Are Christians Judgmental or Judicious Part 1

By Jill Krueger Wagner

  Although Jesus’ primary purpose in ministry was to save, he made judgments. Jesus called Peter “Satan” when Peter balked at Jesus’ telling the disciples he’d be crucified. He told the woman caught in adultery to “leave her life of sin,” he told the man he healed at the Pool of Bethsaida to stop sinning, he told the Samaritan woman at the well that her form of worship was inferior to that of the Jews. He also accused the Pharisees many times of ungodly behavior.

What would have been Christ’s motivation in each of these judgments?

Jesus told Peter that he was a stumbling block and that he did not have in mind the things of God, but of men. Satan was using Peter to tempt Jesus not to follow the path of God’s will. This was certainly a teaching moment, for Jesus then told the disciples that if they wanted to follow him, they must deny themselves, take up the cross and follow him. What was Jesus’ motivation? Was it to have Peter understand that he was being used? Was it to show Peter and the other disciples to rethink their view of why the Messiah came, or was it to explain they needed to count the cost of following him? Although we don’t know precisely what his motives were, we do know is it was for Peter’s good.

The woman caught in adultery probably knew she was seeking fulfillment in men rather than God before the teachers of the law and the Pharisees dragged her before Jesus. Now she was face to face with the tenderhearted man whose wisdom had just saved her from being stoned to death. His demeanor was certainly nothing like those who had brought her before him.  She may have assumed God was OK with what she did since she hadn’t fallen under Christ’s condemnation, but Christ had a responsibility to let her know that her lifestyle was sinful. He didn’t condemn her, but he also didn’t condone her behavior. "Unconditional love does not mean unconditional acceptance of bad behavior." His motivation was certainly for her good (See Galatians 5:20-12).

In John 15:14 after Jesus healed the man at the Pool of Bethsaida, he told him to “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Again, Jesus seeks the man’s good.

In John 4 he was quite blunt with the woman who had 5 husbands. He said, “You Samaritan’s worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” He debunked the lie that every form of worship results in salvation. He then proceeded to reveal himself as the messiah leading not only to her salvation but also to many in her village. Jesus sought her good and the good of her community.

When it came to the religious leaders of the day, many were worthless shepherds of the flock of God. As the good shepherd he had to call them into account for misusing their power and misleading the sheep. Jesus was following a precedent that God set in the Old Testament. There we learn that God used judgment to seek justice and speed the cause of the righteous (Isaiah 16:5), to save all the afflicted and teach restraint (Psalm 76:9-10) and to winnow out evil (Proverbs 20:8).

The religious leaders taught that following rules was the only way to please God. In Matthew 23, Jesus called them out for the following:

·         They did things for show

·         They were proud, lacking a servant’s heart

·         They were teaching others to follow their loveless ways

·         They were being blind guides, altering Scripture

·         They neglected the love of God, justice, mercy, and faithfulness

·         They were greedy and self-indulgent

·         They were full of hypocrisy and wickedness

These leaders were in danger of going to hell (Mt. 23:33). Was it unloving for Jesus to call them out? Not at all – it could have saved their lives, it was for their good.

Consistently when Jesus judges, his judgments are always meant for good. Furthermore, contrary to current thought, the church is also to judge for the good of others. I will cover that in my next blog.