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.