Are you a Christian?

[dmp]

Maybe this would mean something to you - it did to me when I read it today...just about 30 seconds ago. INSTANTLY I thought of a few people on this board; myself included:

James 1:26 "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."

...little bit more conviction....

 

[Joz]

Well Mr. dmp, it only means something to those that believe in the Bible.

How about Ps. 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God".

 

[Adam's Apple]

And "Judge not, lest ye be judged." That's God's job.

 

[Nienna]

Maybe this would mean something to you - it did to me when I read it today...just about 30 seconds ago. INSTANTLY I thought of a few people on this board; myself included:

James 1:26 "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."

...little bit more conviction....

OUCH!

 

[dmp]

Well Mr. dmp, it only means something to those that believe in the Bible.

How about Ps. 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God".

Right-o...hence the title of the thread.

heh

 

[dmp]

And "Judge not, lest ye be judged." That's God's job.

www.biblegateway.com

Do Not Judge Others

Jesus declares that the person judging will be judged (v. 1) because judging assumes a divine prerogative; final judgment belongs to God alone, and those who seek to judge others now will answer then for usurping God's position (see also 6:12-15).

God Will Judge Us the Way We Judge Others (7:1-2)

By this point in the sermon, no one who has been taking Jesus' words seriously will feel much like judging anyone else anyway. Still, we humans tend to prefer applying ethics to other people rather than ourselves. (For example, husbands tend to prefer quoting Paul's instructions on marriage to their wives rather than his admonitions to them, and vice-versa. Likewise, I have sometimes listened to a sermon thinking, I wish so-and-so had shown up for church today.) So just in case we have been too obtuse to grasp that Jesus addresses us rather than others in 5:3-6:34, Jesus renders the point explicit in 7:1-5. We are objects of God's evaluation, and God evaluates most graciously the meek, who recognize God alone as judge.

Even if we knew people's hearts, we could not evaluate degrees of personal guilt as if we understood all the genetic and social influences that combine with personal sinful choices in making some people more vulnerable to particular temptations (such as alcohol or spouse abuse) than others. Most important, Jesus warns us that even if we knew people's hearts, we would be in no position to judge unless we had lived sinless lives, never needing God's forgiveness (vv. 3-5; compare 6:12, 14-15).

Many people have ripped this passage out of context, however. Jesus warns us not to assume God's prerogative to condemn the guilty; he is not warning us not to discern truth from error (see 7:15-23). Further, Jesus does not oppose offering correction, but only offering correction in the wrong spirit (v. 5; compare 18:15-17; Gal 6:1-5).

Having right beliefs about judging is not enough. Although Jesus regards scribal and Pharisaic righteousness as inadequate (Mt 5:20), it is not because scribes and Pharisees professed the wrong doctrine on this issue. Most of the sages would have probably agreed with his basic perspective here (compare, for example, Sirach 28:1-3; m. 'Abot 2:5), and even the particular image of measuring back what one measures out (Mt 7:2-as in "what goes around comes around") was proverbial wisdom. Jesus' contemporaries often affirmed his principle and even used the same illustration, but Jesus demands more than agreement from disciples: he demands obedience (vv. 24-27).

 

[Hobbit]

The tongue is listed in the bible as one of the most poisonous and offensive parts of any human being. I try to keep the beast caged or on a tight leash.

As for judging, if I think your actions are of negative consequence, I'll let you know, but not because I'm trying to call you a bad person or saying how guilty you are, but rather because I am concerned that those negative consequences will come back to bite you. I never assume that somebody is a bad person until proven otherwise, just that they have done bad things.

 

[Joz]

The tongue is listed in the bible as one of the most poisonous and offensive parts of any human being.

Yes, gossip, backbiting, lies, can cause so much damage. But this text [James 1:26] shouldn't be interpreted as the fact that we are to let things we believe to be false go unchallenged.

he [Jesus] is not warning us not to discern truth from error....... does not oppose offering correction, but only offering correction in the wrong spirit

 

[Abbey Normal]

Well Mr. dmp, it only means something to those that believe in the Bible.

How about Ps. 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God".

One of my favs, Joz. I've had it in my sig for a while now.

 

[Joz]

One of my favs, Joz. I've had it my sig for a while now.

I knew I'd recently seen it someplace.