God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” – I Corinthians 5:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 6, 2018): 1 Corinthians 5

Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre commented that “We do not judge the people we love.” I am not sure if Sartre was stating life as it should be or making an observation simply of life as it exists. But the reality is that we see evil a lot easier in people who we disagree with than we do in those with whom we find places of agreement. Maybe the most obvious place that we see this is in the arena of politics. If you agree with much of what a politician says, then you are willing to overlook, or even more likely, you do not even see, the mistakes and errors that the political figure makes. But if you never liked the politician in the first place, those errors are glaring examples of everything that is wrong with the person. The scenario plays itself out with almost any election. We do not judge the ones that we love, only the ones with which we have a severe disagreement because it is then that the evil is most apparent.

Paul tells a story of a man who is in a sexual relationship with his step-mother. It is important to note that this is not just an action that is judged to be wrong within the church, but it is an action that would have been seen as evil by the unbelieving community that surrounded the church in Corinth.  But the church in Corinth has praised the behavior as an example of the freedom that is found in Christ.  And in doing so, they have severely handicapped their ability to influence the community at large. The act is wrong, but we don’t judge the people that we love, and so, in Corinth, the action is excused.

Paul is not impressed. And so he has some strong words for the Corinthian Church. He is also about to set out expectations for judgment that we still struggle with today. Jesus famous words were simple; “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). But Paul refines the command. It is not so much that you are not supposed to judge, but instead that you are not supposed to judge those who hold different opinions than you hold. You are supposed to judge those who are in agreement with you. The problem is that this is precisely the reverse of our practice. We do not judge those with whom we agree, but instead, we judge those who exist outside of our viewpoints.

Maybe, to put an even finer point on this, we are to judge those around us by the standard that they claim to uphold. Don’t judge a Muslim because he or she rejects Christian principles. In the end, that kind of judgment has to be left up to God (or Allah). Judge a Muslim on the basis of whether or not they are good Muslims, and a Christian according to whether or not they uphold the Christian faith. The question for each of us is whether or not we do what we say we are going to do. And from a human viewpoint, there is no other judgment to which we should be submitted. All other judgment must come from God.

Politically, there is nothing unusual about a Democrat sitting in judgment over a Republican. What is refreshing is when a Republican admits that, yes, we blew it. We did not act according to our principles. We need to do better. And that is the kind of judgment that God expects from us – all of us.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6