Judging Others

This Series is All About Keeping Verses, Passages, and Teachings in Their Biblical Context

We’ve Been Taking Verses and Untwisting Them From the Meanings That We Sometimes Ascribe to Them

But Last Week, Instead of Looking at a Twisted Verse/Passage…

We Looked at a Twisted Biblical Topic

We Looked at the Concept of How a Christian Ought to Dress (Specifically to Worship)

A Topic That the Church Has Twisted in Some Very Destructive Ways Throughout Recent History

Again Tonight, We are Going to Look at a Twisted Topic: Judging Others

“Jon, Didn’t We Look at Judging Others This Morning?”

Yes, We Looked at Matthew 7 Where Jesus Taught Us Not to Judge Our Siblings Harshly and Hypocritically

But the Bible Has a Lot More to Say On the Topic of Judging

And Sadly, the Topic of Judging Others Has Been Twisted in More Than One Way

Tonight, We Are Going to Look at the Twisted Standards By Which We Judge Others

Double Standard

This Standard of Judgement is Along the Lines of This Morning’s Lesson

A Double Standard Usually Refers to a Person Who Holds Others to a Higher Standard Than He Holds Himself

Christians Are Often Guilty of This

We Looked at Jesus’ Words in the Sermon on the Mount This Morning Where He Condemned This Type of Judgement

Jesus Called People Who Hold Others to a Higher Standard Than Themselves “Hypocrites”

Having a Double Standard is Obviously Not a Christian Ethic

Since We Looked at This Type of Judgement This Morning, I Don’t Want to Spend Much Time On it Tonight

There is Another Standard of Judgement That is Just as Prevalent Amongst Christians

A Standard That is Condemned in the Bible

That is, Holding Others to the Same Standard to Which We Hold Ourselves

Same Standard

If Holding Others to a Higher Standard Than We Hold Ourselves to is Wrong…

Then it Would Seem Holding Others to the Same Standard We Hold Ourselves to Would Be Correct

Well, That’s True, But it’s Not True

“What Do You Mean it’s True But it’s Not True?”

The Bible Teaches Us That We Should Hold Our Siblings in Christ to the Standard Jesus Has Set For Us

That’s What Jesus Taught Us to Do in Matthew 7

But the Bible Teaches Against:

Holding Outsiders (Non-Christians) to the Standard that Jesus Has Set For Christians

And Holding Other Christians to the Same Standard to Which We Hold Ourselves

These 2 Ways of Holding People to the Same Standard We Hold Ourselves to are Specifically Condemned in the New Testament

First, Let’s Look at How We Shouldn’t Hold Outsiders to Christian Standards

There’s a Really Good Show That You Can Watch For Free On Youtube Called “The Chosen”

It’s a Show About the Ministry of Jesus and His Apostles

It’s Historical Fiction, Which Means it’s Based On Historical Events But it Has Some Fictional Stuff Thrown in There

In the Show, There is a Fictional Young Woman Named Ramah Who Decides to Become a Disciple and Follower of Jesus

But Her Father, Who Doesn’t Believe in Jesus, Wants to Talk With Jesus Before Letting Her Go

He Tells Jesus, “I cannot give you my belief or my devotion.”

And Jesus Replies, “I ask a lot of those who follow me, but I ask little of those who do not.”

In Essense, Those Who Choose to Follow Jesus Will Be Held to a Certain Standard

But Those Who Don’t Choose to Follow Him are Not Expected to Live By That Standard

Those Words Might Not Have Ever Came Out of Jesus’ Mouth in Real Life…

But the Principle is Absolutely Taught in the New Testament

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul Addresses a Problem Taking Place Amongst the Church at Corinth

There Was a Brother Who Was Living in Sexual Sin…

And the Congregation Was Doing Nothing About it

He Then Commands Them to Deliver the Man to Satan (Practice Church Discipline/Disfellowship Him)

This Involved Excommunicating Him and No Longer Associating With Him

They Were to Cut All Ties With Him Until He Chose to Repent

Then Paul Said:

1 Corinthians 5:9 (ESV)

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—

That Verse Alone, Pulled Out of its Context, Sounds Like Paul is Telling Us Not to Associate With Non-Christians

But We Have to Keep Reading

1 Corinthians 5:10–11 (ESV)

not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

It’s Not the Sinners of the World We Are to Not Associate With…

It’s Unfaithful Christians

1 Corinthians 5:12–13 (ESV)

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

It’s Not Our Duty to Judge Outsiders

Judge, in the Context, Has to Do With Confronting a Person About Their Sin and Enacting Church Discipline On Them

Our Duty is to Judge Those Within the Church, Not Those Without

God Judges the Outsiders

I Think Intellectually We Understand This Principle

We Know We Can’t Practice Church Discipline On a Person Whose Outside the Church

But Practically, I Think a Lot of Us Have Twisted This Teaching

Sometimes We Expect Our Non-Christian Family, Friends, and Neighbors to Behave Like Christians

And When They Don’t, We Rebuke Them and Tell Them They Need to Start Living Right

That is Not What the Bible Teaches

It is Unbiblical to Hold None Christians to the Christian Standard

Of Course We Want Them to Live Good and Righteous Lives and Live in Heaven With God…

But if Our Evangelism Consists of Telling People to Stop Sinning and Start Doing What the Bible Says…

That’s Not Christianity We’re Spreading…

That’s Moralism

Changing One’s Morals and Practices From Bad to Good Doesn’t Make One a Christian or Righteous

A Person Doesn’t Become a Righteous Christian By Becoming a Better Person

A Person Becomes a Righteous Christian Through Faith in Jesus Christ

Paul Says We Have No Business Judging Outsiders By Christian Standards

Jesus Expects Much of Those Who Follow Him, But He Expect Very Little of Those Who Don’t

If You Want the Non-Christians of Your Family, Friends, and Neighbors to Convert to Christianity, Repent of Their Sins, and Live Righteously…

You Do That Through Telling Them the Good News of King Jesus

If They Refuse to Place Their Trust in Him and Change Their Ways…

We Don’t Rebuke Them or Stop Associating With Them

We Continue Loving Them

We Continue Associating With Them

And We Continue Gently and Patiently Encouraging Them to Obey the Gospel

There May Come a Time Where We Have to Stop Telling Them About the Gospel

Jesus Taught Us this Morning That Their Comes a Time Where You Stop Giving What is Holy and Precious to the Dogs/Pigs

But That Doesn’t Mean We Judge, Rebuke, or Stop Associating With Them

Christians Hold Other Christians Accountable to the Teachings of Jesus

But Christians Don’t Hold Non-Christians Accountable to the Teachings of Jesus

Now, Let’s Look at How We Shouldn’t Hold Other Christians to the Same Standard to Which We Hold Ourselves

Before We Look at the Text, I Feel Like I Need to Explain That I’m Not Contradicting Myself With This Point

I Just Said That We Hold Other Christians to Jesus’ Standard

And Now I’m Saying We Don’t Hold Other Christians to Our Own Standard

Those 2 Statements are Not Synonymous

Most Christians Hold Themselves to Standards That Surpass Jesus’ Standard For Us

We See This Explained in Romans 14

Romans 14:1 (NASB)

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.

Paul Tells the Romans to Accept as a Faithful Sibling in Christ, the One Who is Weak in Faith

The Weak in Faith is Essentially the Person Who Places Higher Standards On Himself Than Jesus Places On Him

The Next Verse Gives an Example of a Person Who is Weak in Faith

A Person Who Believes They Must Abstain From Eating Meat in Order to Be Faithful to Christ

Paul Says We Are to Accept Them as Faithful Siblings Even Though They are Weaker in Faith

And We Are Not to Judge Them Based On Their “Opinions”

“Opinions” in the Greek Doesn’t Mean an Absent-Minded Belief

It Refers to a Deeply Held Belief That Has Been Carefully Reasoned Over and Thought Out

We Are Not to Judge Each Other or Dispute Over These Personally Held Beliefs

Romans 14:3 (NASB)

The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.

Those of Stronger Faith Shouldn’t Despise Those of Weaker Faith

Those Who Only Hold Themselves to the Standard of Jesus Shouldn’t Despise Those Who Hold Themselves to the Higher Standard

Those of Weaker Faith Shouldn’t Condemn Those of a Stronger Faith

Those Who Hold Themselves to a Higher Standard Shouldn’t Condemn Those Who Don’t Hold Themselves to That Same Standard

This Principle Can Often Be Twisted By Christians

We Often Create Guardrails/Fences Around Sins

For Example: I Don’t Call, Text, or Spend Private Time Other Women My Age

I Do This to Place a Fence Around the Sin of Sexual Immorality

This is Out of Respect For My Wife, But it’s Also to Eradicate Any Opportunity For Temptation or Sin to Arise

But I Can’t Judge Other Men Who Don’t Use My Same Standard

Some Believe it is Wrong to Eat at a Restaurant That Serves Alcohol Because of the Sin of Drunkeness

But to Hold Others to That Standard…

Or Condemn Them When They Don’t Live Up to That Standard is Wrong

It’s Perfectly Fine to Hold Ourselves to Higher Standards

There’s Nothing Wrong With Placing Personal Guardrails/Fences Around Sins

But We Are Not to Condemn or Despise Others When They Don’t Share Our Same Standard

We Are to Accept Each Other Despite Our Differences in Beliefs in These Matters

We Must All Agree On Jesus’ Explicit Standard

But We May All Disagree On How We Apply His Standard

How We Refrain From Sin or Do Good Works Will All Look Different

And That’s the Beauty of the Diversity of the Church

We Can Be Different, But Still Be Pleasing to God

Application

Christians Are to Hold Ourselves to a Higher Standard

We Are Not to Hold Non-Christians to Christian Standards

We Are Not to Hold Christians to Our Own Personal Standards

We Twist the Biblical Principle of Judging Others When We Hold Others to Our Own Standards

Christians Are to Hold Ourselves to a Higher Standard

A Higher Standard Than We Hold Outsiders to

And a Higher Standard Than We Hold Our Siblings in Christ to

Let’s Hold to the Standard Christ Has Set For Us By Expecting More of Ourselves Than We Expect of Others