Judge Not, Yet Stand Firm
Written for my English class’s “Mere Christianity essay”
Judge Not, Yet Stand Firm
In an ideal world, the church would be a place free of judgment, full of people who are quick to offer grace to their fellow man. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Many good Christians are quick to judge their fellow man, holding them at arm's length because of their actions. Not only do Christians apply this judgement to the unbeliever, but on one another. As stated by C.S. Lewis, man is to hate the sin, not the man, “being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is any way possible, that somehow, somewhere he can be cured”1. Christians are not to quarrel over the law yet pursue holiness and hold other believers to the same standard.
When it comes to holiness, many people disqualify themselves, as if holiness were meant for the elite who had earned the title of “Saint.” But, as argued by Addison Bevere, “A saint is someone who has been redeemed and found worthy by a perfect Savior.”2 Sainthood is not achieved by those whose godly deeds are well-known, but by any man who would cast off his old ways and submit his life to Jesus Christ. With this in mind, it becomes even harder to argue that holiness isn’t meant for all who believe in Christ.
Holiness is simply defined as being set apart. God is holy, for He is unlike any other. Christians are called to be holy, to be unlike the world they live in. The Apostle Peter best stated this when, referencing the law in Leviticus 19:21, he said, “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”3 In becoming like the perfect Savior a Christian believes in, one must pursue holiness. Sadly, the art of holiness is something the church at large has lost.
Although the church may think of itself as holy, very often that isn’t the case. To many outsiders, it seems as if the church is a place full of people with their noses turned up at the rest of the world. Lewis echoes this thought when he says, “There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but still call themselves by that name... There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so.”4 It seems as if many of the “Christians” in the church don’t act as Christ commands, yet they wear the title as if they did. The confusion that the people outside the church have expressed is rational with this in mind. 1st Corinthians 5:20 states that Christians are ambassadors for Christ, but with so many of His representatives doing their job poorly, the world has been unable to truly grasp who God is and what it means to be a Christian.
Unfortunately, the church has overlooked holiness and its importance. God’s holiness was the reason for the Levitical law, and the significance of the impurity of the Israelites wasn’t that it impacted their holiness, but that it made their camp and the tabernacle a place where God, being the Holiest, couldn’t dwell. Furthermore, the acts of sin prohibited by the law made God’s holy people the same as the other nations that worshipped idols. Paul made it clear that being unlike the ways of the world was something Christians were to strive for when he wrote in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Holiness is not something any man or woman will ever be able to achieve in their own power. Luckily, it is not human power that Christians are to rely on. The Bible has much to say on this subject, reminding its readers that God’s power can do more than they can imagine (Ephesians 3:20) and His power is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Although mankind will never be able to truly be holy and resist the desires of the flesh in one's own power, Christ doesn't expect them to. Christ begins to work inside of the believer the moment they choose salvation. To again quote Lewis; “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself.”5 But this work of holiness is not only done in a quiet room, where one is alone with a Bible; It’s done in community.
The book of Proverbs states that “iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.” Man cannot live life alone, nor can one rely on their own spiritual strength to carry them. Doing life with God-fearing people is vital to living a Christian life, although one shouldn’t live in an echo chamber. If someone only associates with Christian people, they might miss the chance to serve and learn from people outside of their biblical bubble. On the other hand, if one exclusively spends time with worldly people, it desensitizes them and gives room for sin to grow in their lives. As Paul put it, “bad company ruins good morals.”6
In the modern day, the view that any kind of disagreement is bad is a common one, but this is also problematic. This view causes people to keep their mouths shut when it comes to calling out their fellow believers and the way they fail to be like God. Certainly, it is not the job of the individual to put everyone in their place, but if a man's body had a wound, would he not try and bandage it? Why then does man hesitate to help the body of Christ the same way he helps his own body? Paul’s letters in the New Testament did just this! He commended the parts of the body that were doing their jobs, called out those that were hemorrhaging, and encouraged the church to look at Christ’s example of holiness and act accordingly. His words were not hesitant or timid, but bold and full of love. Paul acted out of a desire to love the body he was a part of well, even if that meant a rather painful procedure to put a bone back in its right place.
Perhaps the cynic would disagree and claim that holiness is too high a calling, even with God on our side. “I mean,” the cynic remarks at this point, “God surely must know man will never be as perfect as He is. He is God. Expecting man to be like Him is too high a bar.” There’s some truth in this: man will never be as perfect as He is. “The job,” C.S. Lewis stated, in regards of being perfect, “will not be completed in this life; but He means to get us as far as possible before death.”7 Although one can never be fully perfect on this side of eternity, God still wants Christians to strive to be set apart, to obey His will, and love as He does.
It will take a huge perspective shift in order to change how holiness is viewed. Being set apart begins with one person who’s willing to stand firm on God’s word, relying on His power to boldly call forth holiness in others. Although this may seem daunting, the laws of the Old Testament and Paul’s letters to the early church (not to mention the faith of the martyrs) serve as reminders that it’s not only possible, but a vital part of the Christian’s calling.
Bibliography
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Illinois: Crossway, 2016.1 Peter 1:15&16, Romans 12:2
Bevere, Addison. Saints. Michigan: Baker Publishing Group, 2020, 13.
Lewis, C.S. The Complete Works of C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity. Harper Collins, 2001.
