Your concluding thoughts regarding folks who have not committed themselves to living as a Christ follower are appreciated. It called to my mind this passage from the Gospel of Luke (12: 47-48):
"47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his -will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
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I did want to push back on the idea that we should do any form of judging our neighbors and their relationship with God. I'm not convinced that what you did was judge the couple in your example. I would say that you expressed pastoral discernment. You would not be judging another person's relationship with God to call someone to repentance or to decline to celebrate unrepentant sin. Would you make a distinction between judgement and discernment?
Could the telephone pole be entirely removed from our own eye in this life? Can we ever be godly judges while we still sin (1 John 1:8)?
As always, I appreciate your feedback and questions. I make jugdments every day in multiple ways, for the sake of honoring Jesus, while trying to not be a jerk about it. Most of the time, people don't have an issue with it, until it intersects with their life and rubs them the wrong way. So, I believe I properly judged that woman for living in sin and not being honest with her fiancé. I tried to gently call her to a differnt way.
I used discernment (the ability to judge well) to make sure I had all my ducks in a row when I confronted her with what I knew.
I think 1 John 1:9 shows us how God removes the plank. Confession that I sin too. As long as we humble ourselves and admit our need for forgiveness, I believe we can hold each other accountable to the standard. As iron sharpens iron...
Yep, we’re all a work in process, and I want to work hard in this area of humble accountability.
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Your concluding thoughts regarding folks who have not committed themselves to living as a Christ follower are appreciated. It called to my mind this passage from the Gospel of Luke (12: 47-48):
"47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his -will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
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I did want to push back on the idea that we should do any form of judging our neighbors and their relationship with God. I'm not convinced that what you did was judge the couple in your example. I would say that you expressed pastoral discernment. You would not be judging another person's relationship with God to call someone to repentance or to decline to celebrate unrepentant sin. Would you make a distinction between judgement and discernment?
Could the telephone pole be entirely removed from our own eye in this life? Can we ever be godly judges while we still sin (1 John 1:8)?
As always, thanks for the thought provoking post!
As always, I appreciate your feedback and questions. I make jugdments every day in multiple ways, for the sake of honoring Jesus, while trying to not be a jerk about it. Most of the time, people don't have an issue with it, until it intersects with their life and rubs them the wrong way. So, I believe I properly judged that woman for living in sin and not being honest with her fiancé. I tried to gently call her to a differnt way.
I used discernment (the ability to judge well) to make sure I had all my ducks in a row when I confronted her with what I knew.
I think 1 John 1:9 shows us how God removes the plank. Confession that I sin too. As long as we humble ourselves and admit our need for forgiveness, I believe we can hold each other accountable to the standard. As iron sharpens iron...