By Not Known
Mt 7:1 has long been used as an alibi by many Christians to cover up a multitude of sins. We erroneously interpret it to say that no one can judge nor possess the right to judge. Even mere criticism is sometimes deemed to be unbiblical.
This is aggravated by the spirit of our age when pluralism and relativism poison the minds of many. It means no one can judge nor criticise because there is no absolute truth for there are as many truths as the people who espouse them. There is thus no right or wrong. Everything is seen to be relative as it depends on where we are coming from and how we perceive it to be. Little wonder, ours is also an age characterised by confusion in many areas.
So when judged or criticised, we often respond by accusing the other party to be “lacking in love.” We perceived ourselves to be the “sinned against”. Often we even reiterate our “hurt” by staying away from fellowship or simply by joining another church.
Yet the myth of “do not judge” is easily deflated as we come face to face with the Person of Jesus Christ who is God’s plumb line. He is not only the absolute Truth (Jn 14:6) but also the absolute Righteousness and absolute Love. To a world that celebrates a hazy grayish tolerance in everything (except absolute values and absolute truth), Christ distinctly separates light from darkness (Jn 1:4-5).
The spirit of this age is antithetical to Christ Jesus and the truth He stands for. Our world’s preference is for truth to be without teeth – to be used only when convenient and then returned quietly to the place we think it should belong. That is why Christ is not very popular at our present age nor at any age in human history; for He is absolutely holy and true — and can be terribly inconvenient.
God’s word is truth (Jn 17:17) and Christ promises that the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth (Jn 16:13). As Christ Jesus confronts us in His word, may His Spirit convict us as we submit to His transformation of our lives so that we may be Christ-like in every way. And this often means we allow ourselves to be judged or criticised by others, ON THE BASIS OF GOD’S WORD. It will be terribly inconvenient for us and inevitably hurting as well. But in the end, we will find ourselves transformed by Christ from one degree of glory to another.