Romans 2:1-4 (NIV)
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
In the Church at Rome were not only saints, but pretenders as well – people who came and worshiped and participated, but who had not yet forsaken their sins and who were still very much a part of the world. They too would hear Paul’s words when this letter was read to the congregation of which they were a part.
But Paul didn’t want any of those people to be able to get away with merely shaking their heads at the societal ills Paul had just detailed, clicking their tongues and murmuring “Amen” with the rest. He wanted each one who heard to measure their own hearts and lives against his words and, if needed, be driven to repentance.
The fact is that it is the most worldly people in the Church who tend to be the most harsh and judgmental of the sins that are discovered in others. But, as Paul clearly points out, they have no right to be judgmental, because if their own lives were laid bare, it would clearly be seen that they are secretly engaged in many of the same sins that they loudly condemn in others.
Jesus pointed out the same problem in the Sermon on the Mount with his parable of the man with a plank sticking out of his own eye offering to help his brother get a speck of sawdust out of his eye (Matthew 7:1-5). The picture is more than ridiculous; it is tragic, because the person with the plank in his eye is either blissfully unaware of it, or is deceitfully diverting attention from his own large sins by focusing attention on the comparatively minor sins of his brother.
The same solution is prescribed by both Jesus and Paul: repentance. Jesus talks about this when He says to the first man, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5 NIV) Paul clearly points out that God’s kindness in not immediately pouring out His wrath on the sins He sees, whether in an individual or a whole society, is to allow space for repentance.
There may always be some ungodly people in congregations, but they must not stay that way. If they continue to ignore the words of Scripture that are taught and preached, or merely apply them to other people and excuse themselves and their own sins, they will ultimately bring judgment down on their own heads.
Father, I thank You for Your riches of kindness, tolerance and patience in dealing with us. I know that for many years I fit this description very precisely. The words of Your Scriptures bounced off my own hardened heart, but I was quick to harshly judge others for the very sins that I was also guilty of, often to a larger degree than those I was condemning. But in the end, Your kindness and patience won out. Your love softened my heart and broke it, driving me to my knees before You in repentance. Thank You for working with me all those years, Lord. Amen.