No Judgment?

We live in a society today that opposes being "judgmental." I put it in quotes because this current society appears to be completely schizophrenic about being "judgmental." They will scream judgment at people they deem "judgmental." What's that all about? But we're a society that likes to proclaim "Only God can judge me" by which they mean "I'll do what I want and God won't say a thing," not that God will judge anyone. They mean, "You may not." They even pull out a verse to throw at those they deem judgmental. "Judge not that you be not judged," they will offer (Matt 7:1). Even a cursory reading of the text and the context and the casual reader will have to conclude it doesn't mean "Don't ever have a judgment regarding sin or evil ever," but it doesn't stop them from complaining.

So if that's not the idea, what is? If the message of the Cross is not "only grace" — you can't ever call attention to evil — what is it? I think we've got it turned around.

Grace is central to Christianity. It is central to salvation. We are, indeed, saved by grace through faith apart from works (Eph 2:8-9). God told Jeremiah, "I will remember their sins no more." (Jer 31:34; Heb 10:17). No doubt; no question. Saved by grace. That's grace -- divine memory loss, right? "See? So it is grace." Yes, we're saved by grace, but does that mean that we can no longer recognize sin and warn against it? Did Jesus do the right thing with the woman "caught in adultery" (John 8:2-11) by getting them not to throw stones (John 8:7) only to fail when He told her "Go and sin no more" (John 8:11)? No, of course not. Every biblical writer under the inspiration of the Spirit wrote about sin. Jesus talked about it. The Old Testament is full of it. The New Testament is full of it. Using "grace" to mean "ignore sin" misses the point entirely.

Jesus makes the point elsewhere to Simon the Pharisee. The sinful woman washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair and anointed them with ointment and Jesus told Simon, "I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:47) That is, sins forgiven don't make us ignore sins; they make us love. Forgiven sins don't make us forget about sin; they make us grateful for forgiveness.

"Well, now," you might ask, "doesn't that make us non-judgmental?" No. It makes us loving. It makes us love God which, like Jesus, would give us a zeal for His name (John 2:17). Sin violates that. It makes us love our neighbor which gives us compassion for them. Sin harms them. So it does not eliminate the capacity to recognize and warn against sin. It simply changes our motivation for doing so. It substitutes love for self-righteousness, concern for ego, compassion for harshness. It is in this setting that you can catch a brother in a transgression and seek to restore him rather than condemn him (Gal 6:1). God's grace towards us should cause us to have grace towards others, but it doesn't follow that grace ignores sin. That wouldn't be loving.