I have been talking to a few friends over the past two months about something of a revelation/conviction God hit me with, and it appears that this issue is far more common than I originally thought. I have had four others confirm it so far, thus, I am now fulfilling my intention to put these thoughts into a blog.
When many of us think of idols, we tend to think of Old Testament times during which many of the neighbors of the Israelites (not to mention the Israelites themselves, at times) fashioned for themselves physical idols to worship. And then there are those who have been enlightened by good preaching or Bible-reading who realize that in the U.S. today, we may not have this type of idol per say, but we do have many things that we put before God and worship with our time and energy; some examples are sports, school, work, celebrities, video games, etc. Well, God convicted me, in October, I believe, of worshiping another sort of idol. It is difficult to describe really, but I will give it my best, as I now believe that many reading this will relate.
Do you find yourself always looking forward to things? Are you constantly thinking, "If I can just make it to the weekend," or "It's only three weeks until my family comes"? We do this with all kinds of things like retreats, vacations, holidays, graduations, and the list goes on. I found myself thinking these kinds of things about graduation, vacations, and eventually just weekends, but the times when I went in with that mentality, I always came out frustrated and discontented. The problem was a sort of idolatry. I was looking to an event or experience to provide me with contentment and fulfillment, and you should all now know where this is going. ONLY God can provide the contentment that we long for. Only he can satisfy that longing that runs soul-deep. There is nothing wrong with looking forward to something, but there is wrong to expect that something to provide you with joy. God is a jealous God, and he will let you become frustrated and unfulfilled if you try to fill his place with other things.
My good friend Matt Roe informed me that Pastor Mark Driscoll has spoken to this topic as well with good advice. When you plan, and when you look forward to things, always plan and look also to the day after. That helps put things in perspective. Graduation was great, but part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't surprised or disillusioned because graduation was over; I didn't expect anything from that day that it couldn't give me. What I woke to the next morning was the peace and joy of knowing an immutable God.
What happens when we live our lives looking forward is a cycle of disappointment that leaves us constantly counting on the next thing to sate us and constantly missing out on the present. It is a rather ingenious scheme (also mentioned in The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis) used to keep us from living a meaningful life.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Guatemala in my cup
I am now sitting comfortably on my couch with my back against three or four pillows of my wife's making. Beside me sits the wonderfully rich cup of Guatemalan coffee on which I have been sipping. And within me rests a deep-seated joy.
I have just eaten one of the best meals in my short 22 years of life. WOW. I came home tonight to the smell of quartered, butter-herb red potatoes cooked in one of the cast iron skillets Emily got this Christmas (boy do I benefit from that gift). While I was reading God's Word tonight, she finished up supper by grilling some fresh salmon she found on sale at the grocery store (she actually had it cut and then skinned it herself) and then cooking up some buttered green beans. On my plate at the table I found half a lemon from which I was to squeeze juice all over the beans, potatoes and fish. I was blown away. I got seconds and then some. It was certainly one of the best meals I have ever eaten, and my dear little wife was the chef. This was the first time she has used the cast iron skillet given to us by her parents and the really neat herb-chopping knife from Alaska given to us by Roy (I think that I had that up as a decoration, but it is apparently really sharp; who knew?). To top it all off, after I got up and took out the trash, she pulled freshly baked ginger bread out of the oven and starting heating up some apple cider with mulling spices. WHAT A WOMAN! WHAT A WIFE! If she did nothing else but cook like this and read her Bible and pray, I think I would be happy (ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).
I am so amazingly content. And thank the Lord for Guatemalan coffee. It is my new favorite.
I have just eaten one of the best meals in my short 22 years of life. WOW. I came home tonight to the smell of quartered, butter-herb red potatoes cooked in one of the cast iron skillets Emily got this Christmas (boy do I benefit from that gift). While I was reading God's Word tonight, she finished up supper by grilling some fresh salmon she found on sale at the grocery store (she actually had it cut and then skinned it herself) and then cooking up some buttered green beans. On my plate at the table I found half a lemon from which I was to squeeze juice all over the beans, potatoes and fish. I was blown away. I got seconds and then some. It was certainly one of the best meals I have ever eaten, and my dear little wife was the chef. This was the first time she has used the cast iron skillet given to us by her parents and the really neat herb-chopping knife from Alaska given to us by Roy (I think that I had that up as a decoration, but it is apparently really sharp; who knew?). To top it all off, after I got up and took out the trash, she pulled freshly baked ginger bread out of the oven and starting heating up some apple cider with mulling spices. WHAT A WOMAN! WHAT A WIFE! If she did nothing else but cook like this and read her Bible and pray, I think I would be happy (ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).
I am so amazingly content. And thank the Lord for Guatemalan coffee. It is my new favorite.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Unify
I wrote this over one week ago but am just getting to post it:
I have one friend currently in Ft. Lewis, Washington; he is training to become an elite soldier, and I miss him so deeply that it almost brings me to tears as I sit here alone with my coffee. I am with him in spirit. I have another friend in Ecuador doing construction to help the local Church there. I cannot wait until he comes home, but I am with him now in my thoughts and my prayers. My wife is 100 miles away visiting with and ministering to her family; I feel like half of me is missing from here, but I am still connected to her in my spirit. I pray for her safety as she travels home tomorrow. I also have friends less than 10 miles down the road at Georgia Tech. I wish that I could be with them now, encouraging them as they prepare for another week. But actually, I am with them, just not in my body. I pray for their focus to be on Our Father this week.
Satan seeks to separate us, not just physically, but spiritually. This theme is all through the Scriptures; it is his primary tactic in destroying the Church, and another friend in Louisiana just reminded me of that when he called to make sure that we did not grow apart because of the physical distance or the business of life. He has a beautiful knack for protecting against that. You see, we people can be miles apart or inches apart on this Earth, and we can be completely separated either way. I beg you as the voice of The Good Shepard: do not let the enemy separate you from the flock. It is then that he will find you vulnerable to his attacks. A severed limb dies because it does not get the precious blood that flows from the heart; this blood is what keeps it alive. However, one of the wonders of the body is that when a finger or even a whole limb gets severed from it, that part often lives if it is reattached quickly enough. Please, do not allow yourself to be severed, but if you do find yourself cut off, reconnect quickly and receive again the blood that gives life to this Body of Christ that is his Church.
I have one friend currently in Ft. Lewis, Washington; he is training to become an elite soldier, and I miss him so deeply that it almost brings me to tears as I sit here alone with my coffee. I am with him in spirit. I have another friend in Ecuador doing construction to help the local Church there. I cannot wait until he comes home, but I am with him now in my thoughts and my prayers. My wife is 100 miles away visiting with and ministering to her family; I feel like half of me is missing from here, but I am still connected to her in my spirit. I pray for her safety as she travels home tomorrow. I also have friends less than 10 miles down the road at Georgia Tech. I wish that I could be with them now, encouraging them as they prepare for another week. But actually, I am with them, just not in my body. I pray for their focus to be on Our Father this week.
Satan seeks to separate us, not just physically, but spiritually. This theme is all through the Scriptures; it is his primary tactic in destroying the Church, and another friend in Louisiana just reminded me of that when he called to make sure that we did not grow apart because of the physical distance or the business of life. He has a beautiful knack for protecting against that. You see, we people can be miles apart or inches apart on this Earth, and we can be completely separated either way. I beg you as the voice of The Good Shepard: do not let the enemy separate you from the flock. It is then that he will find you vulnerable to his attacks. A severed limb dies because it does not get the precious blood that flows from the heart; this blood is what keeps it alive. However, one of the wonders of the body is that when a finger or even a whole limb gets severed from it, that part often lives if it is reattached quickly enough. Please, do not allow yourself to be severed, but if you do find yourself cut off, reconnect quickly and receive again the blood that gives life to this Body of Christ that is his Church.
Life Goes On
What a very simple truth. This is one of those phrases that my good friend, Justin Belew, would call annoying. It's one of those things that people say to you when bad things happen, but he would call it annoying because it is so very obvious. He would be right about that last part - this is a very obvious little thing. Your dog dies; life goes on. You get a flat tire; life goes on. You find out that you need a surgery that will cost several thousand dollars, and your insurance won't cover it; life goes on. And it does, but I think that we forget this in the very moments of life when we need to believe it most. Let me just go ahead and add the disclaimer here: I will probably come across as a stoic here, at least on the surface.
You see, we need to know when things are going badly that life goes on, and we need to actually take hold of that and internalize it, because the alternative is an unfortunate freeze. Some people call this the "woe is me" case. My wife calls it either beating yourself up or being a "drama king." Here is what happens: something at work goes terribly wrong; it isn't working out like it is supposed to; they aren't following the plan; you are going to look really bad, and you didn't create a backup plan. Immediately upon realizing this, you stress out and shut down because all you can think about is what terrible things are going to happen now. You are just dumbstruck by the horror or the situation, and you emotionally and mentally slump down and stare blankly at the corner as you accept all of the hopelessness that confronts you. Now get this: life goes on.
No matter how bad any situation gets, the sun is going to rise tomorrow (barring the Second Coming of Christ, which is a distinct possibility, but don't count on knowing exactly when that will happen), and it is going to rise with our without your approval. Even if you expect the consequences of your situation to extend for a month or more, there is going to be life beyond that month or more. And when that life comes, what are you going to be doing? Are you going to be sulking in your own self-pity, or are you going to embrace that new day and make the most of it? When things get bad, we have to accept as quickly as possible that sometimes, things are just going to be tough, and we have to immediately get our focus off of that and onto where God wants us to go from there. We have to look ahead and say, "Ok, Lord, I can't change this, but I can look past it and follow you onward."
I know, this sounds a bit like I am saying that we don't have time to feel the sadness and hurt and other emotions that often come with painful events and circumstances. I am not saying that. I am saying that we have to move on anyway. We have to look to the hope God offers us in that those circumstances are not the end of the story. We can still have joy and peace in the midst of pain, as long as we look to Christ to provide those things. It is when we focus our hearts and minds on the bleakness of our present surroundings and not on The Light of The World that we become frozen and numb. Don't freeze up; there are people out here who need you. Otherwise, God wouldn't be keeping you alive.
Now, for a change of tone, I know that someone will argue that there is an exception - "Randy, what about death. When someone you love dies, or when you are going to die, life doesn't go on. How do you deal with that?" Well, I deal with it the way God deals with it. I disagree. You see, when our bodies die, life goes on. NOT JUST FOR CHRISTIANS EITHER. If you are a follower of Christ, you have the hope that when your body dies, life goes on, with him where he is. There is no greater hope. Unfortunately, for the person who rejects God and his Son Jesus Christ, life still goes on. It just goes on in agonizing separation from God.
I feel that I may have rambled a bit here, though I hope that I have not, and I pray that God will use this post to move someone past the point of sulking and into action because when these circumstances end, God will still know how you acted, and all of the intense emotions will have passed. Do not be a slave of your changing circumstances; be a bondservant of your unchanging God.
You see, we need to know when things are going badly that life goes on, and we need to actually take hold of that and internalize it, because the alternative is an unfortunate freeze. Some people call this the "woe is me" case. My wife calls it either beating yourself up or being a "drama king." Here is what happens: something at work goes terribly wrong; it isn't working out like it is supposed to; they aren't following the plan; you are going to look really bad, and you didn't create a backup plan. Immediately upon realizing this, you stress out and shut down because all you can think about is what terrible things are going to happen now. You are just dumbstruck by the horror or the situation, and you emotionally and mentally slump down and stare blankly at the corner as you accept all of the hopelessness that confronts you. Now get this: life goes on.
No matter how bad any situation gets, the sun is going to rise tomorrow (barring the Second Coming of Christ, which is a distinct possibility, but don't count on knowing exactly when that will happen), and it is going to rise with our without your approval. Even if you expect the consequences of your situation to extend for a month or more, there is going to be life beyond that month or more. And when that life comes, what are you going to be doing? Are you going to be sulking in your own self-pity, or are you going to embrace that new day and make the most of it? When things get bad, we have to accept as quickly as possible that sometimes, things are just going to be tough, and we have to immediately get our focus off of that and onto where God wants us to go from there. We have to look ahead and say, "Ok, Lord, I can't change this, but I can look past it and follow you onward."
I know, this sounds a bit like I am saying that we don't have time to feel the sadness and hurt and other emotions that often come with painful events and circumstances. I am not saying that. I am saying that we have to move on anyway. We have to look to the hope God offers us in that those circumstances are not the end of the story. We can still have joy and peace in the midst of pain, as long as we look to Christ to provide those things. It is when we focus our hearts and minds on the bleakness of our present surroundings and not on The Light of The World that we become frozen and numb. Don't freeze up; there are people out here who need you. Otherwise, God wouldn't be keeping you alive.
Now, for a change of tone, I know that someone will argue that there is an exception - "Randy, what about death. When someone you love dies, or when you are going to die, life doesn't go on. How do you deal with that?" Well, I deal with it the way God deals with it. I disagree. You see, when our bodies die, life goes on. NOT JUST FOR CHRISTIANS EITHER. If you are a follower of Christ, you have the hope that when your body dies, life goes on, with him where he is. There is no greater hope. Unfortunately, for the person who rejects God and his Son Jesus Christ, life still goes on. It just goes on in agonizing separation from God.
I feel that I may have rambled a bit here, though I hope that I have not, and I pray that God will use this post to move someone past the point of sulking and into action because when these circumstances end, God will still know how you acted, and all of the intense emotions will have passed. Do not be a slave of your changing circumstances; be a bondservant of your unchanging God.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Evidence
Ahh, and evidence for my last post can be found in Matthew 5:43-48
"'43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren[i] only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors[j] do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.'"
Take him very seriously, and repent if you do not love like this.
also in Romans 5:7-8
"7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
There are many others; if you would like more, first study His Word, and if you still would like more, you can ask me through the comment thing here.
Emily is making biscuits right now so that I can put jelly on them and enjoy a tasty treat. I love her simply because God loves her, and he is my Source. But she is also making it really easy for me to like her at the moment. Thank you God for giving us the creativity to come up with biscuits and jelly and for giving us taste buds. Amen.
"'43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren[i] only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors[j] do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.'"
Take him very seriously, and repent if you do not love like this.
also in Romans 5:7-8
"7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
There are many others; if you would like more, first study His Word, and if you still would like more, you can ask me through the comment thing here.
Emily is making biscuits right now so that I can put jelly on them and enjoy a tasty treat. I love her simply because God loves her, and he is my Source. But she is also making it really easy for me to like her at the moment. Thank you God for giving us the creativity to come up with biscuits and jelly and for giving us taste buds. Amen.
How do we love?
Let me just say that loving is hard, sometimes. It's really easy to love when your wife has just cooked you homemade ravioli that you know is going to put you in an Italian food coma of fullness, but it's harder when someone messes up at work and blames it on you. Why is that? Well, as usual, I think it's probably a good idea that we turn to God to figure this one out and to find our example for how to do things right.
If you don't get anything else from this post, get this: God loves people because of who HE IS. That excludes every other possibility. Let me just go ahead and say that if you ask, "but doesn't he also love people because of..." just cut yourself off there; I'm kindly saying, "no." There is NO other basis for God's love for a person than His Being. That is the point. now, there are a whole bunch of implications here. One set has to do with what that means for God's relationship with us. And one has to do with our relationships with each other.
I really want to focus in tonight on the second set. Do you find yourself often getting angry with other people and letting them see your anger in how you treat them? It's easy to do. Do you hold grudges against people? Do you give up on people and form an unalterably low opinion of them? Well listen, whether or not you respond to someone with kindness should have nothing to do with how that person treats you. Whether or not you love a person should not be based upon whether or not they love you. It should be based upon your IDENTITY as a Christian, and you, as a Christian, are IDENTIFIED with Christ. Thus, it flows that if God loves people because of who he is, we should love people in the same way - we should love people because God loves them, and he is in us. There are so many pictures of this and so many blatant statements of this principle in His Word.
So here's the deal, I love my coworkers because I am indwelt by the Holy Sprit of God, who is Love. I love my wife the same way. I love literally every human being, in accordance with God's command, completely regardless of any attribute or action on the part of those people. I behave toward each person as God commands me to behave, regardless of how each person behaves toward me. (A note: I am not saying that I do not rebuke or that I do not fight against sin. That is ridiculous and unbiblical and would reflect a misunderstanding of what it means to love.) What I am saying is that, even if I disagree with someone, and even if that person is cruel to me in an argument, I should not strike back in anger; I may debate, but I will do so without malice.
Christians, love all people, even those of the non-believers who hate you, ridicule you, and look down upon you as ignorant. Love them; DON'T try to find reasons to love them; that will produce false love. DON'T start by trying to find out reasons to like them; first, you need to tap into God's love and simply realize that, in this context, all humans are exactly like you; they are all people love by God because he is God. Do not water down Love by making it about anything else.
I love you all.
If you don't get anything else from this post, get this: God loves people because of who HE IS. That excludes every other possibility. Let me just go ahead and say that if you ask, "but doesn't he also love people because of..." just cut yourself off there; I'm kindly saying, "no." There is NO other basis for God's love for a person than His Being. That is the point. now, there are a whole bunch of implications here. One set has to do with what that means for God's relationship with us. And one has to do with our relationships with each other.
I really want to focus in tonight on the second set. Do you find yourself often getting angry with other people and letting them see your anger in how you treat them? It's easy to do. Do you hold grudges against people? Do you give up on people and form an unalterably low opinion of them? Well listen, whether or not you respond to someone with kindness should have nothing to do with how that person treats you. Whether or not you love a person should not be based upon whether or not they love you. It should be based upon your IDENTITY as a Christian, and you, as a Christian, are IDENTIFIED with Christ. Thus, it flows that if God loves people because of who he is, we should love people in the same way - we should love people because God loves them, and he is in us. There are so many pictures of this and so many blatant statements of this principle in His Word.
So here's the deal, I love my coworkers because I am indwelt by the Holy Sprit of God, who is Love. I love my wife the same way. I love literally every human being, in accordance with God's command, completely regardless of any attribute or action on the part of those people. I behave toward each person as God commands me to behave, regardless of how each person behaves toward me. (A note: I am not saying that I do not rebuke or that I do not fight against sin. That is ridiculous and unbiblical and would reflect a misunderstanding of what it means to love.) What I am saying is that, even if I disagree with someone, and even if that person is cruel to me in an argument, I should not strike back in anger; I may debate, but I will do so without malice.
Christians, love all people, even those of the non-believers who hate you, ridicule you, and look down upon you as ignorant. Love them; DON'T try to find reasons to love them; that will produce false love. DON'T start by trying to find out reasons to like them; first, you need to tap into God's love and simply realize that, in this context, all humans are exactly like you; they are all people love by God because he is God. Do not water down Love by making it about anything else.
I love you all.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Judge not?
"Don't drop j's dude." I say this jokingly sometimes, but I've come to realize recently that there are some people around me who use this saying quite seriously. I was blessed enough this weekend to spend a good bit of time with my good friend Andy Jones, and somewhere in the midst of our weekend discussion, this issue arose: what do people mean when they say "Don't judge me."? We decided that what they actually mean varies depending upon the situation, but the common reference used to defend this statement is usually Matthew 7:1 in which Jesus says "Judge not, that you be not judged" (NKJV). So, the real question appears to be "what did Jesus mean"?
Well, Andy and I whipped out an interlinear Bible (Greek, Hebrew, KJV), a Strong's Concordance (the hefty one), and Andy's study Bible, prayed for understanding, and went to it, discussing as we went. The actual word used for judging in Matthew 7 carries the connotation of condemnation, not just discernment, which fits with what people seem to mean when they say, "don't judge me." It's more like saying "don't condemn me."
There is so much to be said about this passage that I will only touch on two pieces tonight. First, there are two distinctions to be made. The first distinction is between believers and unbelievers. We are not to judge unbelievers, those outside the Church. Paul makes this VERY clear in 1 Corinthians 5:12-14. What he also makes clear in this passage is that we ARE to judge fellow believers, those inside the Church. So, the first parity: do not judge unbelievers, judge believers. Read on.
The second distinction has to do with what's up in Matthew 7 - the distinction between our own human, self-righteous judgment and God's righteous judgment. This distinction is made clearer when Paul speaks to it in Romans 14. Christ, in Matthew 7, is saying something first about what judgment we are to exercise and second (in the verses following) about how we are to exercise that judgment. What he is saying about the first is that we are not to exercise our own judgment on others. Stay with me. I did not say that we are not to judge our fellow believers. I said that we are not to judge them with OUR OWN judgment. By rebuking our fellow believers when they sin, we are not judging/condemning them; we are merely delivering the message that God has already passed judgment on their actions. For instance, if you know that a friend of yours, a believer, is getting drunk on the weekends, it is your duty as his brother to rebuke him, gently, and in love. You are not actually "judging" him when you do this. You are using your judgment (discernment) to see his sin and to identify it as such, but you are not condemning him. His actions stand condemned already, for God specifically forbids drunkenness in His Word in Ephesians 5:18 (one of several places). Thus, as Paul explains in Romans 14, we are not to judge our brothers and sisters according to any standard except that by which God will judge us.
I think of it this way: if God expressly speaks against something, I am expressly against it and will "judge" that thing in believers. If God does not clearly speak against something, that thing truly is between that believer and God.
Be careful what you judge; don't put words in God's mouth just because you don't like something. And, on the other hand, be careful to inform your Christian brothers and sisters of God's judgment as expressly written in his Word because he commands you to do so (2 Tim 4:2 is one of several places God commands this).
In my next posting, I hope to touch more on how Christ wants us to exercise this judgment. That is what Matthew 7:2-6 explains. I also hope to make it a little more clear that it is ridiculous to tell someone, someone who is rebuking you for something that God specifically condemns (judges) in his Word, "don't judge me." If this is you, please realize that your brother is not judging you, and that even if he is, what he is trying to tell you is that God is judging your sin, and that's the only judgment that really matters anyway.
Well, Andy and I whipped out an interlinear Bible (Greek, Hebrew, KJV), a Strong's Concordance (the hefty one), and Andy's study Bible, prayed for understanding, and went to it, discussing as we went. The actual word used for judging in Matthew 7 carries the connotation of condemnation, not just discernment, which fits with what people seem to mean when they say, "don't judge me." It's more like saying "don't condemn me."
There is so much to be said about this passage that I will only touch on two pieces tonight. First, there are two distinctions to be made. The first distinction is between believers and unbelievers. We are not to judge unbelievers, those outside the Church. Paul makes this VERY clear in 1 Corinthians 5:12-14. What he also makes clear in this passage is that we ARE to judge fellow believers, those inside the Church. So, the first parity: do not judge unbelievers, judge believers. Read on.
The second distinction has to do with what's up in Matthew 7 - the distinction between our own human, self-righteous judgment and God's righteous judgment. This distinction is made clearer when Paul speaks to it in Romans 14. Christ, in Matthew 7, is saying something first about what judgment we are to exercise and second (in the verses following) about how we are to exercise that judgment. What he is saying about the first is that we are not to exercise our own judgment on others. Stay with me. I did not say that we are not to judge our fellow believers. I said that we are not to judge them with OUR OWN judgment. By rebuking our fellow believers when they sin, we are not judging/condemning them; we are merely delivering the message that God has already passed judgment on their actions. For instance, if you know that a friend of yours, a believer, is getting drunk on the weekends, it is your duty as his brother to rebuke him, gently, and in love. You are not actually "judging" him when you do this. You are using your judgment (discernment) to see his sin and to identify it as such, but you are not condemning him. His actions stand condemned already, for God specifically forbids drunkenness in His Word in Ephesians 5:18 (one of several places). Thus, as Paul explains in Romans 14, we are not to judge our brothers and sisters according to any standard except that by which God will judge us.
I think of it this way: if God expressly speaks against something, I am expressly against it and will "judge" that thing in believers. If God does not clearly speak against something, that thing truly is between that believer and God.
Be careful what you judge; don't put words in God's mouth just because you don't like something. And, on the other hand, be careful to inform your Christian brothers and sisters of God's judgment as expressly written in his Word because he commands you to do so (2 Tim 4:2 is one of several places God commands this).
In my next posting, I hope to touch more on how Christ wants us to exercise this judgment. That is what Matthew 7:2-6 explains. I also hope to make it a little more clear that it is ridiculous to tell someone, someone who is rebuking you for something that God specifically condemns (judges) in his Word, "don't judge me." If this is you, please realize that your brother is not judging you, and that even if he is, what he is trying to tell you is that God is judging your sin, and that's the only judgment that really matters anyway.
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