I Corinthians 4- Judging

29 April 2008

Okay. What am I doing with this? I'm not exactly sure. First, it seems our Sunday School classes seem to end too soon and there's lots more to say. And after, people share the most amazing comments with me that I promise to talk about next week...and it just doesn't work out. The moment is lost and so is the comment. Second, I feel like I want to share more of my rambling thoughts on what's going on in the world from a Christian perspective. Maybe talk about some events in the media, in the news, or maybe a book I've read or a movie I've seen.

So maybe I'll try out this blog thing and see where it goes. So let me know what you think!

This week, I'll focus on our last class.


This past Sunday we spent another week discussing "judging" in I Corinthians chapter 4. I have to tell you, that I was very nervous about this chapter because of the topic.

Many many Christians get quite emotional about judging. This is often the case because one of the main criticisms that we hear from the world is that we Christians are "judgemental". In fact, one of the most quoted verses that non-Christians quote is "Do not judge". As was pointed out this past week, when the entire section is read in context (Matt 7: 1-5), we find that Jesus was criticising people for the way they were judging. He encourages applying judgement to ourselves first, and then we are able to judge properly to "remove the speck from your brother's eye." Jesus starts this passage with a warning about how we judge- whatever method we employ will be used on us!

Another reason that we tend to be emotional about judging is that we have been on the receiving end of someone judging us in a very unscriptural way. It's not very pleasant or helpful or edifying to be under the eye of an overly judgemental or critical person. That's the prime reason that we are labeled as being judgemental as Christians- because in many cases, its true! Our attitude is one of being better than the other person and we condemn them. Condemnation at the hands of another Christian that lacks grace and love is terrible. Many can tell of years of discouragement, depression, and low self-esteem based on the condemnation of other Christians.

Thankfully, our discussions never reached the emotional levels that I had feared they would. The class this past Sunday, was a bit more "preachy" than usual, and I apologize for that- I much prefer our discussions. However, I really wanted to drive home something that I recently learned in my studies of the letter of I Corinthians. And that is the bigger picture of how many times Paul refers to judging in the letter, and how the term was used in each case. I know we went through the verses quite quickly, and I was not able to do them justice. Time didn't permit it. I hope you did see the bigger picture- that "judging" is the normal and healthy part of our Christian life. The one time it is condemned is in chapter 4, where the topic is stewardship- only the Master can evaluate and properly reward the steward's work- especially not the Corinthian church!

I did find an additional passage that talks about judging that I had somehow missed. Take a look at I Cor 14:23-25. Paul is discussing speaking in tongues in contrast to prophesying. He is making the case that prophesying is much preferred to tongues. He tells of someone coming into the church with everyone speaking in tongues- that person will say that you are out of your mind! On the other hand, if they are prophesying, then "he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare." I will let you think about what this judging is referring to. Remember, we'll get to chapter 14 by 2029...if we're lucky!

One additional and very important chapter that discusses judging is Romans 14. I had hoped to get to it, but time didn't permit. Please, if you have 15 minutes, read through that chapter and think about what it says. The topic is "passing judgement on disputable matters." This is something that is rampant in Christian churches, especially ones that are legal. Thankfully, its never raised its ugly head in PCBC. There are many things that we encounter as Christians that we must make a decision about (judge), that do not have corresponding clear scriptures to consult. With these issues, we must, before God, decide whether to avoid these things or practice them. The problem comes, when we decide to avoid something, and the person in the next pew practices it- what is our attitude towards them? Do we love them, embrace them and say to ourselves "that's not something I would do, but it's okay for them"? Or do we condemn them for the practice, look down our noses, and say "how can Christians do such things??" These practices, or disputable matters, can become tests that must be passed by Christians; they become a way to judge a person's spirituality. This is wrong.

Paul lays down a number of principles on how to deal with these disputable matters in Romans 14 . I'll list a couple of them and let you find the others.

1) We are not to judge others on disputable matters.
2) We are not to put a stumbling block before our brothers and sisters.
3) We have Christian liberty.
4) We should only do things that build up (edify) our brothers and sisters.

Finally, I'd like to mention a comment I had after Sunday's class. It was profound. Paul says in I Cor 4:3 "...indeed, I do not even judge myself." We talked about the steward- he or she answers ONLY to the Master. Only the Master can properly evaluate and reward our performance, as Paul says in V. 4 "...It is the Lord who judges me." So Paul says that with respect to his stewardship, the thing of value that he's been given from the Master, he himself is not competent or able to effectively evaluate or reward it.

So what does that really mean? Here's the profound comment....

So often, when we are involved in a ministry, we get discouraged. We think we are failures. We get depressed. We become ineffective. The ministry suffers and we may stop altogether. Why? Because in our estimation, in our evaluation, in our judgement, we are failures.

Wait a minute.

We have NO business making that judgement. That is not our job. That is not our responsibility. "It is the Lord who judges me." How many ministries stop because of our own self doubts, our own evaluations, our own estimates of failure?

Paul does say "My conscience is clear", meaning that he does evaluate whether he is working on the ministry, whether he is being faithful to it. But he makes it equally clear that it is the Lord who will judge...and most encouragingly, "at that time each will receive praise from God."

This coming week, we will look at the latter part of I Cor 4- some had become kings and some had not.

Eric