"Only God Can Judge Me"

Have you seen this anywhere? Next time you watch a college or pro basketball game, take a good look at their arms, you may see it there. Next time you go to the mall, or just about anywhere for that matter now-a-days, take a look at people’s arms. You will probably see these words plastered in the form of a huge tattoo on someone.

When I see this, all I can think in my head is, “you’re just a big ol’ selfish punk aren’t you.” This statement reeks with attitude - “I am gonna do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and don’t you say a thing about it because I respect no authority but my own.”

Now, how many people have you heard say this statement in a “church” or “Christian” setting? This topic was discussed this past week at my church, and some really cool truths about this idea were brought up.

First let’s look at Matthew 5: 1-6. 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Two quick observations here. Jesus, in verse 5, says to remove the plank in your own eye before trying to remove the speck in your brother’s eye. He never says that it is not your job to remove the speck from your brother’s eye, or that you shouldn’t, he says that you had better have your eyes clean so that you may see clearly to take care of your brother’s eye. The point being that if you are going to point out the adultery of your brother then you had better not have a hint of it in your life or else you are being a hypocrite. (Kinda like Gov. Spitzer of New York.)

Secondly is the phrase. “with what judgment you judge you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Again, he does not make a reference to not judging, but again to how you are to judge – with all the love you can muster, and only that which lines up with the Holy Word of GOD in the Bible.

Secondly, let’s look at Matthew 18:15-20 15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Here we see that not only are you to be concerned about your brother, but if he does not listen, to go so far as to cast him out of the church and start all over with him from the very beginning.

The Bible does seem to be very clear that we are to judge those that would call themselves “Christian”. Do we then also judge those that are not – NO. Refer back to Matthew 5:6. Our judging is to be of a Holy nature meant for those that claim to be HIS; it is not meant for those that do not have The Light for they are blind and have no idea as to what you are even talking about – your message will simply get trampled as by swine.

What I find interesting in all of this is the severity to which we are to judge our brothers. (Ok, so you don’t like the “j” word – we are at the very least called to hold our brothers accountable for their actions for they do reflect upon the image of God as well as tarnishing your witness.) In Matthew 18 we are to cast them out and start over, but let me re-emphasize this from another passage. I Corinthians 5:9-13 says, 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Did you catch what he said there? Your judgement should be against those who call themselves brothers. Not only so, but if they refuse to listen, then they should be thought of as worse than outsiders and you should have NOTHING to do with them. Are we called to be this way with those of the world – no. We are to associate with them so as to win them for Christ. We are to have nothing to do with those who claim to be brothers, yet refuse to listen to the truths of the God’s Word.

Why is that? Because they are the ones who create a bad name for God and His people and that simply angers God. Revelation 3:14-16 –“ 14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
So, are we to judge? For those outside of the brotherhood, no. Unfortunately for them, GOD will be their only judge. For those who call themselves brothers, absolutely yes we are. We ARE called to hold them accountable for their actions and judge them against GOD’S word.