What took you so long?

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.” (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)

Here is what to do with judgment. Nothing. That’s right. Have nothing to do with judgment — either to judge or be judged. Wait until the Lord comes, because only the Lord knows what is going on in the heart. We can’t even judge ourselves correctly. Therefore, suspend all judgment. That’s pretty clear and pretty conclusive.

Well then, why is it, when Jesus Himself commanded us not to judge at all (Matthew 7:1), that 87% of millennials perceive Christians as being judgmental? Hmmm. Could it be that we are? I doubt they made this up. And what does that say about Christians paying attention to the word of God? Not much.

Christians being judgmental is a clear sign of the fact that no one is turning grace outward. Grace is a free gift of salvation that you can only receive when you realize you are guilty and don’t deserve it. And once you receive it, you want everyone to have it. That’s grace turned outward. Grace cancels out judgment.

Anyone who is judgmental of others has not experienced grace. They are still operating on a works basis, and they have to judge others in order to feel good about themselves by comparison. Such a person has yet to hit bottom and despair over their own unrighteousness. Anyone who is judgmental is in charge of their own righteousness (a very dangerous place to be). If all Christians understood grace, there would be no judgment.

You can’t turn grace outward until it has turned inward, and grace is only known by the worst of us, which, in truth, is all of us, if we could just see it. 

If you think you are pretty good, you will be judgmental and will know nothing of grace. If you know you are the worst, welcome to grace, and to grace turned outward, because you can’t judge anyone if there is no one lower than you. Grace is a great equalizer because we are all on the bottom and we have all received a free gift that we had nothing to do with. Christians are a happy group of forgiven sinners — no one better than anyone else. It’s been this way all along. What took us so long to get here?