Judgy

Read This Week: 1 Corinthians 5

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. – 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 NIV

The term judgy is thrown around in conversation and social circles when talking about a person that we perceive as overly critical and judgmental. This is the technical meaning of the word, but often that is not how we use it and is certainly not what we mean.

Chances are when judgy is being used as a descriptor for someone, it is most likely meant to describe a person who has poorly expressed disapproval or disagreement with our choices, lifestyle, relationships or worldview. It’s a different way of saying that a person doesn’t agree with what we think or do.

Judgment and being judgmental can easily be misunderstood in relationships especially when it comes to living the Christian life. There is a big difference between making judgments, forming thoughts on things that are observed and flat out being judgemental. Making a judgment comes from having a grace-filled, balanced and neutral approach to people and situations. However, being judgmental comes from an imbalanced, sinful and reactive mindset that seeks to elevate oneself and diminish others.

In 1 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul is demonstrating the difference between making a judgment for healthy, moral purposes and being judgmental just because one can. To Paul, the problem was not that the church was living in an immoral society. It was the lack of sound judgment, accountability, and right living by the people of God in the world. The church had allowed the sin and immorality of society to invade and impact their community because they had not judged their behavior rightly or dealt with it.

The Christ-centered judgment of sin (verse 3) leads to restoration and correction. Simply being judgmental toward a person in their sin leads to unnecessary harm, resentment, and failure to change. This passage deals with serious sin issues that are also prevalent in our society and churches today. So we must understand the difference between a judgmental spirit that is not helpful and making truth-based judgments that allow us to live as God desires.

No one and no church is perfect, but human imperfection is not a reason to excuse sin and destructive behavior. Here in this chapter of Corinthians and throughout the Scriptures, we see that correction and discipline are necessary for us to stay on the right path. Yet these vital components of relationships and communities cannot come without proper judgment. The judgment that is granted to us by God, underwritten by love and meant to restore to a rightful place.

God has the awesome responsibility to judge the sin of the world through his eternality and supremacy. But through the expression of his grace and love in Christ, He gives us the responsibility and supplies the wisdom to judge ourselves with His truth.

We are called to avoid judging someone’s motives but to be broken over our sin and honest about our conduct. This approach is not judgy but caring and ultimately loving because it is God’s design to help us live for Him.

6 Comments

  1. Ken on December 3, 2019 at 8:26 am

    I am so thankful for the people that speak into my life in love from God‘s wisdom, in good judgment. If they didn’t help to guide me in the right direction, I may have continued in the wrong way. It’s so important that we have people in our lives, who love us and are willing to speak the truth, that are not afraid to make good judgments with God and share God’s wisdom and direction.

    I want to encourage you to seek the mothers and the fathers, the sisters and the brothers in the church who care enough to use good judgment from God and speak into your life, even if it’s a hard conversation. I found that many times the hard conversations are the best, exactly what I needed to take it to the next level with God.

    • Heidi on December 6, 2019 at 1:36 pm

      Thank you, Jason and Pastor Ken, for explaining and encouraging others to reach out to the fathers and mothers in the Lord to help us to grow and be told the truth so we don’t get mislead and influence to live the wrong way! I’m so thankful for those who invested their time to teach me God’s will and His ways.

      • Jason on December 17, 2019 at 12:36 pm

        Well said, Heidi! I too am eternally grateful for the men and women the Lord has placed in my life through the years that have held me accountable and made truth-based judgments about my walk, character, and leadership. It has made all the difference in my life, family, and leadership and I pray God will continue to provide those people on my journey.

    • Jason on December 17, 2019 at 12:45 pm

      This line is so good: “People who care enough to use good judgment from God and speak into your life, even if it’s a hard conversation. I found that many times the hard conversations are the best, exactly what I needed to take it to the next level with God.” I couldn’t agree more.

      In my life and leadership, the hard conversations with people who care enough about me to speak into my life have been the richest, deepest and most helpful. There is no doubt they made me better and took my walk with God to the next level. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I treasure those conversations and pray we will always have that as we do life with God. Thank you for the encouragement to continue to seek that out, Ken.

  2. Trina on December 7, 2019 at 5:16 pm

    1 Corinthians 6:14 – “And God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power.”

    God is saying to you and me that He came in human form to save all men/women from themselves and the carnal world. Do not turn away from my Holy Spirit that lives in each of you and called you by name. I loved you before you were even conceived. Turn away from things and actions of the world and allow me to raise you up from wickedness. If I can raise my Son from the dead, I can raise you out of yourself.

    What these words from God mean to me is that God so loved the world that he gave His son to all believers. I am raised out of darkness by the Holy Spirit to follow the leaders and elders spiritually clothed and the church of God that I have been given. I have raised you up. If you fall, reach out/seek me and I will set you back on the correct path. He wants me to continue to trust Him and my spiritual leaders in all of my ways and endeavors in life until I go home to be with Him.

    I am so blessed and grateful for the spiritual leaders in my life. They want me to grow in Christ and set an example for others to be able to know Christ as well. Thank you, Jesus.

    • Jason on December 17, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      Thank you for this wonderful insight and commentary on 1 Corinthians 6, Trina. Your comments reminded me of how hard of a paradigm shift it can be for us to recognize God’s correction as an expression of His deep love. He corrects and disciplines us because we are His children and He loves us. This is hard to grasp sometimes but I pray the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom to know and feel this when it is happening. To know and feel His love in correction and recognize that it is for our sanctification and the greater good.

      I pray we will also see this and be thankful that God loves us enough to put others in our lives that will speak truth to us. I pray we will regard them as a gift from God to help keep us on the right path even when it is difficult or we don’t want to hear it. May the Lord protect our hearts and minds from anger, resentment or unteachability when the truth is lovingly spoken to us by a brother or sister in Christ.

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