Pastor's Article July 16, 2023

~ Pastor’s Weekly Article ~
Is there a difference in what one knows and what one thinks? Sure, there is! Therefore, we must be careful not to get the two mixed up in the way we judge and treat other people. When I look at another person’s life or lifestyle it is easy for me to form opinions based on what I see, but the real issue in judging is not what I see, but what I may not be seeing. What looks wrong may not be if I were able to see the whole picture and were all knowing, but I am not. There are at least two things that I must remember as I live my life for Christ when it comes to judgement.
 The first thing is that why it does matter a great deal to my testimony what others think of me, the most important thing is what God knows about me. It is a fact of life that I will often be judged by other people and the weight of my testimony is often determined by what people see and think of me. Therefore, it is imperative that I do my best to abstain from even the appearance of evil, yet I must also remember that what a man thinks of me is a small thing in comparison to what God knows about me.
The other thing that I must remember is that I am not really qualified to be an all-knowing spiritual judge in the life of other people. There will be times in my life when I will have the obligation and even the fiduciary responsibility to judge as those times arise, I must seek God’s wisdom to make the best judgments possible. But to cast quick condemning judgment on others without cause or responsibility is not only careless it is cruel and condemned by the Word of God. Listen to what The Apostle Paul said in I Cor. 4:3-5 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.  For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” We are to judge matters that must be judged by the Word of God, but as much is possible, leave the judgement of others to the Lord who knows all things and will bring all things to light in its proper time.                                                                      
Pastor, Rev. Wayne Marcus