Judgement and Hypocrisy, Part 2

It is no secret that the Bible has a lot to say about how Christians should live, and obviously Jesus is the main example for Christians to follow. He says, ‘“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”’ (Matthew 16:24-25 ESV, emphasis added). The Greek word used for after here is opisō (BlueletterBible.org). This adverb in conjunction with the Greek verb deute is used in Matthew 4:19 and is translated as ‘follow’. The question I asked while researching this passage was why are two different words that can both be translated as ‘follow’ used in the same sentence? My thought is if we are Christians who desire to follow Jesus, then denying ourselves and following His example has double significance. John, One of Jesus’ disciples, agrees that we need to do what Christ did, ‘the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.’ (1^st John 2:6 NASB). These passages along with other scriptures show us that as we take up our Cross, we need to follow Him even in His actions and His words so as to become like Him.

As I have examined my heart in light of the above scriptures and in juxtaposition with judgment and hypocrisy I came upon a few scripture passages that struck me as odd. One passage in particular is from 1^st Corinthians 5:9-13 (NASB):

⁹ I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.¹¹ But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

While I was reading this scripture the first thing I noticed was that Paul implores us to Judge people who claim to be Christians. I noticed this because it is posed as a rhetorical question, ‘do you not judge those who are within the church?’ Paul’s question struck me as odd because our American culture emphasizes the ‘don’t judge me’ attitude, which has infiltrated our churches. So much so that the churches emphasis for the last few years has been on the verses like: Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 6:37, James 4:11-12, Romans 2:1-3 etc. These verses are incredibly important to Christians because without these verses we can become incredibly prideful in our obedience to the Bible. But with these verses people who claim to be Christians are condemned by their (our) hypocrisy. For that very reason I was put off by the rhetorical question Paul posed. With those verses being so adamant about us not judging others why does Paul encourage us to judge people who are within the church? The answer if found in another one of Paul’s letters; the letter to the Roman Church:

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:1-3 NIV, emphasis added)

The reason Paul encourages those in the Corinthian Church is because of that 3^rd verse in Romans 2. If we do not judge hypocritical Christians how can they know that they are not following Jesus? They are not denying themselves by indulging in things that they judge others for doing. For when we judge as Christ judges, we speak the truth in love. To let hypocrites know that they are being hypocritical is the most loving thing we can do for them, because we are showing them that they are condemning themselves by their own words. Jesus said some harsh things to the religious leaders because they were putting so much weight on the people and not doing anything that the Old Testament said of them to do (Matthew 23:4). Therefore if we do not judge hypocrites, they will put heavy weights on people, or push them away from Christ because of their hypocrisy and the perceived acceptance of hypocrisy by the church.

But when we talk to those outside the church we have no right to judge them because they do not claim Christianity. Therefore let us win them to Christ by our love for them and our love for our brothers who claim Christianity, just as Jesus spoke to us, ‘”As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35 ESV).’ If those outside the church first deny our testimony of Jesus in our personal lives, then as we emanate love in our actions toward others they will recognize Jesus power in our lives. That power will certainly show that we are following the example of Jesus by denying ourselves, picking up our cross and counting others as more important than ourselves (see Philippians 2:3).

To that end we must leave judgment up to Jesus, for we do not know the motivations of the heart like He does. Yet He has given us His selfless example to follow if we claim to be His.