We have all heard it… “only God can judge me.” Some people tattoo it on their bodies. Others have shirts with it written across their chests. We put it on bumper stickers and post it on Facebook.

There is something that I don’t particularly get about this saying.

GOD CAN JUDGE US.

If that doesn’t put at least a little bit of healthy fear into our sails then we need to look at which direction our ship is sailing.

That should be a little terrifying.

The Almighty, all-powerful God can stand before us and judge us for our behavior and our words. He has that RIGHT and that POWER.

That is not comforting my friends; that is scary.

There is something we have lost the art of in our society: we have replaced discernment with judgement.

The Bible does say to be careful how we judge and who we judge, it NEVER says to not speak truth in love. On the contrary, it encourages speaking truth. Jesus even says the world will hate you for speaking truth.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15: 18-25, NIV

So if you are making others mad by preaching the Gospel, that is normal. That is how Jesus said it would work.

You know why? The truth hurts.

The truth steps on our toes.

The truth slaps us in the face.

The truth also can set us free.

The truth can also redeem us.

The truth can also turn us back to the right path.

So what is the difference in judgement and discernment?

Discernment is determining right from wrong. Judgement is saying, “I’m better than you because of what you do.”

The jury determines if the defendant committed a crime. The judge sentences the defendant.

None of us are better than anyone else, but there is nothing wrong with calling sin, sin. And we need to grasp that as a society.

I sin. I sin a lot. I sin everyday.

I admit it!

But I am not going to call my sin okay. I am not going to condone my sin. I am not going to say my sin is acceptable to God. It’s not.

I am no better than anyone else, and my sin is sin.

You have probably heard Matthew 7:1 quite often.

 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Matthew 7:1, NIV

We quote it a lot. But you probably have never heard,

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-17, NIV.

Yikes. That’ll make us cringe.

That’s Jesus talking. In both Matthew 7:1 and Matthew 18:15-17.

But how is this so? Don’t they go against one another? Not really.

Because there is a big difference in calling out sin, and declaring you are better than someone else.

Or“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1, NIV.

What about 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.“

These are both Paul.

Now, at first glance you may say, “These contradict each other.”

But not so fast.

Let’s notice some key factors about these verses:

1. They are speaking about the family of God, or those that claim to be Christians and bare the name of Jesus. This is key here. These verses are not speaking of judging the outside world that do not claim to know the Lord. These verses are speaking of those who DO claim to know Jesus and live like they want with no regard to the consequences and say sin is okay.
2. These verses don’t say anything about saying you are BETTER than someone else. These verses speak about pointing out sin and keeping the Church holy. No where in here does Paul say to tell that person or those people how much better you are then they and that they need to be like you. Even though you may be tempted to say, “Well 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 is telling us to cast people out of the church for sin! That is not fair! Everyone has sin!” Go read the rest of it. Paul was speaking to the church at Corinth, who was allowing a person who claimed to be a believer and was sleeping with his father’s wife, to serve in their church. The church was not only condoning this man’s sin they were actually proud of this. (verse 2) They were advocating for it. They were advocating for incest. Paul was correcting them not on the grounds that he thought he was better. Anyone in their right mind would say that incest was wrong and should not be condoned by the church. Paul was correcting them on grounds that they claimed to be Christians and were advocating sin and not speaking truth. That is key here. Don’t miss that.
3. These verses give people multiple chances. In all these verses, Christians are encouraged to go to their brothers and sisters and win them back to Christ. Jesus literally tells you to go to them over and over again if they are engaged in sin and speak truth to them. Paul tells you to be gentle and be careful that in going to get your brother out of sin, you don’t fall into the same pit yourself. And In 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, we can assume this has been going on for quite some time if you read the rest of the text. So if a Christian is sinning, the chance to repent and gain accountability are meant to be given.

So how do we do it? How do we love and speak truth? How do we discern and judge accordingly when necessary? How do we not offend? How do we make everyone like us and want to hang with us?

The truth is… we can’t. And we won’t. And I don’t know the best way or I don’t have the best answers.

No one does. But we can do the best we can with what we have, and we have God’s Word to direct us.

I am a hypocrite in a lot of respects. We all are.

Let’s be honest.

We are all hypocrites in some area, because a hypocrite is someone who doesn’t do what they say. As imperfect human beings, we all fall into that category. Many times.

So let’s just get that out there.

But contrary to what many believe, Jesus never says it’s wrong to discern right from wrong. He only says to speak truth in love and to not consider yourself better than someone else, and part of speaking truth is determining right from wrong.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Ephesians 4:15, NIV.

How do we discern right from wrong?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Renewing our mind in God’s Word, prayer and fellowship with other believers.

My friends, we all sin. We all are in need of a Savior.

Let’s speak truth in love, and be gentle with one another.

You are loved.
You are valued.
You are useful.