Judgement
Been thinking about it today. And most days. But haven't put it into words. Now I will attempt to. Might not be easy. What I wanna write about is judging others. I speak from the point of view of being a Christian, and thus belonging to the Body of Christ.
Being part of the Body of Christ was not something I earned. I am not a "good" person and therefore passed the test into God's kingdom. Quite the opposite happened, actually.
One of the most profound teachings I ever received was during a home cell meeting I was invited to in 2003, when I had seen God as My Saviour and desired to know His way. At this particular meeting the scripture came up that spoke of being a vessel that is broken rather than crushed. Gareth had asked us what we would rather be - crushed or broken. Most people answered they would rather be broken, but I shook my head and thought, I'd rather be crushed.
In my mind it was better to be either one or the other - either dead or alive, but not somewhere in between. I did not ever want to become disabled. I did not want to see myself as incomplete. Now I realise how much pride I had in me at that time. Today I realised that I am a broken vessel, and that's okay. Why is there a comparison made between a broken and a crushed vessel rather than a broken and a complete vessel? The way I understand it now is that no one on earth is complete. We are all broken vessels. There is not a single person alive today, no matter how perfect their lives appear from the outside, that is not broken somewhere inside.
As human beings, we have all gone through our fair share of struggles, heartache, heartbreak and pain. It is inescapable. So God is telling us we are broken, imperfect. But broken is better than crushed. For to be crushed means there is no chance of return. We are completely shattered and dead once crushed. This image serves to show us the difference between life and death, how fragile we are, and how final death is.
What does this have to do with judgement? Well, I am reminded of my own imperfection whilst at the same time reminded of my higher calling. I am called to by more like Christ, and so is everyone else. But I need to start with the Body. As part of the Body of Christ, it is on my conscience to help those that are struggling with sin so that they can become more Christlike. When I therefore see a brother doing worldly things that disconnect him from God rather than connect him to Him more closely, it is unwise to turn a blind eye. I might be in denial, but sooner or later the truth stares you so blankly in the eye that you cannot look away, and you have to say something.
It might come that you tell the person about whom you are concerned what you think - in light of the God's standards - and receive a heavy-handed "leave me alone and stop judging me" comeback. As Christians, we are confronted quite early on in our walk with God - people not committed to Christ know this too! - that we are not to judge others. So it is. As we judge, we will be judged.
But once part of the body, we need to love our brothers and sisters enough to tell them when they are going wrong, and rescue them from the fire. We are not there to judge them, for sure, but to hold them accountable to God before they are held accountable by God.
Tonight I visited a cell group where Joao pointed out the difference between being a nice Christian and being a true Christian. I see how hard it is to be true all the time because you keep losing face, and you keep having to remain in the presence of God, and He can be so demanding sometimes, as though He is constantly pounding on your conscience, and you just wanna have fun, and let go, and go with the flow. But God wants us as pure vessels, free of sin, free so serve Him, and free to grow spiritually so that His will can be done through us.
We are not to judge those outside the body, but those inside we must judge, for we all belong to one God, one faith, one Truth, and we all survive by those very principles. It is so hard. Lord, please be with us. I pray for the humility of Christ. I thank You, in Jesus' name.
Being part of the Body of Christ was not something I earned. I am not a "good" person and therefore passed the test into God's kingdom. Quite the opposite happened, actually.
One of the most profound teachings I ever received was during a home cell meeting I was invited to in 2003, when I had seen God as My Saviour and desired to know His way. At this particular meeting the scripture came up that spoke of being a vessel that is broken rather than crushed. Gareth had asked us what we would rather be - crushed or broken. Most people answered they would rather be broken, but I shook my head and thought, I'd rather be crushed.
In my mind it was better to be either one or the other - either dead or alive, but not somewhere in between. I did not ever want to become disabled. I did not want to see myself as incomplete. Now I realise how much pride I had in me at that time. Today I realised that I am a broken vessel, and that's okay. Why is there a comparison made between a broken and a crushed vessel rather than a broken and a complete vessel? The way I understand it now is that no one on earth is complete. We are all broken vessels. There is not a single person alive today, no matter how perfect their lives appear from the outside, that is not broken somewhere inside.
As human beings, we have all gone through our fair share of struggles, heartache, heartbreak and pain. It is inescapable. So God is telling us we are broken, imperfect. But broken is better than crushed. For to be crushed means there is no chance of return. We are completely shattered and dead once crushed. This image serves to show us the difference between life and death, how fragile we are, and how final death is.
What does this have to do with judgement? Well, I am reminded of my own imperfection whilst at the same time reminded of my higher calling. I am called to by more like Christ, and so is everyone else. But I need to start with the Body. As part of the Body of Christ, it is on my conscience to help those that are struggling with sin so that they can become more Christlike. When I therefore see a brother doing worldly things that disconnect him from God rather than connect him to Him more closely, it is unwise to turn a blind eye. I might be in denial, but sooner or later the truth stares you so blankly in the eye that you cannot look away, and you have to say something.
It might come that you tell the person about whom you are concerned what you think - in light of the God's standards - and receive a heavy-handed "leave me alone and stop judging me" comeback. As Christians, we are confronted quite early on in our walk with God - people not committed to Christ know this too! - that we are not to judge others. So it is. As we judge, we will be judged.
But once part of the body, we need to love our brothers and sisters enough to tell them when they are going wrong, and rescue them from the fire. We are not there to judge them, for sure, but to hold them accountable to God before they are held accountable by God.
Tonight I visited a cell group where Joao pointed out the difference between being a nice Christian and being a true Christian. I see how hard it is to be true all the time because you keep losing face, and you keep having to remain in the presence of God, and He can be so demanding sometimes, as though He is constantly pounding on your conscience, and you just wanna have fun, and let go, and go with the flow. But God wants us as pure vessels, free of sin, free so serve Him, and free to grow spiritually so that His will can be done through us.
We are not to judge those outside the body, but those inside we must judge, for we all belong to one God, one faith, one Truth, and we all survive by those very principles. It is so hard. Lord, please be with us. I pray for the humility of Christ. I thank You, in Jesus' name.
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