Judge Rightly - 1 Cor. 4:1-5

Introduction  The famous biker song says that we were born to be wild. "Like a true nature's child/We were born, born to be wild/We can climb so high I never want to die/Born to be wild." Well, the song could be re-written as Born to Be a Judge. Judging things and people is natural to us. It is part of being made in the image of God.  Yet, with every thing else about us, this natural inclination to judge has been corrupted by sin. Instead of applying God's Word accurately, lovingly, and graciously, we tend to stand in the place of God as the ultimate judge of all things. Often our judgments are selfish, unkind, and false. We tend to want self-centered justice for everybody else, but for us we want grace, after all we deserve it.  In this passage, Paul seeks to recalibrate our natural inclination to be judges, so that we can judge for the glory of God.  I. Proper Standard of Judgment, 1-2.  A. At first glance it looks like Paul is saying that we should not judge at all, that Christ will do all the judging at his coming, 5.  B. But when we look at both the immediate context of the passage and the context of 1 Cor., we see that what this passage is doing is calling us to judge rightly.  C. How should we judge, then? The standard is in verses 1-2.  D. The proper standard of judgment is whether this apostle, pastor, Christian is a servant of Christ and faithful steward of the mysteries of Christ.  II. Proper Perspective of Judgment, 3-4a.  A. Paul, in essence, says that outside of these two areas, he really doesn't care what they think.  B. This is a liberating thought for pastors and every Christian.  C. Pastors are more often than not too concerned about what the congregation thinks of them and they let the desire to be thought well drive how they minister.  D. We all tend to that too – we put so much stock on what people think of us, that we are controlled by them.  E. Paul says that he doesn't even judge himself outside of these two areas.  III. Proper Time of Judgment, 4b-5.  A. Instead of passing judgment on each other and punishing each other now, let's wait for Christ, he will take care of it, 5.  B. At his coming he will bring light everything that is in darkness.  Conclusion  So we leave final pronouncements about people's heart to Christ when he comes back. Meanwhile, we live as servants of Christ, being faithful stewards of the mysteries of Christ, looking for that day when we will hear the sweet words from our Savior's mouth, "Well done, good faithful servant," when we will hear praises from God himself.  Action Points  · Examine your own heart to find where you have been judging unrighteously: lack of grace, lack of seeing yourself and a sinner.  · Repent, confess to God and to those you have judged unrighteously.  · Watch yourself actively this week with the purpose to judge righteously.

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