How Can We Help?

How Can We Help?

I’ve heard most of my life that according to the teachings of Jesus Christ we are not to judge others. The passage about judging others lest you are judged the same is often misquoted when someone is attempting to make this argument. In AA I was taught, rightly so in my opinion, that I am to judge others, and situations, otherwise I could find myself in serious trouble with my drinking problem or in a dangerous situation that is a threat to my life. Does God not give us the power of discernment? Does God not provide us with the ability of understanding, seeing, evaluating? Are these not tools of judgement?

Once again Paul spells it out in clear easy to understand language for the whole world to see. This passage chapter is particularly important with the deviancy we are told we are to accept as normal. I’m not sure the message could be any clearer than it is right here.

1 Corinthians 5 CSB

9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
10 I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.
11 But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.
12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside?
13 God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.

Normally, I use the NKJV for the Daily Devotional. I changed it today as I want this particular message to be crystal clear to anyone that happens to wander in “off the streets” This is one of the more important issues, in my opinion, facing Christianity today.

1 Corinthians 5 NKJV

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

It is important to compare and contrast the two versions. Words are extremely important and this shows how different these two versions appear.