---

The title to this blog article is a question that doesn’t come from me. It comes from Paul, the Apostle. The question is rhetorical, meaning that Paul assumed his audience would know the answer, though he doesn’t leave them guessing. He provides the answer.

His audience was the Corinthian church in the 50’s AD. The larger context in which Paul asked this rhetorical question is also instructive. This is that context in which Paul asks the question:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

1 Corintihans 5:9-11 (emphasis added)

Then Paul asks the question,

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.  

1 Corinthians 5:12 (emphasis added)

I am reminded of this passage today because of a comment posted by someone on Facebook about how we should treat people who seem to be “acting against God.” The poster expressed the opinion that something should be done by Christians about the “open immorality … being accepted in society.”

I don’t want to suggest that biblical morality should not instruct how Christians vote and engage politically in the world, but Paul’s question about judging the world should affect how we interact with the world in politics and other ways. At the same time, we need to know how to model Paul’s instruction not to judge those outside the church.

Christians are often accused of “forcing their religion” or morality on others. Simply voting and engaging politically based on biblical values is not forcing religion or morality on others any more than others voting and engaging politically based on their own values is forcing their views on us. We can vote our consciences without judging.

This is where we may need some nuance, however, as some Christians seem to think they have a biblical obligation or mandate to make the world conform to a biblical morality. I have to admit that I have shared this confusion in my past until I began to take seriously what Paul said to the Corinthians in the passage quoted above.

Judging by Paul’s words, I used to view this exactly backward! I judged the world by biblical morality, but I often gave myself and fellow Christians a pass when it came to strict adherence to righteous behavior. After all, we are saved by our faith and not be works, right? If I mess up, I can confess it and be forgiven – even as I demand that the world acknowledge and follow the law.

As I meditate on Paul’s words, I see that Paul’s instruction aligns with what Jesus said about judging. I think you will see that as I unpack what Paul and Jesus said and try to work out why they said it and what it might mean for us in the way we conduct ourselves in the world.

To recap what Paul said, he expressly told the church NOT to disassociate with “the people of this world” who are sinners. This is in contrast to his instruction to disassociate with a sexually immoral person who was in the Corinthian church, a person who claimed to be a brother or sister in Christ.

This is the context in which Paul asked the question: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?

And, Paul didn’t leave any room for doubt, He gave us the rhetorical answer: They have a judge! (And it isn’t us.)

To be perfectly clear, Paul is saying we should not judge people outside the Church. Full stop. It’s none of our business. Full stop. Because they are judged by God. Full stop.

The implications of this are at least two-fold. First of all, our focus when it comes to behavior, should be on those who claim to be Christians. We should not to be focused on judging the world, and the reason becomes clear when we look at what Jesus said.

Second, and this is implied from the first point, we should have compassion for the people of the world. We should not judge them because they are already judged; and we should have compassion for them because they are judged for their sin without the protection of Christ. Our compassion should cause us to care for them and share the Gospel with them instead of judging them.

This makes perfect sense in light of what Jesus said. Jesus said he didn’t come to judge the world; he came to save it. (John 12:47) He also said: “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words….” (John 12:48) Thus, Paul was echoing Jesus when he said people outside the church have a judge.

Notice the parallel between Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5:12 and what Jesus said in John 12:47-48

Jesus adds in the compassion factor: he didn’t come to condemn; he came to save. Thus, I think we can read Paul’s words in light of Jesus’ words to assume that our focus should be compassion on people in the world who are slaves to sin and facing judgment if they don’t repent. We don’t say this to judge them, but because we love them and are concerned for them and their wellbeing – as Jesus was.

Too often we come across as judging the world. This is the product of the culture war mentality that has taken hold in recent years. That way of thinking has driven many Christians, including myself, to focus on fighting for biblical morality in the federal and local governments, in schools, and in society as a whole.

If I understand what Paul is saying correctly, that focus is the opposite of what we should be doing – which is not to judge the world and try to force it to adopt our morality. The world won’t adopt our morality because they are not in the church. They have not signed up as a follower of Christ. Even if we impose a biblical morality through governmental power, we will not won the war that counts – which is the war for the human soul.

When adopt that warlike mentality over government, schools, and society, we make people who do not agree with us enemies. We build up walls of opposition, and that apposition can become an impediment to the very purpose of Jesus coming to the world – which was not to condemn it, but to save it.

Jesus didn’t not model this kind of culture war mentality. He hardly mentioned the Roman Empire other than to say, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” He did have plenty of criticism for people within the family of God, starting with the Sadducees and Pharisees, though, and this is the same model that Paul encourages when he says we have no business judging the world; judge those in the church, not those on the outside.

This is not to say that we should have compassion on those outside the Church and have no compassion for those in the Church. Though Paul says we should judge those in the church, and not even to associate with people claiming to be brothers and sisters who are living in sin, Paul is clear that our motivation for doing this must be love.

Jesus said the world would know us by the love we have for each other. It isn’t coincidence that the famous “love chapter” is found in the same letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13):

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Love always hopes for the best in other people. It is not self-seeking. It seeks the best for others. This must be our motivation even for judging those in the Church. If that isn’t our motivation, we are nothing more than “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

As a side note, Paul expresses concern in his second letter to the Corinthians for the person Paul said should be thrown out of the Corinthian church in his first letter. Paul urges the leaders to “forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow”, and Paul exhorts them to reaffirm their love for him. (2 Corinthians 2:7-8)

My point, here, is not to encourage us to rush to judge our brothers and sisters in Christ so much as it is to give us pause in our temptation to judge the world. We also need to be careful in our judgment of fellow Christians:

“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. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Matthew 7:1-3

Jesus isn’t telling us not to judge, but to be careful how we judge. (See 8 Important Points About Judging and Judgment) We shouldn’t rush to judgment, and we should judge correctly with the right heart/attitude – out of love and brotherly affection. If that isn’t our motivation, don’t do it!

The main point I want to make today, however, isn’t about exercising judgment within the church (which should be motivated only out of love for each other), but that we have no place judging the world. Our focus on the world, rather, should be to save people – not to judge people.

The world has a judge, which is why the world needs the good news we have to share. When we are too busy judging and condemning, we are not focusing on saving. As we engage in culture wars, I believe we are making enemies out of the very people Jesus came to the world to save.

Our judgmentalism puts up barriers between us and the world. It creates an “us against them” mentality in our churches, and it causes Christians to disassociate from the very people Jesus came to seek and save! Exactly what Paul told us not to do

If we want to be like Jesus and follow him, we will take the same attitude: we do not come to condemn! If we want to take Paul seriously, we will agree: we have no business judging the world!

Please note that I am NOT saying that Christians should leave politics alone. I am not suggesting we should not be involved. I am not saying that we should go along with laws we believe are antithetical to biblical morality. We should vote our consciences before God and advocate for what we believe is biblically good and just.

HOW we do that is really the issue here, I believe. Jesus instructs us to follow him and to be salt and light. Jesus doesn’t not instruct us to engage in the tactics of the world; he instructs us to use the principals of the kingdom of God that he defined in the Sermon on the Mount and to exhibit the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

WHATEVER, we do should be done in the context of purposes for which Jesus came – sharing the good news (the Gospel) to the poor – and his final instruction to us – making disciples (the Great Commission). That means bridging the gap between people in the world and God and not putting up walls.

We will be rejected and even hated because people rejected and hated Jesus, but we should be rejected and hated for the right reasons – for Jesus – and not for a culture war.

I will end with this. We need to love the world and the people of the world like Jesus did, and we can’t do that without getting intimate with people. If we are not being criticized for our association with sinners (like Jesus was), then maybe we have gotten caught up in judging the world, rather than loving it.

What business do we have in judging the world? We have no business judging the world. We are to be about the business of Jesus – to seek and save the lost and to make disciples of all nations.