Judge Not by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 24, 1910

Judge Not

By F. M. W.

The members of the church of Christ are to come into a relationship with one another different from that of the world around them. That relationship is forcibly illustrated in the apostle’s letter to the Corinthian church, by the human body. In the same manner that one afflicted member draws out the sympathy of all the others, so the members of the body of Christ should feel for any of their number who are afflicted, or have fallen into temptation. Christ by word and example represented to his church this spirit of tender solicitude one for the other. We find it in his loving invitation to his disciples: “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile.” We see it in his continual ministry of love to their physical needs; in the manner of his crowning act of humiliation when he washed his disciples’ feet. How tenderly he passed over their weaknesses! With what a spirit of love did he act the part of friend, teacher, and brother to them in all of his human companionship! He dealt kindly with doubting, hesitating Thomas and with impatient, impetuous Peter. He ministered to the sinning Samaritan woman at the well of Samaria, to the outcast Syrophœnician, as well as to the learned Pharisee and proud noblemen. With lofty, Godlike dignity, coupled with generous, loving compassion, he dwelt among men, witnessing, but not partaking of, their prejudices; the object of, but not a party to, their jealousies and animosities; living in the world, but unmoved by the spirit of the world around him. This was the noble dignity, the broad generosity, and the tender charity exhibited by our Example.

It is for us to manifest this spirit as members of his church to-day, and the times in which we live, and our associations with others, will afford us abundance of opportunity. The issues which confront us are such as will try our very souls, and test us to the utmost. Abnormal conditions exist everywhere. We ourselves are abnormal, and think and reason abnormally. Only as the Spirit of God clarifies our vision, and gives us sound minds, can we see clearly.

While we may see many things even in the church of God that are wrong, there are other things which may appear to us wrong when we ourselves are at fault; hence, we need to take kindly and charitable views of conditions. We need continually to study as to whether we ourselves are normal in our measurement of men and methods.

The ways we would choose, and our times, may not always be God’s ways and times. Some of our fellows may appear too slow, but may be serving God’s purpose in holding things in reserve. Others may sometimes appear too aggressive, but they may be but the leaders of God’s advance movement in the finishing of his work. If we do not always agree with our brethren, we can at least show them this consideration, that we credit them with honesty; and if we can believe that our brethren are honest, however much their methods may differ from ours, it forms a bond of union between us; it bridges the gulf by which each may cross to the other. This love and this confidence become the cable which holds against the pressure from without.

Our Lord admonishes, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Even when our brethren fall under the power of temptation, it is better for us to believe that it was an accident in their lives rather than a part of their purpose. Believing

this, we can labor for them with confidence.

One great need of our churches to-day is the cultivation of love and confidence among its membership, the elimination of evil-speaking, and the exercise of charitable forbearance one with the other. We need to come closer to one another, to enter into one another’s experiences. This closer acquaintance will beget confidence, and confidence will lead on to deeper brotherly love. Toward our fellows we should exercise the beautiful spirit expressed in the following lines by Adelaide Anne Procter:— “Judge not; the workings of his brain And of his heart thou canst not see; What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, In God’s pure light may only be A scar, brought from some well-won field, Where thou wouldst only faint and yield. “The look, the air, that frets thy sight May be a token that below The soul has closed in deadly fight With some infernal fiery foe, Whose glance would scorch thy smiling grace And cast thee shuddering on thy face. “The fault thou darest to despise,— May be the angel’s slackened hand Has suffered it, that he may rise, And take a firmer, surer stand; Or, trusting less to earthly things, May henceforth learn to use his wings. “And judge none lost; but wait and see, With hopeful pity, not disdain; The depth of the abyss may be The measure of the height of pain And love and glory that may raise This soul to God in after days!”

But the spirit of not judging to which we are exhorted by our Saviour, does not teach, as some have unwisely interpreted, that the church of God has no duty to take into account the conduct of its membership, determining who should be retained and who rejected as members of the visible church. This kind of judging is separate and distinct from the personal judging of purposes and motives as mentioned above. When we judge less as individuals, there will be less necessity for the church in its official capacity to deal with the erring.

In proportion as we find exercised in the church the spirit of personal judging, criticism, gossip, and faultfinding, to that extent does backsliding increase, and the work of the church in eliminating from its membership the disobedient is made necessary. Let us keep the membership of the church pure and wholesome, but in passing judgment that is often necessary, and eliminating backslidden members from church fellowship, each one should have the consciousness that he has done all in his power to reclaim the backslider, and that by no unwise or uncharitable course on his part has he contributed to the downfall of his unfortunate brother. F. M. W.