“But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Christians have often been accused of being judgmental. Sometimes this label has been well-earned. Other times it results simply from our inviting people to live in God’s kingdom with its ethic of righteousness instead of the world. The teachings of the New Testament on judgment can be confusing. Sometimes we’re told to judge, sometimes we’re told not to judge. Let’s explore what Paul has to say here and talk about how to get judgment right as followers of Jesus.

From a broad study of the Scriptures, we can develop general principles that apply to all of our lives. From a single passage of Scriptures, though, we usually can’t do that. A particular passage has a localized context. Only occasionally is a given author speaking broadly about every situation. Generally they are addressing a specific situation or concern. It is when we take all of those different, specific situations and consider them as a group that we can develop more wide ranging wisdom. As a rule of thumb, it is not wise to look at any single passage of Scripture as the final word on one subject or another. There are a handful of exceptions, yes, but those are just that: exceptions.

In this case, let us again keep in mind the specific context of what Paul is talking about here because this is not a generalized statement on Christians and judgment. He’s talking about a situation in which a difference of opinion on a non-essential matter – a cultural practice that is not itself sinful, but which some people have been taught to think of as sinful and others have not, but which in and of itself does not determine a person’s standing before God in Christ—is causing some tension and even division within a given body of Christ. As a result of this, believers on opposite sides of this line are turning from love to judgment and even outright hatred for one another. This is the kind of thing that can tear a church apart from the inside, completely neutering its kingdom effectiveness.

So, when Paul talks about not being judgmental here, he doesn’t have every possible situation in mind in which believers might cast judgment against another person. He’s talking about something entirely more specific than that. Using this passage as a way to insulate yourself from just judgment when you are actively engaged in some sin while trying to maintain your place in a body of Christ may work in the sense that it successfully bluffs an uninformed believer into leaving you alone about it, but it won’t mean they were in the wrong in seeking to lovingly call you out of your sin and back to the path of Christ. This passage also doesn’t have anything at all to say about how believers should interact with the sinful world around them. There are passages that address both of those situations. This passage, however, does not.

Paul here is speaking directly to both of these divided groups in the church, asking them each a question that cuts right to the heart of the sin they are really in danger of falling into. The NET Bible’s translation helps draw out just what Paul is doing. “But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister?” The phrases “who eat vegetables only” and “who eat everything” don’t actually appear in the text, but their addition helpfully clarifies to whom Paul is speaking with each question.

The emphasis of each question is pretty clear: You shouldn’t be doing this. For the weaker brothers and sisters whose truncated understanding of what their faith in Christ truly allows must not look with judgment at fellow members of the body who don’t share their weakness, standing in the place of God over them. And those brothers and sisters who are living with a full embrace of their freedom in Christ must not let themselves fall to hating their weaker brothers and sisters who are constantly judging them for doing what is perfectly acceptable for them to do. And this is not the volitional rejection kind of hatred we often find in the Scriptures, the translation “despise” is correct. This is an emotional rejection; a modern hatred. Again: this is the kind of stuff that can tear a church apart from the inside out. Why are you doing this thing that is going to destroy you?

Rather than giving these two groups perhaps the rhetorical tongue lashing they deserved for their immaturity and their selfishness and their pride, Paul points them to Scripture. He let’s God be the one to speak to their situation. Quoting from Isaiah, Paul writes this: “For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.'” The prophet there was calling Israel to turn to God and God alone for their salvation. There is no one else who can do what He can do.

Coming back to our present context, Paul explains his quote in v. 12: “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” In other words, someone else’s standing before God is not determined by us. We don’t have a voice and we don’t get a vote. God and God alone saves each one who comes to Him in Christ. That’s the only measuring stick He uses. He doesn’t take any input from anyone else—especially us. If a person goes to Him through Jesus, that person will be received by Him. Period. End of discussion.

In other words, Paul is saying to these two groups of people who were at each other’s throats over this issue that they needed to back off and step out of the place of God with respect to one another. For the weaker brother and sisters who were being judgmental toward the others, their position on this issue wasn’t something God took into account when determining the standing of these other members of the body before Him. For the stronger brothers and sisters who were tired of being judged unfairly by the others, their standing before God was determined by their relationship with Jesus and nothing else. They could gently and lovingly ignore the judgment of the others, focusing instead on loving them like Jesus.

When we are dealing with a situation in the church in which a difference of opinion is at issue, we need to keep this specific principle in mind. A person’s standing before God is determined by their standing in Christ. As long as they are not sinning—and just because we don’t agree with a particular cultural practice they are engaging in doesn’t mean they are sinning—our only job is to love them like Jesus, lovingly tolerate their differences, and seek perhaps to learn from them. If it is a situation where we are the stronger brother or sister, enjoying a fuller embrace of the freedom afforded us in Christ, we need to be lovingly patient with them like we would a small child who is still learning and growing. We also need to consider if there are places where they are enjoying their freedom in Christ more than we are. Even as we would seek to teach them and help them grow, it may be that they can do the same for us. A posture of humility will help us see things more clearly.

Doing life together in the church is hard. The incredible freedom we have in Christ allows for great and wide diversity within the body. Such freedom, though, inherently comes with risk. Freedom always balances on the edge of a knife. It requires that we constantly embrace virtue in our thinking and doing toward one another. But that only comes when we remain firmly rooted in Christ. In other words, successfully doing life together in the body of Christ requires that we remain constantly rooted in Christ. Who would have imagined?!? The church is the body of Christ. If we want our churches to thrive, we must remain rooted in Him and Him alone.