Only God Can Judge Me
by Tyler Zach
Back in high school there was a guy named Todd who was a year older than me. He was very sensitive to people judging him, because, well, he had been judged a lot by his peers and community. So he got a tattoo on his arm that proclaimed, “Only God Can Judge Me.”
Is this a reasonable proclamation or is it an excuse to do whatever you want – and tell everyone to back off?
The playground for talking about “being judgmental” is a rough one for people of all ages. The bible can be very confusing at first glance when you try to take a stance on judging others. Here are two scriptures that seem to say two different things:
1) Romans 14:10 – “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”
2) Luke 17:3 – “If your brother sins, rebuke him.”
Why does the first passage exhort you to not judge someone while the second passage seems to say that it is OK? Well, perhaps it is because we have a faulty view of what the two words – judgment and rebuke - mean. Perhaps when we “rebuke” someone we aren’t actually “judging” them after all.
Rebuke comes from the Greek word “Epitimao” which means to remind someone of a duty or obligation, express warning, and give advice and encouragement with gentleness.
Judge (the verb) comes from the Greek word “Krino” which means to bring under condemnation or simply “to condemn”.
When you condemn someone, you are basically communicating to them that they are out of God’s favor…and in extreme circumstances…that they are out of God’s family.
On the flip side, if you rebuke a fellow brother or sister in Christ, you are communicating to them that they are not under condemnation no matter what sin they commit. The key here is that they are still fully accepted by God and by you. But, by rebuking them, you are showing them love by reminding them of their duty as a son or daughter of God and by giving them encouragement to press on in obedience.
Do you see the difference?
Now we can start to understand what the passage “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” means. We can sharpen each other without judging each other.
Back in high school there was a guy named Todd who was a year older than me. He was very sensitive to people judging him, because, well, he had been judged a lot by his peers and community. So he got a tattoo on his arm that proclaimed, “Only God Can Judge Me.”
Is this a reasonable proclamation or is it an excuse to do whatever you want – and tell everyone to back off?
The playground for talking about “being judgmental” is a rough one for people of all ages. The bible can be very confusing at first glance when you try to take a stance on judging others. Here are two scriptures that seem to say two different things:
1) Romans 14:10 – “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”
2) Luke 17:3 – “If your brother sins, rebuke him.”
Why does the first passage exhort you to not judge someone while the second passage seems to say that it is OK? Well, perhaps it is because we have a faulty view of what the two words – judgment and rebuke - mean. Perhaps when we “rebuke” someone we aren’t actually “judging” them after all.
Rebuke comes from the Greek word “Epitimao” which means to remind someone of a duty or obligation, express warning, and give advice and encouragement with gentleness.
Judge (the verb) comes from the Greek word “Krino” which means to bring under condemnation or simply “to condemn”.
When you condemn someone, you are basically communicating to them that they are out of God’s favor…and in extreme circumstances…that they are out of God’s family.
On the flip side, if you rebuke a fellow brother or sister in Christ, you are communicating to them that they are not under condemnation no matter what sin they commit. The key here is that they are still fully accepted by God and by you. But, by rebuking them, you are showing them love by reminding them of their duty as a son or daughter of God and by giving them encouragement to press on in obedience.
Do you see the difference?
Now we can start to understand what the passage “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” means. We can sharpen each other without judging each other.
posted by Tyler Zach at 2:55 PM
7 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sorry, I had to delete the first comment on here because it was an advertisement. If you want to leave a comment go aheah...i won't erase it! :)
How about that interesting little passage in I Corinthians 6:1-8. Apparently, when we learn to judge according to scriptural direction, we are actually "practicing" for later on, so church disciple must be a good thing. I think we just have to be careful when we deal with sinners. After all, sinners don't have much choice except to sin!
I'd love to hear your comments about that!!
Mamma Jane, thanks for your comment. First off, remember that when I talk about judging in the blog, I mean in the "condemning way". Most of the time, when we judge - we accept of do not accept that person. We put ourself in the judgement seat. When we rebuke, we test their action (or our action for that matter) against God's Word...and then correct them for their good...or correct ourselves inwardly for our good.
Also, you might want to watch out, because in your comment you said "we just have to be careful when we deal with sinners." That might tend to put off a hint of pride. Remember that followers of Christ still sin everyday too. Rebuking can be used with non-Christians, but it is especially designed for Christians.
Ahh! I'm so glad that you noticed my goof. Actually, about ten minutes after I wrote that comment I started feeling bad about my choice of words. "Unbeliever" would have been a lot better, don't you think? I squirmed a bit as I realized that I still sin, even though the indwelling Holy Spirit avails me of His power to overcome.
Thank you for your willingness to "rebuke" in love. Way to follow the scriptural command!!
You are an idiot for taking the bible that literally. They invented this thing a few million years ago through the use of evolution. It's called critical thinking, and all humans can do it. You should try it some time. Or just keep swallowing those tripe pills.
Thanks for your comment anonymous. I wish you were a little more dignified though in what you say...so that people would actually respect your opinion. You kind of blew it.
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