Have you ever stopped and wondered why we are so quick to condemn others? We pass judgment on their driving, lifestyles and how they are handling problems in their lives. It’s so easy to do and we are so comfortable doing it that we hardly stop to ask why. Is God calling us to make these judgments or have we taken it upon ourselves with some hidden motives?
I’d like to make the case that 99.9% of the judgments we pass on others save us from looking at our own lives and addressing the things God wants us to change. Let’s begin by looking at some of the reasons why we would do this.
First of all, it’s a way of building ourselves up. There is something very “God-like” about passing judgment on someone else. We may not realize it but it means we are smart, “I read this in the Bible...” and it places us in a position of authority in relation to the other person, “and this is what God says is going to happen to you.” It is also a way of lessening our own shortcomings and not seeing them for the sins they are, “I know I’m not perfect but I’m much better than this person so I’m not so bad after all.”
I believe the best way to uncover our motives is to stop and ask a couple of questions. The first is, ”Is God calling me to make this judgment or have I have taken it upon myself to make this pronouncement against them?” “What is my motive?” “Am I speaking out of a deep sense of love for this person?” “Do I really care about them at all?” “If I am the messenger God is sending is this really the way Jesus would do it?”
If we’re not sure God has really called us it’s a good idea to look at what our true motive might be. “Is the character trait or sin I am condemning something I am struggling with?” “Does focusing on their sin mean I don’t have to look at my own?”
Finally, what sin has God called on you to confess or character trait to change recently? If we can’t identify ways God is actively working in our lives to help us become more like Christ then I’d hesitate to say he’s using us to pass judgment on another. You see, judging others diverts us from judging ourselves. It gives each of us a way out. The real work God wants to do with us is not to pass judgment on someone else’s life, but to open our lives to Him so he can show us our sins and how to address them.
How do we do this? First we must change our standard of measure. We are not to compare ourselves to others; we are to compare ourselves to Christ. How do we measure up against what He calls us to be? Trust me, none of us will stack up well. The people closest to sainthood have such a deep sense of their own sin that they can barely raise their head in God’s presence. You see, they see every sin, no matter how small, as a break in their relationship with God and they are deeply grieved by it.
With this true realization of our sins comes a deep humility, not superiority, towards others. It becomes almost impossible to condemn others because we recognize our own unworthiness before God and how little we deserve His grace. Instead we find ourselves coming up along side them and loving them for who they are, just as God loves us just the way we are.
I believe our primary purpose is to bring God’s love and grace to others, teach them to hear God’s voice, and leave it to God to point out what needs to be changed. It may or may not be the “sin” we identified, but it will be an active process in which God is working in their life, just as He wants to work in ours, to lead us to be more like Christ.