Who Is the Judge? Why Grace, Not Criticism, Advances God’s Kingdom

Summary

Christians judge situations daily, but criticizing people often damages God’s mission. Being judgmental repels those we hope to reach, while grace draws them toward Christ. Scripture teaches that God alone is qualified to judge, blending justice and love perfectly. Believers are not the Holy Spirit. They are called to withhold condemnation, extend grace, and point others to the forgiveness made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

We Judge Constantly in Everyday Life

Who is the judge? We are. We judge when we form an opinion about someone or something based on all available information. I listened to the weather forecast before I coached track practice on March 11th. I judged I should wear a shirt, vest, and a hooded sweatshirt because the temperature was 50°F, but the wind was predicted to gust to 35 miles per hour. I was warm.

Some athletes were cold because they wore only shorts and a T-shirt. They didn’t listen to the weather forecast or weigh the available information. The goosebumps on their legs advertised it.

A Reputation for Being Judgmental

We also judge when we voice a negative opinion about something or someone. Christians have a bad reputation for doing that. Almost 90 percent of people ages 16-29 in the United States believe Christians are judgmental.1 

Being judgmental repels the very people we are trying to reach for Christ. If a salesperson tells us our child is ugly, any chance for a sale disappears! That is how Christian critics come across to those who don’t share their beliefs.

Why do such critical judgments pour from our mouths? Like molten lava from a volcano, they singe those whose behaviors offend us.

Why Critical Judgments Spill Out

Perhaps we feel self-righteous or superior when we condemn them. Maybe we think we are God’s messengers of judgment, saying what He would say.

After all, He is righteous and just (Psalm 89:14) and holy (Isaiah 6:3). We just broadcast His values to an unappreciative audience.

But in doing so, are we helping or hurting His Kingdom-building mission? We are not the Holy Spirit. “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8 NLT). We can make people feel dirty, but we can’t make them want to be clean. When we make them feel dirty, they push back.

Grace Advances God’s Kingdom

Instead of using truth as a battering ram, we must major on being God’s channels of loving grace. Loving people toward God’s kingdom is like rolling a boulder downhill. Criticizing them is like pushing it uphill.

When we judge others critically, we embrace only part of how God relates to people. Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Withholding Judgment Reflects Christ

Withholding judgment means putting up with others' faults, irritating mannerisms, slights, selfishness, rudeness, thoughtlessness, and offenses against us without striking back at them. We must relate to unbelievers as fellow sinners who differ only in that we have received God’s saving grace, and they have not. We boldly but humbly tell them about the difference Jesus’ peace, power, purpose, and pardon have made in our lives. He can do the same for them.

In the moral and spiritual realm, who is the judge? God is. Baseball teams have designated hitters, and organizations have designated spokespeople. But God has no designated critical judges or assistant judges. He doesn’t need our assistance.

God Alone Is the Qualified Judge

God is supremely qualified to judge. The Bible tells us He “is three-in-one, self-existent, immutable, infinite, eternal, self-sufficient, omniscient, wise, omnipresent, transcendent, faithful, good, just, merciful, gracious, loving, holy, and sovereign.”2 It is important to know how He judges and why He judges.

Judgment is God’s character-driven response to injustice. His execution of judgment doesn’t suspend all the other dimensions of His character as our anger suspends ours. For example, He remains faithful, good, gracious, and loving. His judgments are 100 percent fair, consistent with love, and just. That is why He is the Judge.

God perfectly blended His love and justice when Jesus Christ, His Son, took our place on the cross of Calvary. Jesus paid the just penalty of death our sins deserved.

God lovingly provided Jesus as our substitute sin-bearer so that by His undeserved favor, He can justly forgive us who trust in the adequacy of that substitute. “For he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NLT).

1.     The Barna Research Group and The Fermi Project, “A New Generation Expresses its Skepticism and Frustration with Christianity,” September 2007.

2.     Why Does God Judge? - BSF Blog

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