We find that we all want to do the right thing. But who gets to define what is right? If my freedom infringes on yours, can I still say that I am “in the right”?
In the OT book of Judges we find this statement:
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
There was no king in Israel – the people didn’t have a human king to give them direction and purpose, but even worse than that… the people had rejected God as the King of their lives, their hearts, & their minds. Today we find we are in a similar situation in America. In these days, though we have a President in the Oval Office as the leader of the nation, we have (as a nation) rejected God as our spiritual King and therefore everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes.
However, our role as believers is not to determine whatever we think is right and follow it. Rather, we are to know God’s Word and accept what He says is right. And then we are to hold each other accountable to solid, faithful obedience. But as soon as we try to do so, we hear from those who call themselves believers and yet who are not following God’s Word that “you can’t judge me…. God says ‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged,’ and ‘don’t try to get the speck out of my eye when you have a log in your eye.’ So you don’t have a right to judge my behavior.”
But that is so very far from the truth. We’ve heard it so often that many of us have also started to believe it to be true. Don’t buy it! The Bible tells us that believers ARE to hold each other accountable. We are to keep each other growing and on the right path. We are to do so with love. Interestingly enough, the Bible also tells us that we aren’t to focus on attacking the ungodly behavior of non-Christians, but just to love them to the Lord.
What? We should judge each other as believers, but not judge the immorality of non-believers? That can’t be right! But that is straight from the Bible.
Here’s the deal – People shouldn’t have to clean up their lives to come to Christ, but too often that is what we want to require. We want a non-Christian to hold to Christian beliefs. But why should they? Why would they? Why are we holding to these unreasonable expectations? Instead of us judging them, we should love them and show them Christ, remembering that once upon a time, we were in the same place they were – without Christ. Once their eyes are opened to see the beauty of Christ and His love, and they begin a relationship with Him, He will begin to convict them and help them to clean up their lives.
Let’s let that soak in and tomorrow we’ll explore it just a bit more…
Why do you think that we are so unwilling to hold each other accountable as believers, yet so quick to condemn people who are not believers?
— brian rushing