Tag: judgment

The Ultimate Pop Quiz

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, ‘My lord tarrieth’; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:45-51).

Those who have experienced high school remember the “pop quiz.” Many times a teacher would announce to the class that a pop quiz might be given at some point during the class over a week or so.

Some students would pay little to no concern and expect to fail anyway. Other students would be more forgetful or concerned with other matters, be it other subjects or various extracurricular activities. Such students would either cram at the last minute or hope that the pop quiz would come on another day. And then there were the students who studied the material and were ready. It would not matter whether the pop quiz were today, tomorrow, or merely an idle threat. All would be well.

Jesus has made it clear that one day we will all experience the ultimate pop quiz: a judgment on our lives, based on our deeds (John 12:48, Romans 2:6-11). The “pop quiz” may come because Jesus has returned and the Judgment is taking place (cf. Matthew 25). The “pop quiz” may instead come because your life on earth has ended, whether expected or not (James 4:14). Regardless, this is no idle threat– each and every one of us will stand before God one day (Acts 17:30-31, Romans 14:12)!

What students will we be like? Will be like the students who have no concern, and be people so active in sin that we pay no regard to righteousness, and expect to be condemned at the Judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)?

Or will we be like the students who were forgetful or concerned about other matters? Will we get so busy in life’s various activities, whether profitable or not, and either forget about or not have time for service to God? Do we put obeying God out in the future, expecting the opportunity to “cram” our time of service when we get just a little older, get a bit more settled, gain some maturity, wait until the children are grown, and so on and so forth? Do we secretly hope that Jesus will put off His coming for just a little while longer?

Or are we as the prepared students, serving God and striving to do the best we can to please Him at all times?

When that day comes, there will only be two types of people: those who are ready, and those who are not (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10). All the excuses and justifications in the world will not be sufficient to release us from condemnation if we die or the Lord returns and we are like the wicked servant or the foolish virgins (cf. Matthew 24:48-25:13). Failing a pop quiz– or even a class– was not the end of our world. But failing this ultimate Judgment means condemnation– weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 24:51)!

We do not need to live in perpetual fear of the Lord’s return. We need to be His obedient servants, doing the best we can with the gifts we have been given to glorify God (Matthew 25:14-30). If we are in that condition, we can be ready for Jesus to return today, tomorrow, or in a thousand years. It will not matter if we leave this earth today, tomorrow, or many years from now. Let us be continually prepared for the ultimate pop quiz and serve God daily!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Judgment

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, ‘Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye;’
and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5).

Judgment: it seems to be the default pattern for human beings.  In a very real and legitimate sense, this is natural: in order for us to understand our environment, we must process that which our eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, and so on and so forth.  We file our impressions and understandings away in our brain, and these help us make continual sense of the world.

But we have a problem when it comes to our fellow human beings: it is very easy and very natural for us to base our impressions and views about them from our experiences and standards.  We may look at our fellow man in competitive ways, and judge their relative value to us or their relative “standing” in the “social order.”

Lamentably, we often judge others at a harsher standard than we do ourselves.  We have built-in excuses for justification when we do not live up to our own ideals, but we do not give our fellow man or woman a similar benefit of the doubt.  We judge ourselves by our ideals; we judge others by what they do.

Jesus’ concern is entirely appropriate.  Too often this passage starts arguments over what Jesus is or is not saying, and that is itself tragic.  Jesus is not telling us that we are not to mentally process information we gain from others.  He is not telling us that we cannot discern the fruit of people (cf. Matthew 7:16-20).  He is not saying that “all judging is wrong.”

But all of these things cannot hinder us from understanding what Jesus is saying: in the end, we are not the judges; God is (cf. James 4:12).  If we justify ourselves while condemning others, we should not be surprised to see others condemning us while they justify themselves.  The picture of a man with his brother seems humorous, but when we make personal application, it just does not seem funny anymore.

It is not funny because we all have those beams in our eyes.  We all have our sins, our faults, our idiosyncrasies.  We are all sinners, and there is not one person among us who is better than another.  We have no right to presume to judge others by our own standards, for in so doing we become “hypocrites.”  Let us remember that the Pharisees considered it their function to judge their holiness and the holiness of others, while Jesus came in humility and compassion to seek and save the lost.  Whom should we be imitating?

We are best served to focus on the “beam in [our] own eye,” and in humility encourage everyone to recognize that judgment will be made by God’s standards (Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 17:30-31, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, James 4:12).  We would do well to give others the benefit of the doubt, remember our own place, and show compassion on others.  Discernment, encouragement, and exhortation are our responsibilities; let us leave the judgment to God!

Ethan R. Longhenry