So I'm all about not being judgmental. That's great.
But I tend to think about being a fruit inspector more than I think about being a judge, and here's why:
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 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. 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. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:16-26
Now that those two passages have been put out there, lets follow the current theme of wolves and put this one out there too. This one's from the Son of Man Himself, Jesus:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
Matthew 7:15-23
Disclaimer (because I know I'm gonna need it...): I'm not advocating salvation by works by saying this. If you know me, you know that's one of the last things I would ever do, right on up there with cauterizing an open wound with lye. Salvation is by grace alone, and not through works.
THAT BEING SAID, does that mean we should sin more that grace should abound more? Nope. That's Paul, too. Let's break this down.
In the first passage I threw out there from Corinthians, Paul talks about judgment WITHIN the brotherhood of believers; he speaks pretty bluntly, too. See, the Church at Corinth was basically the church gone wild. They'd lost their minds. Here's how crazy it got: a man in the Corinthian church was sleeping with his father's wife. Check out 1 Corinthians 5:1. Paul said in that verse that this act was so out of control that even the gentiles were shocked by it. What shocked Paul even more, as seen in verse 2, is that the church there wasn't saddened by it at all. What Paul is trying to get across in the later part of this chapter is that judging, or discernment, has its place. Why should we judge outside the church? They are still enslaved to the flesh; they shouldn't be expected to act any different. Those are the people we're supposed to be going to and showing the love of Christ, so we should know what's present in their flesh and expect it to be there. But professing believers are a different story. If you profess Christ and profess to know Him, your life should show evidence. Just because you claim the name of Jesus and do wondrous things doesn't really mean that you know Him...see Matthew 7:15-23. How did Jesus say the wolves would come? In sheep's clothing! The wolf doesn't show up advertising its wolf-
ness. It wants to blend in. It wants to have "fellowship" with the sheep, but its purpose for being there is different. It wants to steal the benefits of friends and fun and dating prospects, kill the healthy Christian relationships and familial love, and destroy the hope that God wants to give a community through that fellowship of believers.
We've put a lot of stigma on that word...judgment. Judging is automatically written off as an evil thing. Judging really means, in this case, nothing more than to ascertain or discern something. So if that's what it means, what are we ascertaining/discerning? In light of the passage from Matthew, we'd be discerning whether or not we're dealing with a good tree or a bad tree, a sheep or a wolf. So how do we tell? Paul gave us a few things to look for: love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Notice it doesn't say mission trips, camp
counselorships, being a person who prays on Wednesday nights, being a person who doesn't make out with their boy/girlfriend during lock-ins, being a person who doesn't show his or her pride from being a good little
legalist. The fruits of the Spirit are all conditions of the heart that come from being around the Person Jesus Christ, not from doing things. It's completely possible to be a person who prays on Wednesday night just because they are envious of the good reputation someone else gets from doing it. It's possible to have an outburst of wrath because somebody interprets a passage of the Bible different from you. Do I need to even mention how our boy/girlfriends can become idols to us? What kind of fruit are you showing?
The important thing here is keeping your relationship with Jesus first. If you love Jesus, you will love His family, which consists of your brothers and sisters. Sin hurts them! Judge and discern whether or not the actions in your life are good, beneficial fruits. Make war on the sin in your life, not because God won't love you if you don't. Do it out of love for Him and for your brothers and sisters in Him. We should want to be holy because He is holy. We should want to have no tolerance for tolerating sin. God doesn't tolerate it. He died to pay for it...is that winking at it or ignoring it? If we do ignore the way we live, we can hurt our brothers and sisters. Check out some stuff from Proverbs:
A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends. 16:28
A violent man entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good. 16:29
The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue an angry countenance. 25:23
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out;
and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. 25:20
As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 25:21
And I'll throw this question out here really quick too, just as much for me to think about as for anyone who reads this. If this angers you, if you're quick to say don't judge, what is your reason for that?
Luke 12:2-3
