Beware of Judgment

As Christians we know we are not supposed to judge others. We quote to each other all the time. “Judge not, lest you be judged,” (Matthew 7.1) but judgment does much deeper. When we judge others, not only will we be judged, we are already judging ourselves.

Brethren, since the ungodly did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works; to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek.

Romans 1:28-32;2:1-9

In today’s reading from Romans, we hear Saint Paul’s warning. Since we do the very same things others do, we condemn ourselves when we judge others for the same behavior. “But I don’t do what they do!” Really? Are you without sin?

Saint Paul doesn’t just speak on a single sin. He outlines sin in general in today’s warning. Our judgment isn’t about whether we did the exact same sin as another person. We don’t condemn ourselves because we sin, but because we behave as if we do not sin.

I often am asked about ‘how’ to forgive. If you want to learn how to forgive other people, begin by acknowledging you are not better than others. They sin and we sin. If we judge them for sinning, we condemn ourselves as worse than they are.

Saint Paul gives us this warning to inspire us to a life of repentance. If for no other reason than to be ‘free’ to judge, maybe we can stop sinning. When we realize just how difficult it is to stop sinning, then we can have mercy and forgiveness for others.

None of this is to suggest that sin is ‘ok’ to continue. I would never teach that we should remain in sin just so we don’t judge others. It is also not bad to ‘see’ the sin in others so long as it reminds us of our sin and leads us to repentance and mercy.

Saint Paul never says he is without sin. He points out the sins in others to teach us what sins to avoid. What is most revealing in his lessons on sin, is that he already includes all other sins as worthy of repentance. He doesn’t just teach against disobedience. He hates all sin.

“They were filled with all manner of wickedness.” That verse is for us. We all struggle with sin, just not all the same sin. Your neighbor might struggle with lust. You may struggle with greed. Is your sin less than your neighbor’s sin? Both sin. Both “deserve to die” according to Saint Paul.

This is the warning against judgment. OUR behavior is what Saint Paul wants us to stop. He wants US to fight the sin in OUR lives. We will never exhaust the opportunities for OUR repentance. It simply doesn’t leave any time to judge others.

If we really want to judge others, then we should show them mercy. Recognize they are suffering in the same way we are suffering. Once we admit our sin, it we won’t be so quick to jump on others.