Christians are Judgemental

[Stratocaster]

So I spoke my opinion on something in another thread and suddenly nobody in the chat wants to talk to me!

Surprise surprise.

I've noticed that in the churches I've gone to, people expect you to be on "church behavior" aka act like you're perfect, and then they go and hit the party scene the next weekend. I've met very few Christians who didn't judge based on how I act at church.

Arent we called to love others? Yet I've found much more acceptance by non-believers for being Christian than I have by Christians for being a sinner.

Why do you think this is?

 

[goth4god]

im not sure. all i know is i get it a lot too. but such is life. I try not to dwell on it and just get over it cuz they are the ones missing out on meeting a cool person.

 

[nanabean]

Hi Stratocaster.... I don't know what thread you posted to so I don't know what you said in the post..but I'd still chat with you no matter what thread it is or what you said on it. I may or may not agree with what you said of course, and I may want to chat with you ABOUT what you said...hahah but I'd never refuse to chat with you!!! take care and I do pray things get better for you soon!!

 

[Abing]

if you're saying no one is talking to you you're wrong! im always talking to you *mind reading*, it's just that you dont reply jk..

well seriously,
Stratocaster.... in my case, um, errr. i havent talked to you before so.. it's not because of your post, why im not talking to you.. its just that i dont see you often and i dont know you yet

if you're saying christians are judgmental .. you sound like kinda judgmental too, but it's true though, SOME christians are.. and wow awesome they still call themselves christians!!! but i agree with hannah, life.... we're on the narrow way so... dont expect evrything to be nice and smooth. BUT, there are always those sincere people, you might havent met them yet, but there are some people who are just right for you, you'll meet'em in God's perfect timing.

 

[CristenJ]

I have a theory on why non-believers often seem so much more accepting of others...actually, my Mom probably taught me this (she taught me so much I can't always tell what came from her and what is my own )

Anyway, it's something like this:

Satan doesn't want to lose a single person to the Lord. He wants all of us, and will work in the world especially hard to reach those who belong to God. So if he makes it difficult to fit in with other believers, and so simple to fit in with non-believers, that's a really good way to get at us, isn't it? It's like the wolf separating one lone sheep from the pack...totally makes sense, right?

I also think that every other Christian you meet and speak to could tell you of a time when fellow "Christians" didn't accept them, though, and the thing we all need to remember is that we don't go to church to please the church. We go for time with our Lord, to worship Him, to serve Him, to remember Him.

It's not always easy to remember that, but once you realize the truth of it, it makes being snubbed by church members a little easier to swallow.

 

[CristenJ]

A pack of sheep? I must have meant flock...

 

[goth4god]

thats a good point Cristen! i never really thought about it like that.

 

[Baptistrw]

It's one thing to be a sinner, it's another thing to live in sin. If people made such a fuss about hypocrisy as they do judging (which is what Matthew 7 teaches) the church would shape itself up pretty quickly.

 

[schoolofyoungprophet]

lol
this is a good topic how ever we aer called to judge things for example if ur brother is sinnin and if u don warn em who will bible says judge wid a righteous judgement ..in the word of God ther iare 2 kind of judgement for us as a christianz one we judge ba standards and the other one is we judge wat is rite according to the word of God
cuz if we don then their bloods wil be on our hands bible says
we don judge on how ppl look but we we fail to tell our brother or warn em
i reckon its a serious mistake we doin
cuz today most of a young christian afll in sin and backslide cuz we have failed to judge wat is ryte and whz rong and faild to warn em cuz we think who are we to judge ..

 

[thefightinglamb]

I'm going to take a far different approach then above, though some of the above answers I see to be true.

A major reason why non-Christians are more accepting than Christians on things (and possibly you see them as more loving) is because they appeal to your natural wants...they don't care what you are or what you are not--unless you try to show them the truth on sin and righteousness (then you will experience vehement opposition--something is wrong if you don't, for you are facing them to either repent or hate the truth of Christ)...true Christians on the other hand to actually have communion with you have to know where you are at and rely on you to be there for them in much deeper ways--as Paul says you become part of their physical body--if your a thumb and you aren't alligned with the other people who are Christians in your life who are your fingers, then you are useless to them and they are useless to you...

This being said: I personal confession is that when I first turned to the Lord, everyone at the "church", I was at hated me...its like they wanted me to be evil or something, and the spiritual vibe was just constantly a drag, though I continued to go to church for the Lord alone...I learned to perservere with the Lord, and though my physical circumstances never changed with that church very much, the Lord changed me and I was allowed to love them deeper than I ever thought I could--such is what becomes of loving your enemies...

And now I don't know where to go to church anymore as (like you) I have found very few sincere people in the churches I have been to from Baptist to Pentecostal to even Catholicism (not practicing Catholicism but going there just to worship and see what the Lord shows me)...Sometimes the spiritual vibes (hypocricy, sin) in the church makes my spirit sick...I go to a chess club and there I find people that are sincere and Christian and I go to free poker at a bar (though I don't drink or smoke) trying to witness to the Lord in that dark corner...but I find in church 95% of the people say "good luck" (or that is what their prayers and actions say) and force you to trek the week alone...knowing as the Bible says that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years are like a day to the Lord--and if you have the Lord in you and are Christian this is true for you as well--weeks are everlong to be without seeing or caring for someone because they spiritually go through about everything in a week...

What I have learned to do is love them all as deeply as Christ allows you to...this leads them either repenting and changing or hating you even as it happened to the Lord--he was met with love by those who repented and changed but every type of hatred from everyone else...

I don't know how much encouragement this is..but I and all Christians fight the same fight to affirm their faith.

The Lord be with you and
Enlighten your mind,
Lighten your heart,
and brighten your eyes;
so that you can see, love and adore him forevermore
regardless of "everyone" else rather they claim to be Christians or not...

 

[WhereToGo]

I saw one church put out a commercial that addresses this. Some people just seem to "play" church and like pointing out when others fail to do the same. Basically the commercial said, "Have you ever been offended by a Christian? Come to our sunday morning service to receive an apology." I thought it was a good new approach to it.

 

[CristenJ]

So then, by that standard, we should be warning each other against turning away from attending church just because we sometimes feel that we are being shunned by fellow Christians...

That's a good point though, we ARE supposed to help each other as Christians, and if that means telling a brother or sister in Christ when you see them about to hit a brick wall, then that's what we need to do. I don't think that is necessarily being judgmental, I think that is just how God instructs us to sort of keep each other in line Which we all need from time to time.

I'm actually 100% guilty of being judgmental of other Christians at one time...OOH, it's story time!
Growing up, I lived in a small town, and attended the same church my whole life, up until I was 17. Everyone at church knew everyone else's business, their middle names, their history...I'm sure some of you know how it is.

When I got older, about youth group age, I started to feel like some of the others were only there because it was what they were SUPPOSED to do, and not so much because they WANTED to be there. In a way, I was looking down on them, because I WANTED to be there. And almost as soon as I started passing judgment on them, I began to feel like maybe certain church members were looking down on ME as well.

To make a long story short, if I had just minded my own business and not questioned and judged my brothers and sisters, I would never have become suspicious that maybe they thought the same of me, and I might have remained a member of that church.

Sort of a "Remove the plank from your own eye..." thing.

 

[MahogonySnail]

There's no point sticking it out in a church full of hypocrites. That leaven might rub off on you and you become like them. Church is supposed to involve Godly interaction with other believers and I don't agree with "going to church", "for God" as an individual pursuit. You can do that at home and at church it is a very isolating and lonely experience to do that.

 

[jnrz7292]

I've felt left-out before because some of the Christians I know didn't make me feel the friendship. Somehow I've gotten over it because I've found people who really are Christians. Maybe I'll think of becoming alone while walking His way.

 

[Slepsog4]

in a church full of hypocrites.

Uh, where would you expect to find them. Hypocrites prove the real thing must exist.

 

[MahogonySnail]

I mean, if the church is so full of hypocrites, find another, yes the real is out there. .Beware the leaven of the Pharisees.

 

[dodolah]

I found that not only christians are judgmental.
even non believers do that (you just haven't meet them, yet)..

Can't you fathom the idea that sometimes the so called christians are not christ like?
and sometime, you just meet a good hearted non believer.
That's why it make me want to share the good news to those non believer.

The problem lies in your unrealistic expectation.
You "Expect" christian to be perfect.. so, the notion of judgmental christian to you is non existant.
We got to remember that church is a collection of broken people with so much baggage that happened to fall under grace of God.

So, focus on the positive things about those people.
Sometimes, they just don't know better.
What we all can do is try not to be judgmental to others.
For those who say there is no such thing as judgmental christians.. o trust me, there are...

 

[HarpyEagle]

Well on the other hand, when you start correcting people and the word gets around. The same avoidance is present.. because people aren't perfect and they think you see their every fault and don't want you to tell them about it or they feel ashamed that you can see it.

 

[MahogonySnail]

hmm maybe it is being judgemental to judge the judgemental ones

 

[CristenJ]

That's what I was saying