Only God Can Judge Me

A common meme that has pervaded our society is the idea that, "Only God can judge me."

I have seen this more and more as our society slips from post-modernism, to post-Christian, on into being a fully anti-Christian society. The phrase apparently originated from famous rapper, the late Tupac Shakur.

While the concept, at its core, is theologically accurate, I would amend the quote by saying, "Only God will judge me." And even that is heavily dependent on how one defines "judge". If, by judging, we are declaring the eternal destination of an individual, that is a right that belongs only to God. However, what most people mean when they say, "Only God can judge me" is that everyone has their faults, and until you are perfect, you have no right to recognize or mention my own sins.

There are some problems with this.

First of all, what this statement inevitably leads to is a demand for the opposite of judging. I have discovered that when most people say this, they are actually fishing for affirmation for an activity or circumstance that is contrary to Biblical moral standards.

Secondly, Christians are instructed to judge, in the proper context. It is what the Bible calls "righteous judgement" (John 7:24). The Greek word there is "Krisis", which means seperation. We have to determine the things God calls sin, and shun those activities. Also, Christ's call to refrain from judgment is not a call to let sin run free. Imagine the disorder it would create. 1st Corinthians 5:11-13 says it better than I could. We are to disassociate. According to Romans 12:9, we are to hate evil, and cling to the good. How do we do that without determining (judging) which is which.

Also, instead of viewing it as judgment, it is actually a warning. Who wouldn't want to be warned when they are in imminent danger? If a parent has two young children, wouldn't that parent expect the older of the two children to stop and instruct the younger child when they start to do something dangerous, like touch a hot stove? That is what God wants. When a Christian starts dabbling in sin, God expects the older, more advanced, Christians to stand in the way and provoke that Christian back into righteous behavior.

Another aspect, and this is what grinds my gears more than anything. When suddenly, someone mentions the sin as something beautiful. You see this a lot with sexual sins, like homosexual behavior, or heterosexual behavior outside of marriage. No, it is not a beautiful thing. Sin always hurts God, and with sexual sin, always hurts the one who is doing it (1st Corinthians 6:18). Heterosexual behavior, within a marriage that God sanctions, is the only acceptable sexual behavior, according to Scripture (Hebrews 13:4).

Lastly... You cannot divorce Christianity or the Gospel from the idea of sin and the demand to meet a Biblical standard of morality. The problem with trying to remove sin from Christianity is that it invalidates the entire message of Christianity. You might as well throw your Bibles away, forget God, forget Church, go and live your life, and hope for the best. You simply cannot say that God sanctions anything He calls "sin" in the Bible. And while I am no fan of litmus tests for true faith, I will always say that a true, born-again Christian will always have a internal conflict with sin. Even when the sin nature prevails, a true Christian will hate the sin all the worse for it, and will certainly never argue that such sin is okay with God, or worse, God's will. Prevalent sin in a true Christian's life will drive them to repentance, begging God for grace and deliverance. Simply living with, or believing it is okay, represents a serious malady in one's spiritual life. Christians are in a war, and if you're not in the war, you're probably not a soldier.

So, yes, God WILL judge you. And if you have a sin in your life that you don't hate and wrestle with, but allow it to have control, then God's judgment will not be a good one (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

Just my opinion. My opinions are free and worth every penny.