Judgment

Tonights sermon was about judgment in the church. A verse that came to mind from earlier in the day is Psalm 9:16, which say, "The Lord is known by the judgment He executes." It says elsewhere that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Judgment is one of the foundational doctrine of the faith discussed in Hebrews 6. Obviously, God is a God of judgment. But we also are called to partner with Him in His kingdom, which means we also are called to judge.
Like our pastor said tonight, however, we shrink back from judging because we have some area in our own life that we are compromised in, and so we have no authority to judge anyone else. But, that's a good reason why God does call us to judge one another - that we might practice what we preach. Another good reason the God has ordained that we judge one another is that we need one another to speak the truth in love to us and speak those difficult but neccessary correcitions, because most of the time we cannot see them in ourselves. We are much better at picking up on the sin and faults of others than our own. I thank God for leaders who are willing to speak a hard word, a word of correction. May we love one another enough to receive and speak the truth in love. May judgment begin in the house of God. To God be glory in the Church!