Reading this 18 months later reminded me of the pebble I currently have sitting on my paper-strewn dining room table as a reminder while researching and reluctantly writing a lot about repentance and Jesus’ judgment lately.
These are unpopular topics with me, my regular readers, and everyone else on earth, but they seem to be on God‘s mind. It's no fun at all.
I've learned that among believers, we are, in fact, called to confess, judge, confront, and encourage each other to repent so we don’t "fall away," don't irreparably damage ourselves, others, and the community, and also to avoid facing much more scathing consequences and judgment from God (See 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 11:27-32, 2 Timothy 4:1-3, Romans 2:5-12, Hebrews 10:26, Galatians 6:1, Luke 17:3, +++).
That discomfort you feel may actually be the Holy Spirit telling you something is amiss and inviting you to pray and respond.
These are tough teachings for any of us but more urgent than ever and also the liberating source of lasting peace and joy. We don't hear this too much anymore in church or anywhere else. I got the message the hard way, but there's Good News!
This kind of lowly, humble judgment is the spiritual equivalent of warning a flirting friend how you wrecked your marriage by cheating, a recovering alcoholic sharing how their relapse started, or telling a driver that the bridge is out up ahead. You'll go careening off a cliff, minus the Thelma & Louise laughs.
This is also helpful perspective when we’re on the other end of pungent judgment so we can discern if judgy “wounds from a friend can be trusted”(Proverbs 27:6). Those can be lifesaving if we can humbly hear them.
If you read on in Matthew 7, Jesus explains you only judge when you're in touch with your own brokenness, especially effective if your "log" is of the same species as your friend's "speck." As they say, "If you can spot it, you got it."
Fact is, as Jesus liberated the adulterous woman from the Pharisee's cruel condemnation, He said, "Go and sin no more." That's a fact.
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