When you see the cruelty with which some believers pass judgement on people, you will wonder if the devil has handed over the baton to them as ‘the accuser of the brethren…’
Some years ago, I was visiting with some brethren in the eastern part of Nigeria, West Africa, when news of the tragic demise of a certain preacher came up on the TV. The preacher and his son had died the same day. As the brethren were expressing their surprise at how and why such a tragedy befell that man of God, one of them said, “This is judgement. God has judged the man”. I was very curious for details since I knew nothing about the deceased preacher. But to my utter surprise, when I prodded for details, the believer who said it was judgement knew absolutely nothing for which the preacher could have been judged. He had heard no rumour whatsoever of any evil perpetrated by the preacher nor had he ever seen the preacher do anything wrong – not even on TV. He had condemned the preacher without reason. So I reminded everyone present, of the need to be careful in passing judgement. And as Christians, we should guard against the natural tendency to condemn people, especially fellow believers.
I wonder the basis upon which a believer would judge and condemn a fellow believer who has been justified by the blood of Jesus...
Today, the brother in the above paragraph is not alone in casting the stone of condemnation. When you see the cruelty with which some believers pass judgement on people, you will wonder if the devil has handed over the baton to them as ‘the accuser of the brethren’ (Rev 12:10). When we judge others, we put ourselves on trial before the Judge of the whole world. In Matt 7:2, the bible says that with the same judgement we judge others we would be judged. When we condemn others, we set ourselves up against God because in Rom 8:33-34 the bible says: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth, it is Christ that died”….
The Christian faith is now being infected with hypocrisy, but we must not allow the deterioration to force us to replace the ministry of reconciliation which we received with the ministry of condemnation, whereby we become so engrossed with analysing and judging people that we forget to reconcile them to God…
There is Therefore now no Condemnation
When we condemn fellow believers, we are refuting the word of God in Rom 8:1 which says that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If Jesus did not condemn the woman in Jn 8:2-11 who was just caught red-handed in adultery, I wonder the basis upon which a believer would judge and condemn a fellow believer who has been justified by the blood of Jesus.
The natural tendency to condemn stems from the ‘adamic’ nature and is the reason during evangelism, many people build up a high wall of defence the moment they sight someone carrying the bible. Clearly, they are tired of being told how ‘doomed they are’ and how ‘shortly and surely they would perish in hell’. Yet the message we are to carry to the world is called ‘the good news’. It is the glad tidings of God’s unconditional love, not God’s sentence. Even in secular law, the judge renders his judgement himself and if God has not made me a member of His jury, why should I be so engrossed in the verdict? John 12:48 says: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”.
If we are to gather people into God’s kingdom, we certainly cannot do it by putting up a Pharisee vs. Sadducee attitude. The next time you are tempted to condemn someone, before you cast the first stone, pause and think: “am I without sin myself?”
I understand that there is presently a high rate of corruption in the world such that even the Christian faith is now being infected with hypocrisy, but we must not allow the deterioration to force us to replace the ministry of reconciliation which we received with the ministry of condemnation, whereby we become so engrossed with analysing and judging people that we forget to reconcile them to God.
Christ’s Finished Work of Sanctification
Judging people is different from condemning them. Some people condemn even without judging, some judge without condemning; some both judge and condemn, while others neither judge nor condemn. A sort of controversy thus tends to arise over Matt 7:1 which says: “judge not”. Some say that by that scripture God expects us not to judge anyone at all and some others say he expects us to judge only evil. Whatever your stand on this scripture, the question I ask is: even if you have to judge, do you also have to condemn?
The spirit of condemnation is antichrist because it opposes Christ’s finished work of sanctification. It sits deep within the soul of a critically minded person and feeds on negative attitude and disposition. It sets out to make the blood of Jesus inefficacious by condemning whom Christ has justified. It is in direct conflict with the Spirit of God. Jesus said anyone not gathering with Him is scattering (Lk 11:33). If we are to gather people into God’s kingdom, we certainly cannot do it by putting up a Pharisee vs. Sadducee attitude. The next time you are tempted to condemn someone, before you cast the first stone, pause and think: “am I without sin myself?” (Matt 7:7). Remember, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
