Life is about making choices, making friends and working with and through people. It is irrelevant to discuss about whether we should or should not judge people, but rather it is how we can judge rightly and how we should respond to the judgments of others. We are even further encouraged to discipline with love and rightly(hard or soft according to their attitudes) those that God has put under our charge. 1 Corinthians 4 gives us the teaching.I was surprised to hear from one of Don Carson's sermons that the most famous verse now of the Bible is not John 3:16 but rather Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged". The present day view is "Everything is relative. Right or wrong depends on the situations. What is good and right to you may not be for others. Hence, judge not." There is some partial truth in it and that is why it is a powerful thing as of all misleading ideas. The church has been deceived in the misunderstanding of this verse that everyone should not judge and everyone should just live happily and peacefully with one another. That leads to many unresolved animosity within the church, spreading of sins, and at times leading to misuses and abuses that may incur the wrath of the Government. (e.g. Reflections from CHC Kong Hee Alleged Misuse of Funds)
Life is about making choices, and making choices is about making judgments, especially of people. Do I want to befriend this person? Can I trust my colleagues to hand him the important task? How can I help others without making judgment? So the question is not about to judge or not, but rather how to judge rightly. 1 Corinthians 4 gives many good guidance on how to judge rightly and to implement the evaluation and corrective actions. Here are the mind-maps that summarize the details:
Judging Rightly and the Process
Understanding how to judge rightly and the process enables us to hold one another accountable to our unique callings from God, for those under and above our charge, that the body of Christ will be united under Christ to show forth His glory. Here the summary map:
Lim Liat (c) 18 May 2013
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