As I get older, I am much more tolerant of those around me who have a different viewpoint than I do about the Bible. I used to think that if you don’t believe in studying the Bible to learn what Jesus teaches, then you are not a true and authentic Christian. I used to think that if you were a person who thought all you needed was love for everyone and to be inclusive of all people that you were not a real Christian. I used to think that if you belonged to certain church groups you would be going to hell because the things you were taught were scripturally wrong. In my younger days, I was very judgmental, yet the older Christians around me were not and I wondered why. I remember my mom telling me that she believed it didn’t matter what church you attended because there would be someone there who was teaching the truth. She felt that in every church there would be people who don’t get to go to heaven because their belief is wrong, but that there would also be people who would be in heaven from that particular church. I pondered this thought many times through the years.
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:1-9, (New International Version or NIV).
The Apostle Paul altered my view of Christians when I began to study and really understand his teachings in this passage. If you think about Christians as living on a timeline then you see a spectrum of belief. There are those who are newly born Christians and they haven’t reached a level of maturity to know everything they are to do or not do. Then you have the old-timers who have been Christians all their lives and have studied the Bible and it shows in the wise way that they conduct their lives. Somewhere between infancy and old age maturity is probably where most of us are. We are still learning. We are a work in progress. We don’t know everything yet. What we do know is that Jesus died for our sins, he paid our price, and He loves us. We also know that one day Jesus will return to take us all home to heaven.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:10-23, (NIV).
Every person, Christian or unbeliever, will have their time before the judgment seat of Christ. Every one of us will be required to give an accounting of our time on earth. Let that sink in…EVERY one! During Paul’s day, the issues that were hot topics were Jewish customs and traditions. Food was a big one. Jewish Christians thought that anyone who did not adhere to the food rules was going to be in hell. Many were convinced that if you were becoming a Christian and had not obeyed the food rules that you needed to learn them and obey them or otherwise you were unclean, and they would not associate with you. In many ways, at least in my country, food isn’t the hot issue, but money is. If you are rich, then you can’t be a Christian, or so many seem to believe. They will point out the scriptures of the rich young ruler (Matthew 10:17-27) and use this as their viewpoint. Another favorite one is Matthew 19:23-24 where Jesus says that it is hard for a rich man to enter heaven. In my opinion, they are taking these scriptures out of context. And, if it isn’t money then it is something else, divorce and remarriage, alcohol usage, politics, even sports teams divide us. I used to think this way also, but this passage from Romans changed my mind. I realized that I was judging others based on temporal things. I can’t see their heart where their motives lay, only God can. It is God’s judgment that matters, and not mine.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2, (NIV).
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches very clearly that we are not to judge others, that is His job and not ours. This does not mean that we are to be naive or gullible. He also teaches us to be innocent as doves but wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16). When I stopped judging people on what I saw but didn’t know what they believed, I began to see people differently. Some people haven’t reached the same spot that I have in life. Some have had obstacles in their way that hindered them. Others have had hardships that broke their spirit and they have given up. Others have ignored the warnings and are adrift in a sea of ignorance. My job is to pray for them, encourage them, show them love, and leave the rest to God. He has a wonderful track record of bringing back the drifters, the broken, and removing obstacles from our path in life. God has given Jesus the duty of judging at the final judgment seat (2 Corinthians 5:10). There will not be any partiality given, each one of us will be given our good reward or our bad consequences. Only God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit know the heart of each one of us. What I have learned is to stop judging others and start judging myself.
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:28-32, (NIV).
Spiritual death comes slowly, it doesn’t happen all at once. By examining ourselves as to what we believe and why, as well as where we see our viewpoint in the scriptures, we will find errors in our thinking. We will stop judging others and realize that they are loved by God just as we are, and that God is doing a work in their lives just as He is doing one in ours. It makes it so much easier to love them when we stop judging them.
Until next time…Katherine
Katherine Speaks 