not judge; not realizing a decision not to judge is itself a judgement! What a conundrum!
So how can we reconcile with Matthew 7: 1 which seemed so explicitly non-judgemental? The clues lie in several verses following it and other references. (more…)
Add comment September 18th, 2009
