1So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by a human court. Yes, I don’t even judge my own self. 4For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. 5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
6Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another. 7For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you! 9For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. 10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. 11Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. 12We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. 13Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.
14I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News. 16I beg you therefore, be imitators of me. 17Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. 18Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20For God’s Kingdom is not in word, but in power. 21What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
Don't Judge Other Believers
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
We should be very slow in pronouncing any judgment against our fellow Christians. We don’t know their motivations. We cannot understand their heart. As a pastor, I have a few congregants who seem to be laser-focused on the failings of other Christians. Oh, it might be that they saw so-and-so down at the gas station buying an eighteen-pack of beer. They “wonder” whether he is really a Christian. Paul is telling us to STOP DOING THIS. IT IS JUDGING OTHERS. JUDGING MEANS "MAKING A DECISION OR DETERMINATION" ABOUT THEM. IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. There is no reason on earth that we need to be giving great attention and thought to what we perceive as the sin in the lives of others. God will bring to light what needs to be brought to light. For those of us who feel that we must seriously look at the failings of others, we should be cautious in understanding that God will reveal the “hidden things of darkness and the counsels of our own hearts” as well. Why are we motivated to “wonder” about the sins in the life of someone else? Be careful. That’s a trap of legalism and a self-righteous attitude. God hates both.
It is God who judges both the good and the bad in others. It is not your place. In case you haven’t noticed or realized, YOU ARE NOT GOD. God will do the praising of others, and your actions, thoughts, and motivations will be judged right along with them. You’ll have your time before the King of the Universe, so be careful about judging others. We can never know what goes on in another person’s life. We don’t know what they’ve lived through. We don’t know their motives or their circumstances. When the Lord returns, He will reveal all things, and when I say all things, I mean ALL THINGS, including your “things”. Jesus Himself carefully scrutinizes ALL of our own thoughts, words, and deeds. Be careful. Don’t judge. Leave that to the Father who knows all things. It’s better left to Him. When we harshly judge others in our own minds, we are committing thoughts, words, and deeds that we will have to answer for.