Mind Your "Because"

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1 Corinthians 4:3-5 (NIV)

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Matthew 7:1–2 (NIV)

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

What it is speaking to me:

I usually don't pull verses from distinct books together, but I am feeling inspired today.

Get ready.

I am struck by how often I must think I am God.

Now you are worried about me (as you should be!) Because that is crazy. Honestly though, I have never actually thought I am God. Ever. But then I "do" things that only God can do. Namely in this case, judge someone else....so what does that make me?

Maybe you have done it. Do you think you are God?

You'll answer "No of course not David."

But have you judged someone else?

Have you ever said some version of:

"That person did that because they don't like me."

"They said that because they are a jerk, because they are a liar, because they are spiteful, because they have a bad attitude, because they are EVIL."

"Because" is a word of causation, meaning the reason behind the action. In the case of dealing with people, "because" is a word that speaks to motives. We are saying "BECAUSE of [this motivation] they said or did [insert thing]."

But we don't get to judge the BECAUSE in someone else. Actually, the way Paul writes here, he can't even judge the BECAUSE in himself! If Paul is saying we can't even always know our OWN motives, who do we think we are? How special are we in our own minds that we think we can KNOW the motives of someone else entirely? When I put it that way, I look pretty full of myself to claim to know a thing that ONLY God can know.

So when we assign the "because" in someone else, you know what we are really doing? Pretending to be God. When I say in my heart, or out loud to someone else, "That person is always doing that because [insert reason here]" — all we are really doing is breaking the first commandment: 'You shall have no other gods before me.'

We have made ourself that god.

Maybe this is why in Matthew 7, JESUS (actually God!) tells us not to judge, and the extent to which we DO judge others, will then be the extent to which WE are judged....yikes.

Why?

Maybe because when we judge, we play God. And we aren't.

How about this: Why don't we all just agree to not judge one another? Why don't we just assume the best of one another. It's really hard to judge someone when you are busy assuming the best of them. And when things aren't perfect, let's just keep on loving each other anyway, and then judgment is left in the ONLY hands it belongs in: God's.

What is it saying to you?

Have you played God by judging someone else?

Have you thought about judgment this way before?

If you have struggled in the past with being judgmental, how have you worked yourself out of it?

What are we going to do about it?

Choose to assume the best intentions of a person who has frustrated you today, rather than assigning negative motives.