Scott C Kalas

Judgment! There is no person who has walked the face of this earth who has not judged or been judged by others. There never will be a person who will walk the face of this earth, who will not judge others and whom others will not judge. What is important in those judgments, is the measures we use in those judgments. Some of it is honest discernment, which Jesus teaches us to do. We all probably feel this is what we are doing when we talk of someone’s bad habits and behavior patterns. Is it? I like to think that is what I’m doing. However, that is probably not true. I'm more likely seeing my own bad habits and behavior patterns versus discern judgment. I’m certain each night as I get quiet with God and He was to playback my conversations and/or thoughts, most of my judgments would fall into the category of unfair judgment and not the category of honest discernment. Unfortunately I’m not alone as a Christian. I’ve also see it amongst my Christian friends. What is hard for me of late is when I see unfair judgment within a circle of friends who may not have all the facts. Not that unfair judgment is less of an issue when the unfair judgment is outside the circle of friends. But when I do see it, it is that much harder to deal with personally. Lee Strobel Teaching Pastor of Willow Creek Church made a statement in a recent message "A friend doesn’t stand in judgment of you." Though he was using it in a message on another subject, it caught my attention since I was in the process of writing this message. My message focuses on an area of possible wrongful judgment I’ve become aware of in my group of friends in the past couple of months. I say possible because I’m not certain one way or the other. But if it is false the group must make amends to those judged wrongfully. If it is true then we as a group must correct it.

False judgment begins by judging someone only on what one sees but does not know for certain if they are interpreting it correctly. I attend what many refer to as a very large church. As a result of that, I have a large circle of friends. (Not because I’m such a fun person, but because it is so large the chance of finding someone who can put up with my sense of humor is that much greater.) Some are very close, what I refer to and by others as a "core circle of friends." There is also a group of good friends who are not part of the core circle. I will refer to them as "non-core circle of friends." What is troublesome for me is when some of the core circle friends treat somebody in a way that makes the person feel they are not a part of the core circle and as a person to avoid. They will base their act of judgment by saying the person is doing certain things that make them uncomfortable.

A person may be doing things some may perceive as a sinful act, but since the person may be being judged unfairly, they may ask themselves, Why? What am I doing that I'm being treated this way? They won’t get an answer because it is much to easier for some in the group to unfairly judge and then gossip to others in the group their interpretations of this person. This perpetuates the issue. The person will continue to be perceived as doing something sinful and some in the group will continue to judge unfairly. As Christian’s we must pray to confirm what we are seeing. If we are confident we are seeing a brother or sister commit sin and do so without remorse or an intention to repent their ways, we must talk to them directly. If one feels they are not a close enough friend, they should ask another brother or sister who is closer to talk to them.

Spend some quiet time with God. Ask him to tell you if there are measures you are using in life to judge someone that you would not want Him to measure you by. If you God confirms you are correct in your judgment, pray that He will give you wisdom and guidance to counsel the Christian brother or sister who is sinning. Pray that the brother or sister will accept your words and correct the sin in their life. If there are measures you are using to judge someone unfairly pray for forgiveness. Go to the brother and sister and make amends.