His hair was tussled and his clothes were dirty. He smelled horribly. His face beamed with joy as he stood at the entrance of the church to greet the congregation as they came to worship that Easter Sunday. “Who was this man and why was he greeting when that was my job?” Uncomfortable with the situation, I introduced myself and said I would be greeting along with him. He, instead, sat down, alone in the last row, the joy gone from his face. What had I done? I knew I needed to invite him to sit with me. Hesitantly, I did so, and he quickly obliged. We walked to the front row raising many eyebrows along the way. I felt the stares and heard their silent questions. “Who was this man?” “Who brought him?” “Is he dangerous?” “Why was he here?” We sat down and chairs inched away from us because he smelled so bad.
I formed an opinion of this man based on his outward appearance. Later, I learned that much of our congregation had. He didn’t seem to fit in. He didn’t look like us.
“For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7
Not all judgments are bad. In fact, as Matthew 18:15-17 teaches, if a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his Christian duty to lovingly confront the person with his sin. This kind of judgment points out the truth with hope that repentance and reconciliation will follow.
Unfortunately, while God may call us to judge, we never seem to get it right. We judge when we have no business judging and we usually do so unlovingly. God’s word gives us some rules for judging others:
1. Judge according to scripture: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” Isaiah 8:20. His living word is our plumb line, not our opinions or traditions.
2. Don’t make more of a matter than God makes of it: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” Colossians 2:16
3. Pray for ability to judge: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings 3:9
4. Seek to judge in truth: “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” Jeremiah 5:1. In others words, get your facts straight before you judge.
5. Judge yourself before judging others: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:2-4.
I gave the old man a seat with me that morning, but he gave me so much more. I offered him my hymnal because there weren’t enough. He didn’t take it, I figured, because he wasn’t really there to worship. He didn’t need the hymnal because he knew every word of every hymn and he sang them beautifully and for the glory of God…with tears streaming down his face. I put my hymnal and opinions down and listened, with tears streaming down my face.