WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ANOTHER MAN'S SERVANT? - A STUDY ON ROMANS 14 PART 6 OF 11

White Rhinoceros, Louisville Zoo.

David Bergland's Libertarianism in One Lesson is "You own yourself." Is he right?

My first response was to disagree with that unbiblical idea. Do believers own themselves? No, God owns us - we're bought with a price by God (1 Corinthians 6:20); we're His sheep (John 10;27). Are unbelievers free from being owned by God? No - "The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1); this includes all who are alive.

But then, Bergland's book is not about theology and God but public policy and man. His point is that we are not owned by anybody else but that we have individual liberty. Not limitless liberty: we're not free to harm or defraud others. But others lack the right to run our lives.

Do we own ourselves, or does God own us? Either way, we don't own others. And yes, I could say they don't own me, but that's not the point I want to make. We. Don't. Own. Other. People. Clear enough?

That is the point Paul's trying to make in Romans 14:4 - "But who are you to judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand." 

Yes, the most quoted and the most misquoted Bible verse in Matthew 7:1 about judging not; too many try to use this to bully believers into tolerating and even accepting sinful behavior. But another often misquoted Bible verse is John 7:24, and that's misquoted by believers. That verse says "Judge with righteous judgment." Those who use (or more accurately misuse it) forget (accidentally or not) that John 7:24 is not a command to Jesus' disciples as Matthew 7:1 is, but a rebuke to the Pharisees who were judging Jesus. 

Romans 14:4 (and also James 4:11-12) are ignored too often. We need to remember that fellow Christians are God's servants. Yes, we're to warn those plainly committing sin (Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20; 1 John 5:16), but we're not to judge.

By the way, if you look at the previous verse, you'll notice two things.

1. Paul states those who exercise liberty fall into the trap of hating or showing contempt of those who are abstaining (Romans 14:1-2 calls those who don't eat meat "weak in the faith"), and those who don't practice liberty judge those who do. Put the two together, and those prone to judge appear to be those weak in the faith.
2. Paul closes Romans 14:3 by stating God accepts him. Who does God accept? Anyone who comes to Him. So when we're judging a fellow believer, we're judging someone God has accepted. Uh, should we be doing that? Really?
   

I'll once again ask a question that I asked yesterday: Does this extend to sin and doctrinal issues? Remember - both examples Paul gives are considered by some to be sin or bad doctrine. 

One guideline I heard - ask yourself if you want to judge/correct/warn a fellow believer. If you don't really want to, maybe God has called you to not be afraid and lovingly confront them. If you are ready to straighten out your brother or sister, though, it's probably best to let someone else do it who can do it with gentleness and humility and who knows that they're dealing with God's servant.

Are you aware that you're not your own, but that you're God's servant, that you belong to Him? Are you also aware that your brothers and sisters in Christ are also God's servant and they answer to Him, not us?