Facing Our Judgmental Attitude Toward Our Brothers And Sisters In Christ Series

- So far in this sermon series:

1. There are disputable matters.

2. We should accept the brother or sister we disagree with on disputable matters.

NOT OUR JOB: It is not our job to judge our brothers over disputable matters.

- Romans 14:1b.

- We are focusing this morning on the judgmental attitude we often have when it comes to these disputable matters.

- [Don’t step on the next point. Just set up the objection here.]

- We find it so easy to judge each other, it’s hard for us to comprehend that doing that is not in our job description.

- Unfortunately, church people are often known for being judgmental. It’s so common that it’s a stereotype. Not just to those outside the church, but also in our disagreements within the church as well. We bicker and fight.

- This tendency is so strongly within us, though, that we have many objections to this idea that we are not to judge our brothers. The remainder of the sermon is going to look at what this passage has to say about some of our objections to this assertion.

BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT:

1. BUT WHAT IF HE GETS AWAY WITH IT? Don’t worry because God will judge.

- Romans 14:10, 12.

- We worry about the person we disagree with getting away with it. What if he goes on preaching that idea that I disagree with? What if he continues to think he’s right? We don’t want him to “get away with it” – we feel that we need to step in and be the voice of truth and reason that helps him to realize the error of his ways.

- Of course, that’s mostly a fantasy because when we get into these disagreements with people it rarely results in a change of mind. Generally we create a lot more smoke than fire.

- There are two things we need to remember:

a. It’s not your job to judge.

- v. 10a.

- Paul asks why we are doing this. It’s not our job to do this.

- We want it to be our job, but it’s not.

- We want it to be our job because we enjoy doing it. We like being judgmental. It makes us feel righteous and like we’re saving the world for Jesus. Of course, He already saved the world.

- It’s a hard thing to accept that judging isn’t our job.

- Let’s take an obvious example. I am the pastor of the church. I’ve been elected to that position and everything. Because of that, I’ve been charged with standing before this congregation 48 weeks a year and preaching the Word. Imagine if I’m standing here with my Bible, preaching the sermon, when someone gets us from the back of the church, walks up the aisle, takes it from my hand, and starts preaching. Then the next week he does it again. And the following week. We would obviously sit him down and, among other things, say, “That isn’t your job. We’ve hired Jim as our pastor and because of that we want him standing up in front of us Sunday after Sunday sharing the sermon.”

- We are doing something similar when we decide to judge our brother or sister in Christ. It’s not your job.

b. But God will judge someday.

- vv. 10b, 12.

- Now, lest you panic because you think the person you disagree with is going to “get away with it,” we need to know that God will judge someday.

- God is paying attention and He sees where we fall short. He will straighten us out someday.

- So relax: things will get lined out someday so you don’t have to do it.

- It reminds me of Matthew 13:24-30 and the parable of the wheat and tares.

- In it a field is sown with good seed but then an enemy comes and sows weeds there. The servants want to go pull out the weeds but the master warns them that they might accidentally uproot some of the wheat in the process. So he tells them to let the wheat and the tares grow together until harvest time and then they’ll be separated.

- That’s a tough lesson for us: to wait on God’s timing and God’s judgment.

- It’s worth remembering, though, if God is ok with waiting then we should be as well.

- Finally, another thing to consider on this point is that knowing there is a judgment of God coming someday shouldn’t just cause us to say, “Good – maybe he’ll get what’s coming to him!” More importantly, it should cause us to focus on our own heart and mind and realize that we need to be working on our own obedience to be ready for judgment. Of course, we aren’t saved by our obedience – we’re saved by grace. But our judgment for rewards (and not salvation) will include our obedience to Christ. That gives us plenty to work on without worrying about the other guy.