Restore That Person Gently

"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted." Galatians 6:1

My pastor tells the story of a couple of guys he ran into that were interested in attending our church. They asked him if the people at church would judge them because they smoked, and had the smell of, marijuana. He responded with a question: "Do you believe it is wrong to numb your mind with marijuana?" They agreed that is was wrong. Therefore, he said he did not feel they would experience any problems at church. As far as I know, they never came to church. One of the most debated and controversial subjects in Christianity is the idea of judging others. Can we do it? Is it loving to do so? Are we guilty of judging the motives of others despite not knowing them in most cases? The answer is yes and no. Recently, I was involved in a bit of disagreement over Matthew 7:1, which says, "Do not judge, or you will be judged." This verse is often interpreted by Christians and non-Christians, alike, to mean that we can never judge anybody for any reason. My belief is that in this verse Jesus Christ is saying not to judge another person by a standard that you are unwilling to judge yourself by. However, there are those that judge others with condemnation in mind. If anybody sins they are found worthy of eternal hellfire and shown no mercy. On the other hand there are those that take this verse and use it as a cover for sin, rendering it next to useless to ever call sin a sin. In my conversation, the individual I was speaking with seemed to judge me for saying it is okay to judge and for holding to my belief about the verse. In the middle of our conversation he says, "I do not qualify myself as a righteous judge maybe you do." I laughed and asked, "Didn't you just judge me, right there?" Eventually, we were able to find common ground, but you see my point. I was judged for believing we could judge by someone who says they do not qualify themselves "as a righteous judge." In the example above with my pastor and the guys who smoked marijuana, he made a judgment. Believing marijuana smoking was wrong, he asked them if they agreed that it was. He made a judgment about their behavior as sinful. When they agreed that it was sinful behavior, then they could move on from there regarding attending church. He did not condemn them as dirty, filthy sinners who should be ashamed and are unworthy of his time and attention. Nor did he shy away from the subject with an attitude of "I am not qualified to be a righteous judge" either. Rather, in love, he found a way to find common ground by which he could possibly present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

In Galatians 6, Paul begins the chapter by telling Christians that they should gently restore a person trapped in sin. My question is, "If you cannot make a judgment as to whether a person is indeed sinning, how do you restore them?" The core of the Gospel message is for a person to agree that they are not only sinning but that they are sinning because they are dead to God. Furthermore, they are looking to meet the deepest needs of the human heart from sin rather than from God. By chance, if the person trapped in sin feels they are being judged, that is more of a sign that they are not ready to receive God's offer of forgiveness and the restoration of His life because they have not acknowledged their need for any of it.  When a person's heart is ready, they will not need much "judgment" in order to be persuaded that their life of sin is not as rewarding as they once thought it to be. Proverbs 13:15 says, "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard (KJV)." A life of sin produces rotten fruit. Stay in that sin long enough and the consequences to someone's life are obvious. We all know someone who had a relationship end, suffered financial ruin, endured physical pain, unemployment, homelessness, and all sorts of maladies due to being trapped in sin. Chances are that person was us. Sin leads to a hard life. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, after detailing his struggle with sin, said, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:24-25)!" He not only judged his own actions and found himself to be wretched because of them, but he also knew the answer to his misery; Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly (John 7:24).” Judging by mere appearances comes from those that judge hypocritically. They are the ones that Matthew 7:1 is referring to. They are the ones who self-righteously condemn others because they've deceived themselves into believing they are obedient to God in their behavior. However, to judge correctly comes from a heart that looks past the outward appearance and recognizes it is only the fruit, and not the root, of the problem. Outward behavior is often a sign of inward turmoil or inward rest. When you are living by the Spirit of God, He can help you discern this in a person and give you the loving response to minister to the need in their heart after you have moved past the judging of the sin they are trapped in.