Passing Judgment
I love the saying of "small potatoes" as it has meant something is not a big deal. In Romans 14:1-11, we are looking at some "small potato" issues such as day of worship of the Lord and type of food you eat. The food one eats may be due to a dedication to the Lord and that should not be judged by one who eats differently. Both should be eating to honor the Lord which would mean not over or under eating for selfish or worldly reasons (like body image comparisons). Just like no one should judge another for the day they worship God. We are also to accept those at different levels of faith, especially the weaker. The weaker may have not been taught well, may be new in their faith or may be like the Pharisees with legalism. There is a different between weak and rebellious, let the holy spirit guide you.
W
e also need to check ourselves. We do not do it based on what makes sense to us, but we use scripture to gauge what we need to do. We are not to cause others to stumble by subjecting them to the things that they struggle with (Romans 14:13). If you like to have a drink but you you know your friend cannot control themselves with alcohol, then do not drink around them. do not do this out of love for them. This is an example of putting others before yourself. That also means that if there is a potential argument about eating steak and your friend thinks steak is unclean, then just have the steak later after the friend has gone.
Ultimately we all have to give an account to God as Romans 14:12 states. God knows what we have vowed to Him and what we have dedicated to Him for His honor. We must remember that was we encounter others who are also believers and have different dedications to the Lord. Their vows to God are not our business to judge.
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Righteous Judgement
Many people say "don't judge" or "judge not lest thee be judged." They take a Bible verse and misinterpret it by not reading the whole context of the verse, the section of the chapter or the Bible as a whole. The words they quote are from Jesus, but how it is often understood is different than how it is used.
Jesus saw that many judged based on appearance and not on what was the below the surface truth. Have you ever seen a homeless person and thought that they must have done that to themselves? People jump to conclusions and think the person must be a drunk or drug addict. They don't know that there are people with mental issues that have been left to fend for themselves. God knows the context for all of our situations. Just because you see someone at one moment it does not mean that the person is that person overall. We don't need condemnation for our mess ups, we need compassion. Christ was full of compassion whether you were blind (John 9:1-7), and adulterer (John 8:1-11) or a tax collector who was known for taxing too much (Luke 19:1-10).
Jesus was known to also respond accordingly when God's house was disrespected (Matthew 21:12-13) or religious leaders were misleading people (Matthew 23). We cannot judge on appearance and what we think unless it is in line with what God wants from us. We are not judging on personality and fashion sense and character. We don't know why people do what they do. Maybe they weren't raised well? Maybe they were abused? Do you really want to condemn an adult who may have been abused? We don't know motives. We don't have the full picture. I make mistakes and bad decisions just like you do. We can love each other through our sin and help one another with mercy and compassion, or we can condemn and keep reminding people of what they have done wrong. I don't need all of my sins brought up over and over again just like you don't.
It is okay to evaluate and confront a sinful brother/sister in Christ. That takes a judgment. It is a judgment call. We must use proper judgment when seeing who are the false teachers and false messiahs. We must use right judgment in order to serve God and encourage others, lovingly.
To hear a sermon on righteous judgment click here for John MacArthur
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