By The Same Standard

 You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone.

John 8:15

Have you ever felt as though you were being judged?  When we judge others, we are usually attempting to make ourselves look better by making someone else look worse.  So we judge people by their looks, their clothes, their job, their neighborhood, their house, their car, their spouse, their pets, their children, pretty much anything they have is subject to judgment.

Look what Jesus told the Pharisees (who LOVED judging others), "YOU judge Me by human standards...but I do NOT judge anyone!"  Remember the 10 lepers?  Jesus didn't judge them, He healed them.  Remember the woman caught in adultery? Jesus didn't judge her, He loved her enough to stand up for her.  Remember the people who crucified Jesus?  He didn't judge them, He forgave them.  As a matter of fact, Jesus reminds us that we are not to judge others either because if we do, then we will be judged by the same standard we used to judge.  And who among us can measure up to that?

Notice Something?

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 

I read a story recently of a teacher who went to the board on the first day of class and wrote the following:

9x1=7

9x2=18

9x3=27

9x4=36

9x5= 45

She heard laughter when she wrote the first equation and heard the whispers of how the teacher was too stupid to see her mistake throughout the rest of her display.  After several minutes of letting the giggles and criticisms continue, she turned to the class and said, "I noticed that you saw my mistake.  You laughed and criticized me for it.  Yet you paid no attention to the major portion of the table I got correct.  Is that how I should grade your work?  If you get one wrong you fail?"  The class was silent after that.

How many times are we just like that class?  We ignore the positive things others say and do, so we can judge them for a mistake?  It's in times like this that we tend to forget the words of Christ, "Do to others as you would have done to you." Think about this a little differently, would you want others to focus only on your mistakes (real or perceived) rather than your contributions?

Changing Others

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. ~Romans 14:1-4

Have you ever heard someone say something about God they believed to be completely true, but you knew that they were wrong?  Did you tell them they were wrong?  

I once had a co-worker who said that God was just a big Grandfather type guy who sits in Heaven, is hard of hearing and doesn't know what's going on here on Earth because He's not doing anything to help her.  When I heard her say that, I began grinding my teeth, my blood pressure shot WAY up and I wanted to berate her, chapter and verse, that her "knowledge" was false.  But I knew that starting a debate would turn into an argument which usually never ends well.  So I was silent, prayed for her, and still accepted her.

FIVE YEARS later, she came into my office and asked me if God is real or is He just a Santa Claus kind of guy you ask for things and He give them to you.  I explained, as best as I could, that my belief (stressing that this was MY belief) that God is very real and no matter what happens to me, He is still in control.  I went on to explain that regardless what happens in my life, God can take my circumstances and turn them into something amazing.  She told me that she was glad I hadn't confronted her when she had made those statements five years before, because she now knew that God is real and is in control and is definitely very close to her.

After our talk, I began to recall how many times I had witnessed or heard of churches splitting because of some silly argument that ultimately lead to "our way or the highway" (things such as the color of the pew cushions, which side of the sanctuary should the piano be on, the temperature setting of the sanctuary, the length of the announcements vs. the length of the sermon, and on and on).  What purpose do such arguments serve except to prove to others that the church is not a loving place?

We are to be accepting, and let God deal with the issue.  Why?  He's got more practice at resolving issues than any of us!