Questions on Judgment

  I struggle with judgment.

  I never know when to judge people.  I know that it is popular to say that we're never supposed to judge anyone, but there are clearly times when it is appropriate to judge someone.  If someone has physically assaulted someone for no reason, then we would judge that as wrong.  If someone abuses a child, that is wrong.  When the poor are taken advantage of, that is clearly wrong.  So there are some things that are definitely wrong.

  It's important to judge in church, too.  If someone tries to join our church and yet claims that Jesus is not the Son of God, I would judge them as lacking the proper faith to be a member.  Throughout church history, we have judged some beliefs to be beyond the pale of what is acceptable to believe and still be a Christian.  In this way, we try to preserve the truth behind Christian faith.

  And yet, I'm not supposed to stand as judge over people.  Romans 14 tells me not to judge, assuring me that God will serve as judge.  Paul is talking about how those who do not abstain from certain foods are not to judge those who do abstain--each party has a valid opinion and a view anchored in a theological viewpoint, and such a matter was not to divide us.  We are called not to judge, and to be sure we don't put any stumbling block in the path of a believer.  Our own faith, Paul says in verse 22, is to be kept between ourselves and God.

  So I struggle with knowing how to decide properly which issues are first order issues, and which ones are to be deemed as those not worth judging over.  I try always to be graceful and err on the side of caution, but I recognize that some of the issues that divide us are critically important.  How do I treat those properly, yet still be gracious and imitate the love and mercy of God?