“Judge not lest ye be judged…”  (Matthew 7)

“But he that is spiritual judgeth all things….”  (1 Corinthians 2)

 

If there was one (1) passage of Scripture that is misapplied and misunderstood it is our text in Matthew 7.  If there was on charge leveled against the Word of God more than any other it is that it contains many contradictions, though it is rare that anyone can support their charge.  When someone parrots this charge and can point out a seeming contradiction it is not a true contradiction but a paradox. A paradox is a seeming contradiction that is not but only appears to be.

One such paradox is the jealousy of God.  It is true that God is a jealous God and it is true we are told not to covet.  We can remember a pridefilled atheist bring this up many years ago and how proud he was of himself.  We explained to him that covet is to desire something that is not one’s own and that one is willing to break all other commands to obtain the object of their covetousness.  When we read that God is a jealous God, it means simply that God is a very protective God.  Likewise when Elijah tells God that he is very jealous over Him, Elijah is telling God how protective he is over God and God’s great Name. When I am weak Iam strong is another paradox and we do not think this paradox needs explaining to any Christ-ian that has been exercised by this world.

Our texts above present us with another paradox.  In Matthew 7 we read, “Judge not, lest ye be judged” and then in our text from 1 Corinthians 2 we read, “He that is spiritual judgeth all things…”  To the eye of the ignorant atheist and to the eye of the well meaning believer that sees a contradiction, it is not a contradiction but another paradox. To the atheist, no explanation will due. To the well meaaning an troubled believer, it will be no trouble any longer.  before we give an explanation, let the believer look at these passages and try to discern a meaning for themselves.  While you do this i will tell of a time I struggled with a Biblical truth.

Many years ago I struggled with rapture of the church.  This may sound silly to many but my trouble was trying to understand how one can be raptured in a moving vehicle, a car, a train, and plane.  How does one rise to meet God in the air if s/he is inside of a metal enclosure.  What will happen to the moving vehicle and how exactly can one pass through the metal without being harmed themselves?  Reader, this caused your writer a real crisis of faith…no joke.  I was tempted to disbelieve in God…
If you ever considered this let me encourage you with truth…How we are to pass through metal, is not our concern. If God will call His saints forth from coffins that are buried and if God is able to call His saints from the bottom of the sea and if God is able to call our atoms that be dust, God will have no problem calling us from a moving vehicle.  What will happen to the moving vehicle once we are called up?  Cars, trains, and planes will crash and many will die.  cars will crash into other cars, trains will go unmannned, and planes will crash into mountains, bodies of water and homes nd other buildings.

Back to our paradoxical passages above.  Have you come toany solutions?

Let us take the second (2nd) passage first (1st).  “He that is spiritual judges all things…”  The meaning behind this truth is rather simple, The spiritual person…the saint, is to judge whether or not something is good or bad, right or wrong, and true or false.  We are to discern whether what someone says or does is correct or not and to qualify it or not using the above choices.
We are to judge persons by the same standards, however we are not to judge how a person is to be punished, that is up to God.  This is where, “Judge not lest ye be judged,” enters.  An example, “That guy should befired for that infraction.”  While we have judged this person to be wrong, false, and bad, the minute we decide his fate, we are juding our own fate if we ever incur that same infraction.  We are hypocrites if we commit that same wrong and then make excuse why we should not be terminated.  If we think a person should be executed for the crime of murder, we are calling upon God and the law to execute us if we are guilty of the same.  If we judge a child to be bad and then judge that child worthy of suspension, we must hold that same judgement with our own child.
In other words, Do not judge others harshly lest you be judged hashly by God and others as well.

Some aids in preventing a judgmental spirit:
1. There are two (2) ways to look at another person’s sin
*One can look at another person’s sin as inexcusable, as in not overlooking that sin.
*One could look at another person’s sin as understandable.
If a father or a mother executes the murderer of their child, that crime cannot be overlooked nor can it be excused. However, every mother and father, brother, sister, etc. can fully understand the actions perpetrated.  This is where justice and mercy meet.
If a wife that has been beaten for twenty (20) years or a child has been physically and or sexually abused over the course of their childhood finally snaps and kills the husband or father, this caanot be excused but it can be understood.
In one sense we must put ourselves in the shoes of blind Lady Justice and the shoes of the one being judged.

This does not only fit crime and justice but it fits everyday life.  Let us set aside law and order and let us enter the home.  When a parent must chasten and discipline a child for cheating on a test.  This is absolutely unacceptable and must not be overlooked.  However, let us stop and think, am I as a parent putting too much pressure on my child?  Is my child in a class that does not suit their abilities?  Am I too hard on my child when they falter?  If this is the case, the parent should be able to understand why the child did what s/he did.

What about a spouse that is having an affair, physical, emotional, or otherwise?  The sin of adultery cannot be overlooked as God will not overlook it.  It must be confessed and repented of before God.  If the spouse of the adulterer learns of the affair, the spouse has a number of choices to make, separation, divorce, forgiveness and reconciliation.  All three (3) are acceptable in the eyes of God.  Before the wounded spouse decides let him or her look inward and really think about the past state of the marriage.
While there is no excuse for adultery, can the wounded spouse see how and why the wife or husband did what s/he did?  Was the marraige a loveless marriage?  Did the wounded spouse neglect the adulterous spouse?  Has the wounded spouse already left his or her longtime paratner interms of affection and or duty?  One can look at the marriage of David and Michal, Saul’s daughter… many a Bible student can understand David’s fall into adultery with Bathsheba, but they must side with God’s judgement upon David.

Another aid in keeping from over-judging another is the Lord’s teaching on the beam and speck.  Heteaches the would be over-judge to remove the large beam or wood from his own eye before removing the tiny speck of wood from another’s eye.  In other words, judge yourself before judging another and this is sure to include mercy and understanding in your judgment of another.  This helps because it causes the judge to stop and consider his own sins before God and man.  In this exercise of self judging it allows time to pass and your anger to settle. It also causes you to grow humble before God and the person you are to judge.

Your writer is very slow to judge another as he fears the judgment of God upon his own person.  In raising my children, I am always keen to remember my childhood and the mercy I received.  Before being tempted to judge my wife, I am quick to remember all of my short comings as they are many.

Summary: To avoid improper judgment is to put yourself in the shoes of another.  What would I have done in that situation or under those circumstances, is always a good start. Another, Do I want God to judge me according to my own standard of judgment? And, this sin or crime maybe inexcusable, but I can understand it.
Apparent contradictions in Holy Writ are paradoxes and not contradictions. The apparent contradiction can always be understood properly with study and prayer.  No one needs wrest or twist the Word to make it fit.