Labels, names, and pretending to be what we’re not
Several years ago, an airport near my hometown spent millions of dollars on a study to determine how the airport could be changed from a regional airport to an international airport. After all the money was spent and the study was complete, the airport enacted the conclusions delivered in the report: The airport changed its name, adding the word “International.”
Yep. Nothing changed but the name.
I’ve seen that happen too many times among the church. Do we think evangelism is important? Well, let’s add that to our “mission statement”. Do we want to be friendly? Let’s put that on our sign or bulletin. Do we want to make disciples? Let’s change our “Bible study classes” to “Discipleship classes.”
And, too often, just like with the airport near my hometown, nothing changes but the name.
Miguel at “God Directed Deviations” touched on this issue recently in a post called “Has ‘Missional’ Become a Self Congratulatory Word?”
He writes:
In my desire to be “missional” I’ve always had to guard against wanting to be part of what is gaining approval by the mainstream. Those missional folk, after all, tend to be very hip and trendy. Being missional can become a destination disease where we pat ourselves on the proverbial back when we’ve arrived. So, as difficult as it may be, I think it might be time to check our motives in missional mania and decide if we’re just on a trajectory of self-congratulation.
He also mentions something similar regarding the word “organic”:
I think this would apply to my “organic” friends too. Striving to be organic (total participatory, non-hierchacal, smaller, mobile, relational, non-institutional, and often more spontaneous,) can serve to board up our missio-boxes rather than being a spring-board for mission. It’s tragic when open ended Kingdom processes become closed self approving systems.
You know, we’ve learned that it doesn’t really matter what we call ourselves or what other people call us. What matters is how we live with God, with one another, and with the world around us. If we are “missional,” we won’t need to use the label in order for people to know it. If we’re “organic,” we don’t have to advertise it for people to recognize it.
On the other hand, while I don’t think the labels and names are necessary, there’s no reason NOT to use descriptive words like “missional” and “organic” if they actually describe the way you are living together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
I think the same could be said of many other terms, labels, and names that people throw around.
Let’s not worry so much about what we call ourselves or what others call us.
When God encourages us through strangers who are brothers and sisters in Christ
As I’ve mentioned a few times, we’re currently studying through Romans together with the church. We’ve had some great discussions so far, and I’ve learned alot and been encouraged and challenged by my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Romans is a very interesting letter to me. Paul had never visited Rome, and he knew (or knew about) only a few of the believers who were in Rome. Besides Colossians, this is the only letter that Paul wrote to believers in a city he had never visited.
And, even more interesting, Paul was planning to visit Rome. As Paul was on that trip to Rome, crossing the Mediterranean in the midst of a storm, do you think he wondered what kind of welcome he would receive? To be honest, I would wonder that. But, I don’t think Paul did. Why? Because he trusted God to take care of him regardless of what kind of welcome he received.
So, what kind of welcome did Paul receive when we reached Italy and Rome? This is what Luke records:
Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. (Acts 28:12-15 ESV)
So, apparently these brothers and sisters in Christ gave Paul a wonderful welcome – a welcome that strengthened him and caused him to praise God.
I love it when God “surprised” us with strangers who turn out to be brothers and sisters in Christ. The fellowship that follows is always special, even if it’s short.
I experienced that last Sunday during my first marathon. I was somewhere around the 18 mile mark (which is the farthest I had ever run before the marathon), and I was struggling. I run up on a man who I had seen before. For the first half of the marathon, we ran together in the same pace group. But, since the group was large, we had not talked with one another.
I fell back out of the group before him, but now I had caught up with him. I introduced myself, and he told me his name was John. It turns out that John was from New York and that he had come to Cary, NC just to run this marathon. He was having cramps in both legs, so he had to slow alot.
I asked John what he did for a living, and he told me that he was a lawyer for a charitable organization. I asked him which organization, and he explained that it was associated with a certain Christian organization and that they worked with underprivileged people in their area to provide housing.
Next, I asked John if he just worked for that organization or if he was part of the denomination too.
He response was enthusiastic: “Oh no! I’m a born again Christian!” I immediate replied, “Me too!”
For the next several minutes – and a couple of miles – we shared our testimonies with each other. John shared several very interesting stories including how God brought him out of a background of Santería.
Soon, John had to slow even more – his legs were cramping more than before. We thanked each other for the fellowship and thanked God for the fellowship and encouragement that he gave us through each other.
What about you? Has God ever encouraged you through a “stranger” who turned out to be a brother or sister in Christ?
A Marathon and Blog Posts
Yesterday, I ran a marathon for the first time ever! In fact, before yesterday, the longest distance I’d ever run was 18 miles. Now, I won’t lie to you and say that everything was wonderful during the marathon. It wasn’t. The first half went great, but the last half was a real struggle. While all marathons are difficult, I think I struggled with the last half of this one because my training routine has been hampered the last few weeks because of sickness and a few other things.
But, I did finish, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I still prefer the half marathon distance, and I’ve already registered for another half marathon next month. But, for now, I’m not counting out the possibility of running another marathon sometime in the future.
There were some really good blog posts last week that I’d like to highlight…
Christopher at “Life With Da Man CD” wrote a great post called “Enjoying the Lord’s Supper.” After describing some of the diverse people who had gathered together, he writes:
Here we all were around the table, talking about what it was like for Jesus to wash the feet of his disciples and what the modern equivalent would be. The beauty of this conversation was how everyone contributed something profound, even if Kat and Jo still barely knew their way round the Bible and Kat in particularly was still finding reading difficult. Her insights were just as welcome and profound as anything Rob or I came up with.
How awesome it is when brothers and sisters gather together to share a meal and to encourage one another in Jesus Christ!
On a somewhat related note, Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a great post called “Expository Discussion.” Here is a small part of Eric’s post:
Expository discussion is based in the idea that the church is a fully functioning priesthood of all believers. All Christians have the ability to read and understand what God has said. Some may be more experienced at this process, but all can and should participate.
Since all have the ability to read (or at least listen to) scripture and discuss it, the group dynamic is often a fascinating one. In a room with, for example, twelve people, the group can benefit greatly by what the Holy Spirit has to add through all twelve people. While the biblical text means one thing, the group has a way of seeing and describing that one thing is different ways. This helps all involved better comprehend both what God means and how they should respond to this.
Eric is describing something that I call a “community hermeneutic” or “community interpretation.” Like he says, it is quite fascinating to participate in and extremely edifying.
Finally, Chuck at “Being Filled” wrote a post called “Consider Others Better Than Yourself.” Chuck wrote this as part of a “chain blog” on the topic of “One Another” that we started back in October 2012.
Here is a snippet of Chuck’s post:
[T]his means that we should be very slow to judge intentions.
When someone does something we don’t like, it is easy to imagine a malicious intent behind their actions. We ought rather to always give the benefit of the doubt. Assume a person’s intentions are pure unless proven otherwise.
Wow… the church and the world would be so much different if Christians actually considered others better than themselves…
So, that’s all the news for now. I’m resting my legs after running 26.2 miles yesterday, and enjoying even more of the wonderful blog posts out there that encourage the church of Jesus Christ to build up one another in love, faith, and unity.
Scripture… As We Live It #252
This is the 252nd passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for with the household of God judging those who do not obey the gospel of God ? ! (1 Peter 4:17 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Replay: Imagine all the people…
I originally wrote the post “Imagine all the people” about six years ago. No, this post is not about a John Lennon song. This post is about thinking about people who are different than us. But, the post is not about changing people so that they’re more like us. It’s about learning to live with and love people who are different than us. Why would we want to do that? Because, according to Scripture, we are one family in Jesus Christ.
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Imagine All The People
My family is studying Ephesians. Now, I know that some of you who know me well are laughing, because I LOVE to study Ephesians – it seems that I am ALWAYS studying Ephesians. Anyway, this is actually for a class assignment for which I have recruited my family to help.
We are supposed to read through Ephesians (and 1 Peter later) and answer the following question: “What do these texts say about faith as a way of life?”
As we were reading through chapter 2 of Ephesians, we noticed the emphasis on how God had created one new people from the Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:14-16). This new people was to live as a family (household) and citizens of a new kingdom (Eph 2:19). Again, in chapter 3, Paul says that when Jews and Gentiles lives as one people (the church) they demonstrate the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10). Paul also reminds us again that we are one family named for God, such that God is the patriarch of the family (Eph 3:14-15). He then calls us to strength, knowledge, and love (Eph 3:16-19).
We discussed how difficult it is for us to live with and love people who are different from us. Certainly the Jews and Gentiles found this kind of life difficult. Yet, God expects us to live as a family and to love one another – and not just any family, but His family – and not just with people who are like us, but with all believers, even if they are very different from us. How do we do that?
So, we did a quick exercise that really helped me, and hopefully it helped them. Maybe it will help you as well. Here is the exercise: Think of someone who is completely different from you. Think about their race, ethnicity, education level, economic level, hygiene, clothing, housing, language, culture, etc. Picture that person in your mind, and ask yourself, “How can I possibly love that person and live together as family with that person.” Then, read the end of Ephesians 3 below:
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)
Certainly this passages applies to more than our living together in love with those who are different from us. But, it does apply to this as well. Because of God’s power at work in us, He is able to love someone through us that we would never love on our own.
This punishment by the majority is enough
For the last few days, I’ve been examining the topic of judgment, specifically whether or not Christians should judge others. (See my posts “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God,” “Judging people based on their dishonorable passions,” “For what have I to do with judging outsiders?,” and “I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.”)
So far, from my study of (primarily) Romans 1-2 and 1 Corinthians 5, I have concluded that 1) followers of Jesus are not judge unbelievers because of their sinful lifestyles, but 2) are to associate with them, even sharing meals with them. And, finally, 3) there are circumstances and situations in which believers are to judge one another.
As I stated at the end of my previous post, this last conclusion leads to a question: What does it mean to judge another follower of Jesus Christ?
Neither Paul nor any of the other authors of the New Testament provide a treatise on this subject (or any other subject, for that matter). Instead, they answered specific questions and concerns as they were writing to specific people dealing with specific problems at specific times in specific places.
For example, in the case of 1 Corinthians 5, Paul was instructing his readers (believers in Corinth) about how he would deal with a certain person who was a Christians and who was sleeping with his father’s wife. We have to determine by comparing that passage with other passages to what extent his instructions would apply to other people in other situations.
For example, we know that Paul did not tell his readers to “hand over to Satan” anyone who has sinned. In fact, he consistently urged his readers to offer grace, mercy, and forgiveness to people and to help them when they fall. (Galatians 6:1 is a good example of this.) Thus, Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 5 (about not associating with the sinning brother) does not apply to everyone who sins… of course, we would be required to stay away from ourselves if that were true.
So, whatever it means to “judge” another Christian, it is not applied to someone who has committed some sin, either a specific sin against God or an offense against another person.
Also, in the case of 1 Corinthians 5, the “judgment” is not an issue of salvation, but an issue of relationship and fellowship. Notice some of the phrase that Paul uses in that passage: “be removed from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2), “not to associate with sexually immoral people” (1 Corinthians 5:9), “not even to eat with such a one” (1 Corinthians 5:11), and “Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:13).
Without existing relationships, the type of “judging” that Paul has in mind is not possible. (Unfortunately, because of the organizational nature of many groups of believers today, these kinds of relationship are few and far between.)
Finally, many believe that a passage in 2 Corinthians refers to this same individual and the results of the “judgment” he suffers:
Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely — to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. (2 Corinthians 2:5-11 ESV)
While Paul may not be quick to offer “judgment,” he does seem to be quick to offer forgiveness. Notice Paul says the Corinthians should “reaffirm” their love for the man, indicating that the love itself never ended (although the demonstration of love through close association was halted for a time).
Finally, while Paul used strong language related to judging the man (“you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” – 1 Corinthians 5:5), he offers just as strong language to those who may not want to welcome this brother back: “so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (1 Corinthians 5:11 ESV)
What can we take from all this? 1) “Judgment” or “punishment” is relational in nature. 2) “Judgment” is not the first option. 3) Reconciliation is always the first option, even for someone who is currently undergoing that relational judgment.
What would add to this discussion?
I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing
For the past few days, I’ve been talking about judgment… primarily, asking if Christians should judge others. (See my posts “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God,” “Judging people based on their dishonorable passions,” and “For what have I to do with judging outsiders?“)
So far, I’ve dealt mostly with passages in Romans 1-2 and 1 Corinthians 5 in which Paul indicates that believers should NOT judge unbelievers because of their sins. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5 especially, Paul says that Christians should readily associate with nonChristians in spite of their sinful lifestyle.
But, what about other believers? Are there circumstances or situations in which believers should judge other believers?
Well, to answer that very important question, let’s look at 1 Corinthians 5 again:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:1-13 ESV)
First, it’s clear that Paul is talking about judging another believer – or at least someone who “bears the name of brother/sister,” that is, someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus. He makes a couple of statements directly related to judging another believer: 1) “I have already pronounced judgment on the who who did such a thing” (1 Corinthians 5:3 ESV) and 2) “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Corinthians 5:12 ESV)
So, to answer my earlier question: Yes, there are situations and circumstances in which believers are to judge other believers.
That raises another question, of course: What does it mean to “judge” another believer in this context?
I’ll look into that question in my next post.
For what have I to do with judging outsiders?
For the last few days, I’ve been publishing posts about judging others. (See my posts “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God” and “Judging people based on their dishonorable passions.”)
Just to recap quickly, a few weeks ago, while we were discussing Romans 1 together as the church, we began to talk about judging others, especially since Romans 1 lists several sins of those under the wrath of God then Romans 2 instructs the readers not to judge those people.
But, as we were discussing Romans 1-2 and judging others, someone brought up 1 Corinthians 5. And, of course, since Paul also deals with judging others in that passage written to the church in Corinth, it is a very good passage to consider when thinking about judging others.
At the beginning of the chapter, Paul talks about dealing with a brother in Christ who is having sex with the father’s wife (probably the man’s stepmother, given the way Paul describes the relationship). But, at the end of the chapter, Paul writes this:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV)
Once again, Paul is clearly stating that Christians are NOT to judge those who are not Christians based on the way that they live. In fact, in this passage he lists several of the same sins that he listed in Romans 1. While he does not state it outright, Paul intmates that Christians are NOT supposed to separate themselves from nonChristians even though the are sexually immoral, greedy, idolaters, revilers, drunkards, swindlers, etc. In the same way, Paul suggests that Christians should even share meals with nonbelievers who live in this manner.
So, this passage goes beyond the instruction not to judge unbelievers because of their manner of life. Instead of judging “outsiders” because of their sinful lifestyle, Paul tells the Corinthian believers to associate with them.
In many ways, much of the church has this backwards today, separating themselves from unbelievers because of their sinful lifestyle. I’ve heard excuses about “keeping ourselves pure and unspotted from the world,” but obviously that description (in James 1:27) does not mean to stop associating with unbelievers, even and especially those believers whose lifestyle is very different from our own.
So, when it comes to judging “outsiders,” Paul is crystal clear: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.” But, then, he goes further by indicating that believers should associate with those who are not believers.
But, what about judging believers? I’ll look at that question in my next post.
Judging people based on their dishonorable passions
As I mentioned in my post “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God,” this week I am tackling the thorny subject of judgment. Like I said in that post, it seems that some Christians specialize in judging others – judging other Christians and judging those wicked, ungodly, pagan sinners that roam the streets looking for their next chance to do evil.
But, is this what God wants from us? Does he want us to judge others?
We talked about this with the church a few weeks ago when we were studying Romans 1. That’s the famous passage in which Paul spells out how hideous those sinners are:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:18-27 ESV)
We Christians love to point out the sins listed in those verses and wag our fingers at those who practice such things. Of course, we often forget the list of equally hideous sins that Paul lists next:
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32 ESV)
You see, Paul’s purpose in listing these sins is not so that we can judge people who commit such things. In fact, that’s the OPPOSITE of Paul’s purpose.
In the very next passage (which was not part of a separate chapter when Paul wrote it), he tells his readers not to judge people who sin, because they (we) do the very same things:
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:1-3 ESV)
Oh, we may not practice a certain sin – one that we may point our figer at or judge – but we do practice some other sin that is equally as hideous in God’s eye.
So, why did Paul write that long list of sins if we are not supposed to judge people who participate in such things? He wrote that list to show us just how awesome the good news of Jesus Christ is. Although we often separate it, notice how parallel these two parts are:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:16-18 ESV)
Although we all practice ungodliness and unrighteousness, because of the good news of Jesus Christ (the gospel), the wrath of God is not being revealed in the lives of those who trust him (live by faith). Instead, in our lives, God is revealing his righteousness. Now, that’s good news! Instead of wrath, we get righteousness.
As someone pointed out, this idea is very similar to what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
When we recognize the sinfulness, ungodliness, and unrighteousness in the world around us, it should not cause us to judge, but to rejoice in the fact that God is revealing his righteousness in us (in spite of the sinfulness, ungodliness, and unrighteousness in our own lives). This is definitely good news!
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God
You may recognize the title of this blog post. It comes from this passage of Scripture: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17 ESV)
The passage is in a larger context of suffering. (Of course, most – perhaps all – of 1 Peter is about suffering, so it’s not surprising that this verse is found in a context about suffering also.)
Regardless of the context, judgment is a huge issue among the church today. What is judgment? Who judges? Who should be judged?
Of course, even when those questions are not asked (or answered), judging seems to be the sport of choice for many Christians. In general, we love to judge each other as much as we love to judge those who are not Christians. Of course, many of us have a list of favorite sins to judge as well.
And, it’s one of the passages that lists some of these “favorite sins” that caused me to start thinking about judgment. What passage? Romans 1:18-32… that dreadful passage that is often thrown against those who are “under the wrath of God” and who God has “gave them up in the lusts of their hearts.”
What kinds of sins? You know, those dreadful sins like gossip, slander, insolence, haughtiness… oh wait, that’s the wrong list. That list isn’t in Romans 1:18-32… oh… never mind. (Romans 1:29-30 ESV)
Obviously, though, we tend to love to judge those “sinners” mentioned earlier in that passage.
But, when we were discussing that passage a couple of weeks ago, we noticed something. We noticed what Paul says after Romans 1… in the part of the letter that we call Romans 2. Specifically, after listing these dreadful sins and the sinners who are under the wrath of God, Paul wrote, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Romans 2:1 ESV)
So, Paul didn’t list all of those dreadful sins so that we could point our finger at them and judge them? Well… huh. What do you know?
And, of course, this began a great discussion on the topic judgment… dealing with some of the questions that I mentioned earlier: What is judgment? Who judges? Who should be judged?
Over the next few days, I’m going to publish posts on several passages of Scripture related to judgment and judging. Hopefully, we’ll be able to help one another figure out what all this judgment stuff is about.
If you’re interested, this is a great place to share your views on judgment and judging now.