The mantra of daytime television used to be, “Who are you to judge anyone? Maybe it is wrong for you but right for someone else.” Most of us remember Jesus’ statement, “Judge not that you be not judged.” So what do you think? Do Christians have any responsibility to judge anybody?
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about their inexplicable approval of sexual sin in the membership. One of their members had entered an illicit relationship with his father’s wife. Instead of correcting him, the Christians in Corinth ignored the behavior. Paul encouraged them to distance themselves from the man in hopes that he would stop sinning and turn back to the Lord. Paul says, “God judges the people outside the church, but you are to judge those who are inside.”
Somehow we have reversed Paul’s teaching. I often hear believers condemning the bad behavior of unbelievers. Paul says, “You were not selected for that jury!” On the other hand, Paul teaches that we should hold fellow believers accountable for behavior that directly violates the scripture. Paul says, “Don’t eat with them.” Let your distance from them demonstrate that the church does not approve. This sounds messy doesn’t it? We all know that we have sinned so how can we correct others. It is true that all of us are sinners. But if we begin to say that our sin is not sin, then we miss the point. Believers turn from sin. We are not proud of our sin. Instead we mourn it and choose to stop.
