One of the most difficult things Christians face is to stop themselves from judging non Christians and even other Christians. It is very easy to condemn other people for their perceived sins not realising that you are coming from a position of spiritual pride.
Another issue is what people tend to consider as being big sins. Sins like homosexuality, adultery, witch craft and prostitution. These in the eyes of many Christians would be seen as gross transgressions of God’s law and therefore mean instant condemnation in the eyes of God.
Actually, sin is sin. We are all born into sin as children of Adam and Eve. Romans 3:10 says that “There is none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.” While Romans 6:23 says that “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All of humanity needs the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.
How Christ Jesus handles sin is described in John 8: 3-11 “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” NASB
What it comes down to is that the person standing front of you is not just the sum of their parts. They are not defined by that one sin that you condemn them of, rather they are a person standing before you worthy of the grace and mercy of God. You on the other hand are not the instrument of God’s judgment but actually the instrument of His grace and mercy. As I John 4: 7-8 says “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Some who proffer the gospel have become so practiced at it that they have built judgment into their technique. As they talk to the potential convert, or may be victim would be a better description, and they discern from the persons conversation where they assume that their thinking lies. Often the evangelist is very proud of their technique and understanding. They do not see their approach as being judgmental or unloving. The will often describe the process to a friend in a most dispassionate way. Neither keeping the target person’s privacy intact nor displaying a single drop of love toward them. Rather railing against the potential convert for not heeding their ministrations. They wonder that people do not welcome their testimony when at the moment they give it their disdain is clearly evident in their arrogant attitude. They are in effect modern day Pharisees.
Others deride the idea that Yahweh Elohim is love as weakening the image of God preferring to see God in more macho terms. The fact is that the Jews have many sacred names for the different parts of the character of God. This is perhaps because they understood that we are mere humans and cannot truly understand God in His entirety and so broke his character down in an effort to better comprehend his nature. For instance the name Jehovah means I Am—The Self Existent One; Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will Provide; Jehovah Roi – The Lord is my Shepherd. There are many more besides these three which illuminate the Jewish perception of God’s personality. Thus they understood that God is love and if we have not love then God is not in us.
Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment and he mentioned two commandments which underpin all of the Law and which were well known to the Jews of the first century. Matthew 22: 36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” NASB. So all of the Law is underpinned with Love for God and for your fellow man. We don’t judge our fellow men we love them.
Jesus was asked how much we should be prepared to forgive our fellow man. Were we doing well if we forgive them seven times? Jesus said this in reply in Matthew 18:22 “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.” NASB. So the standard of God’s love and forgiveness far exceeds what we might see as the appropriate response. He who has not love does not know God.
In Matthew chapter five Jesus told the crowd during the Sermon on the mount to love your enemies. Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” So can there be a clearer direction to love and pray for those who hate you? We are not to judge, not to condemn, not to patronise or look down on those we seek to lead to the Saviour. Completely the opposite. We are to be compassionate, understanding, loving and seek to gently guide them to Christ Jesus in all humility with a lowly heart so that we might be as Jesus and that His yoke that is light is the same yoke we extend to the lost.
I can’t claim to be in anyway perfect. I am a lowly servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will make it to heaven because of the grace and love that Yahweh Elohim has extended to me and the faith that he has graciously given to me that I might believe on his only begotten Son who bore my sins upon the Cross at Calvary. I can say this though. Judgment in the heart of a Christian is a terribly destructive force when employed against a person lost in their sins. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a sinner and bring him or her safe into the Kingdom of God. To the Christian love and forgiveness are their best chance of leading a sinner toward the Saviour.
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