11/06/2013

I Don't Want to Judge

At first blow, this is a noble statement among believers in Christ.

It is also what we call, in these days of compromise, tolerance, individuality, and universality, "politically correct."

Many are now of the opinion that every being has the right to say whatever he wants and what to do with his life. We should therefore not rock the boat or be branded as self righteous.

If you as much say a peep about the Word, about what is right or wrong, the world will hit you back with what is also in the Bible, "He who casts the first stone has no sin."

Touche.

What now? Can we censure, correct, or rebuke? Unless it is within our inner circle (family, close friends, and church mates), we are afraid of being lynched if we even try.

This dilemma has bothered me as I watch with grief the way the world is going—people do what they want, sow seeds of hatred, and express rudely what they find wrong in everything and everyone. 

“I don't want to judge” then, among Christians, is a convenient escape, a cloak of neutrality, and a washing-of-hands stance. It is an abdication of the responsibility of God's children to lead people to the one true Path, Jesus.

Every day, all sins and abominations in the Bible are blatantly committed, outrageously misinterpreted, and shamelessly edited to suit ways of living that benefit the cravings of the self.

That's why the pitfall of "I don't want to judge" is that we can dive into the same hole and nobody will say we're wrong, because they, too, "don't want to judge." Before long, we could also fall into this ugly chasm of unrightable but acceptable wrongs.  

Our only safety net is God's grace.   

His Word shows us how to conduct ourselves at all times. One of them is engraved on a pen given to me (and which I also try to engrave in my heart) by my publisher, OMF Lit: Philippians 4:8 (NLT), ". . . Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

In the Bible there are promises of hope, one of them is: 

Psalm 96: 13 (NLT), ". . . Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness."

“I don't want to judge?” Well, we will all be judged.

2 comments:

Yay Padua-Olmedo said...

Grace, I opened your blog just after I uploaded mine (welcome back to me, risen from the dead, hehe; but I wrote about basically the same topic. Couldn't find my peace until I did it. If people are offended, I don't think it is our problem. We ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, for wisdom and He gives it. The world will be offended, even if we sugar-coat our words. So I'm saying it as it is. God have mercy!

Grace D. Chong said...

It is difficult and a constant struggle to be an author at this time. But with enabling grace, we should be able to plod on.