by Benjamin Lloyd

Created on: May 21, 2009

In order to test the value of something, you must first judge it. This goes for cars, tools, appliances, clothes, food, and other items. The same can be said about people. In order to know their value or worth, we must judge them.

Coming from a Baptist background, I will use deacons as an example. The church decides to vote in three deacons. Do we just go out there and say, "We want you, you, and you." Of course not. We judge who will be the best man fit for the job by looking at their lives. Do they tithe? Do they attend church regularly? Are they involved in church functions? Is their home life pointing toward God? Etc, etc.

We just judged these men. Is that wrong? Of course not.

It's not who we judge or how we judge, or even why we judge. It's all about what we judge.

The one thing we certainly cannot judge is a person's salvation. That is God's decision. We can judge others about how they live after salvation.

The Bible says "...believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God" How do we try them? By judging them.

The Bible says to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. You won't know if it is a wolf or a sheep unless you judge its actions.

Many false prophets like to come into the church and take innocent people and turn their doctrine upside down. Unless we judge everyone, we do not know whether we are dealing with a false prophet or not.

We judge people when we place them in leadership positions in the church.

The most quoted verse, "Judge not, lest ye be judge." is often misunderstood. First of all, look who he is speaking to. He is speaking to the hypocrites. Those who have a beam in their own eye certainly cannot see to get the mote out of another's eye.

Secondly, we are told that with whatever we judge people by, we will be judged by the same character. In other words, I can't judge you for not tithing if I myself am not tithing. That's hypocrisy.

And besides, how do we restore a fallen brother if we do not know he has fallen. There will be signs of his backsliding. How do we know he is backsliding? We judge him according to God's Word.

Also, the Bible says we will know people by the fruit they produce. You don't get apples from an orange tree. We as Christians do have the right to inspect other Christians to see the fruit they produce.

Once again, we do not have the right to judge a person's salvation. That is between them and the Lord. But we must take care of our people while they are here on earth. We do that by judging. And remember, we can judge all day long, but we will all be judged one day by God Himself.

Learn more about this author, Benjamin Lloyd.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.