Judgmentalism

Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4

Last night during Bible study, we looked at the sin of judgmentalism, a sin by no means limited to conservative Christians. No matter what our religious, social, or political persuasions, we all are prone to being judgmental, because we equate our opinions with truth and then criticize those whose opinions differ from our own. As Christians, we must be careful not to become so zealous about our convictions of how to live out our faith, that we elevate them to the biblical truth. Jerry Bridges explains that when we are judgmental, "we are arrogating to ourselves a role God has reserved for Himself," and "the seriousness of the sin of judgmentalism is not so much that I judge my brother as that in so doing I assume the role of God." This does not mean that we should never pass judgment on others. We Christians are right to judge behavior that is clearly condemned in Scripture, but we should do so with humility, ever mindful of our own sinfulness, and ever grateful to Jesus for saving us from our sin.