Who’s your favorite judge? I know most of you are probably partial to Judge Judy. Personally, I like Judge Joe Brown better myself.
But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we realize that more often than we’d like to admit, we’re our own favorite judge. In fact, we have no problem picking out who does and does not deserve God’s love. If you look a certain way, act a certain way, and your beliefs line up with my beliefs, God loves you. If you don’t, then prepare to be judged.
Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the posts on your Facebook feed. Somewhere along the way people within the church forgot their true identity and started becoming the morality police. For many in the church, they choose to judge people, rather than love people.
A girl shared in my small group this week that in the church she previously attended, if you had tattoos you’d be asked to cover them up. If you were a woman and you wore jeans, you’d be asked to wear a dress the next time you came to church. Maybe the reason your church is in decline is because no one lines up to be judged. We were never meant to be the morality police.
The Apostle John said “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17
So, if Jesus didn’t come to judge the world, why should we feel like it’s our job to judge? Jesus already told us what our job is. We’re to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. And we’re to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we forget about everything else, and just do these two things, we’ll see our churches grow.
Why are we so quick to judge? Have you ever been guilty of judging someone else?