Judging someone vs. Warning someone
Matthew 7:21-24
“Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of the Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy NAME cast out devils? and in THY NAME done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never KNEW you; depart from me; ye that work iniquity. Therefore, whoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who build his house on the rock.”
So here is a thought to chew on, not everyone who CALLS themself a Christian is going to Heaven. Is that not astounding to you that there are those who healed people, cast out devils, and did miracles in the NAME of the LORD and they will not enter Heaven? Why? I want to know don’t you?
That word KNOW comes from the Greek word gin-o-sko and this is what it means “I NEVER acknowledged you, or recognized you for what YOU claimed to be.” One commentary said it this way, “You knew me, you were a fan of me, you studied me, but I never KNEW you.”
In this parable what did Jesus say about knowing Him? He says obedience- doing the will of my Father. A relationship with God is not about just knowing it-it is about DOING! So let’s talk about obedience and when a fellow Christian is in WILLFUL disobedience. Our obedient lifestyle will reflect if we truly know Him, that is if we are more than a KNOWER but a DOER. Here is then where I get very upset, righteous indignation with fellow believers who have grown tolerant of sin.
I cannot tell you the number of times a client, friend, co-worker, family member etc. has been telling me a story of someone claiming to be a CHRISTIAN who was in willful disobedience and making poor choices in blatant areas such as drinking, porn, drugs, food, gambling, affairs, or flirting with someone who was not their spouse, or Christian family members fueding, or fueds within a church and I ask, “Why didn’t you speak up?” And the answer usually is ,”Well, I don’t want to be involved because I cannot judge them. Matthew 7 says do not judge.”
I recently had a situation with someone who had been a childhood friend but when I WARNED him about a behavior he de-friended me. Long story short: This person was a Christian; he had even been called to ministry at a young age. He got angry with God and frustrated with the church over something hurtful a pastor did. He ran from God and ended up moving in with a girl he fell for. After living together a number of years they married. They were not really active in church. Speed up- life happens and it does not go according to the way he thought and he regrets marrying her. He felt he was to marry this other girl and the 2 of them began secretly speaking on the phone, texting, facebooking etc for a number of YEARS. She too was married. When she called he told his wife it was a business call. He even took “business” trips to see this other woman. He had developed a web of lying and deceit to cover these calls and trips. He deceived himself to believe that because he felt the original will of God was to marry the other girl, he could remedy that mistake by leaving his wife and family and marry her. He texted and emailed me essentially trying to plead his case that he had Biblical cause and wanted my blessing, to which I did not give it. Now a year prior his wife had rededicated her life to the Lord, the two got baptized together, but she did not want to be a part of a certain denomination. Therefore, he used they were “unequally yoked.” Well I blasted that and he blasted back that I was self-righteous and I was judging and I should remove the plank in my eye etc etc.” He said his wife was not a Proverbs 31 woman but his new bride- to -be was. I questioned him, “How on earth is she a Proverbs 31 woman if she who is married, is having a relationship with you, left her husband to move in with you- how is that Proverbs 31?” By definition she has committed adultery and so have you! He was dumbfounded that I did not go along with this being God’s will. His family, a pastor, and some other Christians are for the union because it was “God’s will.” I was the ONLY one who told him differently. Did I judge him? NO, I spoke with him to warn him. I believe the actions were sinful and he was in sin and I told him. When he texted “You are judging me” I said, “I do not judge you, I am pointing out that your behavior is going against Scripture and I am WARNING you before you do this thing to do the right thing.” Was I judging?
Now isn’t it funny when you confront a CHRISTIAN in blatant sin all of a sudden they are Bible scholars and somehow know Mattew 7?
So what about Galatians 6:1 “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you may be tempted.” Then in Galatians 5:19-21 Paul points out obvious sins we are to warn other CHRISTIANS about: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, witchcraft, dissension, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambtion, drunkenness etc- for those who do these things WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Here is the point. We cannot judge the world- someone who is not a Christian- we should stop trying to tell them about sin when they have no concept of avoiding sin. But when we see a CHRISTIAN in these acts of sin it is our JOB and mandate to WARN them, count the cost- because it could cost you your relationship with that person. But Jesus said if you can’t give up your family and earthly possession for Him you are not worthy of Him. We need to warn these Christians in willful sin that they are not ready. They are not watchful of His coming and living an obedient lifestyle.
Rev. 3:15-16 says, “I know your DEEDS that you are neither hot or cold. I wish you were one of the other. Because you are lukewarm I will spew you out of my mouth.” John Bevere said it this way, “You have enough warm in you, you can blend with the church. You have enough cold in you, you can blend with the world- you are warm and don’t stand out anywhere.”
We are not to judge someone’s salvation, their intentions, motives etc. We cannot see what God sees. BUT we can see the fruit- the actions- the behavior. We can be “fruit inspectors.” Matthew 7:16-20 tells us good trees bring about good fruit and corrupt trees have rotten fruit. The ones that do not bring forth the good fruit will be hewn in the fire!
So let me be CLEAR. We are speaking of WARNING self-professed Christians of willful disobedient behaviors and lifestyle. Why? Because Apostle Paul said we should. We should go GENTLY and in LOVE, but we should point out the sin because we love them and want them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
In Matthew 7 that word JUDGE comes from the Greek word that means “condemn, punish, avenge, make a legal decree.” When we warn someone we are not damning them or punishing them- we are pointing out bad fruit.
The Greek word for the word WARN in previous Scripture means “give notice, tell them of the danger or evil, give admonishing advice.”
Warning is about observable behavior you are seeing or they are telling you.
But beware this is a warning for us in this “don’t warn about the speck if you have a beam in your eye.” This does not mean you are 100% sin free. It means if you are going to call someone out on say their anger- you better not be struggling with anger yourself. If you are gonna call someone out on being in a relationship outside of marriage- your marriage better be free from that. This verse is warning against hypocrisy. Do not warn against something you have not dealt with in your life.
Friends, I believe we are in the END DAYS and the Bride of Christ is NOT READY! We are not living, holy, righteous, obedient lives because we have swallowed the lie that we have to be tolerant. We are never to be tolerant of sin in our own lives or other BELIEVERS. So, first of all, make sure you are living an obedient lifestyle. Then if there is someone who is Christian, in which we have a relationship with- warn them. We need to tell the prodigals now is the time to return.
In American, according to Barna, 87% CLAIM they are born-again believers. In that same survey only 50% of believers say they are absolutely committed to Christ, His teaching, and living out their faith. We have a lot of work to do church.
Love the person, hate the sin. In that love, we warn others. Do not swallow the tolerance lie that warning is judging.