Exhortation vs. Judgment

About a year and a half ago I started thinking about how my generation is so quick to become defensive when confronted. We seem to have this mentality of always being right. When I would get especially sassy or dogmatic my Mom would say, "Oh, to be (insert whatever age I was at the time) and know everything!" I laugh at this now but I think my response points to a larger issue. We are self-lovers. We are glory-thieves (term taken from Paul David Tripp's book Instrument’s in the Redeemer’s Hands). We step in and claim the glory meant for Jesus for ourselves.



I know we have all heard people say, "Don't judge me." Maybe we've even said it ourselves. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to sharpen and encourage others in the body of believers. Too often we confuse judgment with exhortation.

After many talks over the preceding months, mostly stemming from conversations with Steph, I have come to this conclusion: If you are judging someone, it costs you nothing. If you are exhorting, it costs you dearly.



To judge is to wag a finger - to point out the flaws in another's life - to stand at a distance and mock. To exhort is to come along side - to bear the burden a brother or sister is carrying - to call them to a higher standard; to the better life Jesus talks about in John chapter 10.



Satan comes to mock and speak words of death. The Holy Spirit of God comes to encourage and speak words of life. The Holy Spirit (through Paul) calls us to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds." If we have this idea that no one has a right to call us out on sin in our lives, we are misunderstanding God's call to be holy - to be like Him. The process is delicate and requires not only discernment but a humble spirit. May we live in a way that puts flesh and bones and blood on the God-man of Jesus Christ. This is how the world will know we belong to Him.