Should Christians Judge Others' Sin?

I Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.

Last week, my Sunday School class brought up an interesting topic. Should a church allow a new Christian to teach a 2-year-old Sunday School class while still living with her boyfriend?

I have to admit, I have argued both sides of this coin before!! Now, after many years of receiving God's grace and mercy, I, a wretched sinner, am not so quick to cast the first stone on any sinner. Although I do agree that church leaders must make judgments about who can serve in their churches.

The real question here is not about who should be allowed to teach Sunday school or work in the nursery or anything else. Our real hangup here is about sin and more specifically, what does this say about MY sin?!! And aren't we judging others by talking about their sin?

This points out two lies that the enemy is propagating - and it infuriates me that he continues to use Christians and churches of God to spread his lies!!!

Lie #1 - All sin is the same.
Truth - ALL SIN IS NOT THE SAME. We like to tell people that ANY sin earns them a ticket to hell, whether it's a small lie or a murder! While this is true (Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death..."), the Bible is still clear that all sin is NOT the same. (I Corinthians 6:18 says "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.") This verse clearly points out that sexual sin is worse than non-sexual sin. This is just one example.

Lie #2 - Christians shouldn't judge others.
Truth - CHRISTIANS SHOULD JUDGE OTHERS! We all quote the passage from Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." But do we look at it in context? What about I Corinthians 5 which clearly says we Christians ARE to judge those within the church. In fact, it says in verse 13 that we are to EXPEL the wicked man from the church!!! (go read the whole chapter!!)

Yes, we are a church full of sinners. And yes, we want other sinners to come and join us. But we need to tell them the TRUTH!! Daniel 4:27 tells us to "Renounce our sins by doing what is right." We need to teach this!! Yes, "Come just as you are...", but STOP sinning!!

Active sin is a symptom of a heart not having been changed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us this is how we know who the true children of God are!!! This requires judging others for ourselves!! I John 3:6-10 says "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

I Peter 3:15-16 says "...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." So I appreciate having to look this up for myself this week!!