I appreciate your responses as not all are able to differentiate between “preaching” and respectful dialogue. I am quite familiar with the scriptures but even my history does not predicate full understanding, which to me is a wonderful thing. We see through a glass darkly which means so much can never be understood until we are face to face because God is so much larger than ourselves. What DO I know? There is no good in me but God. I am truly a sinner saved only by the grace of God. It is not me but God. If man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart and all sin is disgusting to God, then the sin of pride is just as abhorrent as the sin of theft. If children of God are looking around at each other to qualify what we can ‘see’ and determining what we should be judging...I don’t know about you but as for me? My journey to deal with what is on the inside is going to take me an entire lifetime and even then I will not have even scratched the surface. (Pun intended. Lol)
The danger with judging others is (to name only a few) a: it makes the one doing the judging feel like they are above the judgee (did I just make that word up? Ha!) and b: our human nature makes it difficult to separate the action from the individual.
As for me, I have found that it is much more persuasive to convey the peace and God’s love in my own life by concurrently qualifying the impact of negative actions with the desirable effect of positive actions.
Edit: I’m referring to personal judgement of others and not the societal consequences of actions perpetuated on another.
I understand where you're coming from and I entirely agree. I think maybe our misunderstanding is in interpreting the word judgement. I'm a reformed baptist so Im familiar with what you're talking about.
As Christians we aren't "better" than those who don't believe or anyone. Like you said - the only good in us is Christ, but we are set apart. We who are in Christ are to be the opposite of the man who is in the world. That's exactly what the beatitudes teach. I think in my mind "righteous judgment" isn't a condemnation, that's not our place- it's a recognition. It's mindfulness of the truth. It's being aware of those grievous sins that plague this world. Being aware of our own helplessness apart from God(though in Him we are powerful) and always turning to The Cross. Does that make sense? Sorry it's late and I'm sleepy lol
Words can sometimes get in the way of what I’m trying to say. I’ll try to condense out of consideration for your time.
-Hate the sin but love the sinner.
-Win the battle but lose the war.
-Interpretation of scripture is not scripture.
-Spotlight on a part can shadow the whole.
-Faith cannot be forced.
Whew! Nutshells are tough! I hope I made sense. I appreciate this dialogue.
I appreciate your responses as not all are able to differentiate between “preaching” and respectful dialogue. I am quite familiar with the scriptures but even my history does not predicate full understanding, which to me is a wonderful thing. We see through a glass darkly which means so much can never be understood until we are face to face because God is so much larger than ourselves. What DO I know? There is no good in me but God. I am truly a sinner saved only by the grace of God. It is not me but God. If man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart and all sin is disgusting to God, then the sin of pride is just as abhorrent as the sin of theft. If children of God are looking around at each other to qualify what we can ‘see’ and determining what we should be judging...I don’t know about you but as for me? My journey to deal with what is on the inside is going to take me an entire lifetime and even then I will not have even scratched the surface. (Pun intended. Lol) The danger with judging others is (to name only a few) a: it makes the one doing the judging feel like they are above the judgee (did I just make that word up? Ha!) and b: our human nature makes it difficult to separate the action from the individual. As for me, I have found that it is much more persuasive to convey the peace and God’s love in my own life by concurrently qualifying the impact of negative actions with the desirable effect of positive actions.
Edit: I’m referring to personal judgement of others and not the societal consequences of actions perpetuated on another.
I understand where you're coming from and I entirely agree. I think maybe our misunderstanding is in interpreting the word judgement. I'm a reformed baptist so Im familiar with what you're talking about.
As Christians we aren't "better" than those who don't believe or anyone. Like you said - the only good in us is Christ, but we are set apart. We who are in Christ are to be the opposite of the man who is in the world. That's exactly what the beatitudes teach. I think in my mind "righteous judgment" isn't a condemnation, that's not our place- it's a recognition. It's mindfulness of the truth. It's being aware of those grievous sins that plague this world. Being aware of our own helplessness apart from God(though in Him we are powerful) and always turning to The Cross. Does that make sense? Sorry it's late and I'm sleepy lol
No worries! I wish I was sleepy! Lol
Words can sometimes get in the way of what I’m trying to say. I’ll try to condense out of consideration for your time.
-Hate the sin but love the sinner. -Win the battle but lose the war. -Interpretation of scripture is not scripture. -Spotlight on a part can shadow the whole. -Faith cannot be forced.
Whew! Nutshells are tough! I hope I made sense. I appreciate this dialogue.