Dimensions in Brotherhood . . . No. 4

BROTHERHOOD AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD

The Bible makes it clear over and over again that we will face the judgment of God on the basis of how we treat each other. Jesus will say, “Come, o blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . . . “ on the grounds that “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Contrariwise the Lord will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels . . . “ to those who neglect and reject their brethren: “As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.”

It is a most significant truth of Holy Writ that our treatment of a brother is equated with our treatment of Jesus himself. To reject a brother is to reject the Lord.

The force of this truth is intensified by the fact that it is the least of the brethren that Jesus speaks of. We have editors, college presidents, professors, big-time evangelists, and the ministers of large churches — and of course rich brethren. We may be tempted to honor these above the lesser brethren who have not attained fame, fortune or position.

“My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’ while you say to the poor man, ‘Stand there,’ or, ‘Sit at my feet,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4)

One of the most sobering thoughts in the Bible follows: “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?”

In 1 Cor. 8:11 Paul shows how “the weak brother” can be destroyed by our thoughtless behavior, “the brother for whom Christ died.” He forcefully adds: “Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.” The apostle goes on to say that he will forego the eating of meat if in so doing he causes a brother to fall. It is this kind of sensitivity toward brotherhood that will save us from our divisiveness. It is a sensitivity born of a consciousness of God’s judgment. Paul elsewhere relates the judgment we make of a brother with the judgment that we ourselves shall face in the presence of God.

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” (Rom. 14:10) And so in the same context he asks: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.”

My brother is not my servant, but the servant of another. It is sufficient to let his Master judge him. For me to pass judgment on him is like passing judgment on the Lord, just as I let the Lord go hungry if I let my brother go hungry. If I wound and destroy my brother, I am doing this to the Christ. These should be chastening thoughts to those of us who brand our brethren with such labels as digressive, unfaithful, liberal, and all the rest, terms that are usually intended to destroy the brother. All such terms, along with language like “a brother in error,” implies that we are right and are above such labels. It is always our side that has the truth and that is faithful.

A story from the ancient world tells how the philosopher Socrates once encountered a man who was suing his own father for impiety. Socrates was amazed that anyone would be so presumptuous about his own piety as to file charges against his own father for impiety. So he attempted to learn from the man what piety is, seeing that the man was an expert in such matters. The man’s reply was: “Piety is doing as I do.”

It must be just as amazing to those of the world of our time that we can be so presumptuous in our judgments. Without even blinking our eyes we can tell the religious world that the answer to division in Christendom is for everybody to be like ourselves. The amazement is surely aggravated by the fact that we can divide ourselves into a dozen different “loyal” groups while we talk this way. If Socrates was perplexed when a man, innocently tricked by his own self-righteousness, could go so far as to take his own father into court for a lack of righteousness, then we can see how disturbed our religious neighbors become when the Church of Christ so divides into separate parties that brothers cannot even speak to each other.

Perhaps we need a Socrates to ask us if we have no fear of God. He would serve us well by calling for a definition of faithfulness and truth and loyalty. Our judgments would indeed suggest that we are experts on such subjects.

If Euthyphro, the man who had to face Socrates, could not define piety, it might be risky for me to attempt it. But for the purposes of this article we might say that piety is that way of life that grows out of a man’s love for his brother and for God. The pious man lives with the realization that he faces God in judgment for the way he treats man in this world.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:1-3)

There are two or three good reasons why we should not judge, the main one being that we simply are not capable of doing so. We therefore should not attempt it. Another reason is that we set up the standard by which we ourselves are to be judged when we indulge our judgments upon others. Another good reason is that we avoid those judgments upon ourselves that we might unkindly impose on others. “Judge not that you be not judged.”

Jesus places the relationship between brothers above worship itself: “So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

There are too many of us who are meticulous about “the five acts of public worship” who are quite willing to exclude a brother from fellowship because he is different in some particular from ourselves. We are much more particular about going to worship than we are in becoming reconciled to our brethren. If Jesus would tell his disciples to establish right relationship with their brethren before offering their gifts, should we not be much more aware of our separated brethren?

The secretary at a main-line Church of Christ in Texas, when asked about certain congregations not listed in Church of Christ ads, explained rather indifferently, “Oh, we don’t fellowship those churches.” These were non-Sunday School and “premill” churches. This is the typical attitude. There is part of the brotherhood that it pleases us to ignore. Not only do we never visit them, we are willing to speak of them (if they happen to be mentioned) with more disdain than tenderness — and nearly always with some label.

If we really believed that in wounding a brother we wound Jesus, and if we really saw the connection between brotherhood and the judgment of God, we might think more about our relationship to all our brethren when we take our gifts to the altar. Something is indeed wrong when one will carefully execute all the acts of worship, and at the same time refuse to call on a brother to lead a prayer to the Father because “he’s from that premillennial church.”

It may be that when we suppose we are righteous in our judgments we are often really fleshly. Jesus so spoke to the Pharisees: “You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one.” (John 8:15) It is in this context that I recall the sister who could not decide to call me Mister or Brother. She talked with her minister about it, and they decided that I could be called “Brother Garrett” — with the mental reservation that I was “a brother in error.” I have long since wondered if there is a brother not in error! But I explained to the good sister that she was indeed my sister in the Lord, and I honored her as such, with no thought given to the matter of whether she is in error or out of error, whatever that kind of talk might mean.

In 1 Cor. 4:1-5 Paul speaks of three judgments that every man must face: the judgment of others, the judgment of self, the judgment of God. Of the first he says: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.” Of the second he says: “I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.” And of the third: “It is the lord who judges me.”

In regard to the judgment of others, we should be willing to listen to such judgments with a view of making whatever changes would be proper, for it is a fact that the criticisms of others, however cruel and hostile, are often true, and we can profit from them. As a cynic philosopher said: “There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself — an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.” But we can agree with Paul that the judgment of others “is a very small thing” in contrast to God’s judgment.

The point here is that it is much better to be judged by others than to be found judging others. This must be what Socrates meant when he said: “It is better to suffer wrong than to commit wrong.” It would mean much to the church if we could all think that way, making sure that we never pass judgment on others even if they pass judgment on us.

Even though Paul could say “I do not even judge myself,” there is a sense in which we cannot escape judging ourselves, and perhaps we should not, for it is true, to quote Socrates once more, that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” And even the apostle could write: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Cor. 13:5)

The meaning of Paul’s reluctance to judge himself is that human judgment is always uncertain. It is risky to judge oneself, for it is easy to be self-satisfied. The only judgment that really counts is heavenly: “It is the lord who judges me.” This is comforting on the one hand, for it means that frail men who are given to prejudices do not decide our fate; but it is fearful on the other hand, for it tells us that we are indeed to be judged — by the God of all mankind. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31)

When we are so pure that we cannot associate with a certain brother, when we are so righteous that we cannot even recognize him as a brother, when we are so faithful that we cannot even visit his congregation, when we are so satisfied that we listen only to those who will tell us what we already believe, when we are so right in all our doctrines that we can readily separate the sheep from the goats, it is time to heed these words:

“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12 -13 ) — the Editor

How does one contribute to the greatness and strength of a free society? One answer is pursue excellence! The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free men can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. — John Gardner