Being and Becoming Christian

I teach the science of chromatography to fifth graders in ways that entice them to pursue possible careers in this field of study. STARBASE is an academy of exciting hands-on, minds-on learning that engage students and “wow” their senses. One of those ways is to have them role play the part of a forensic scientist, much like an Abby on NCIS. They are given one piece of evidence and perform a test to see “who did it”.

However, we then have a discussion about other possible motives, solutions to the puzzle, with other perspectives of looking at the evidence. Can we convict our alleged criminal on just this piece of evidence? Every student shouts, “NO, what if…”and then the stories of who this person really is and what might have happened comes into play. They form hypothesis with “we need more evidence”, instead of relying on what it looks like happened. But for sure, all the evidence must be gathered, judged and evaluated.

Paul reminds us that God does that. HE has all the evidence and looks at our hearts. Only HE can make the final judgement. We must not rush to making judgments about each other without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. Every. Time.

1 Corinthians 4, The Message
1-4 Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

5 So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.

6 All I’m doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay.

What do we learn? Don’t rush to making judgements. That’s God’s work. Our work is asking God to make us holy before Him while answering the call to do the work He gave us to do with pure inner motives, following His purposes with sincere prayers. Our goal is to hear the final “well done” of God, from God when He calls us home.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this reminder that we are not the judge. We care enough to help others not fall off the cliff into destruction, take their hand and give a lift up, but we do not judge how they got there or how they live past their mistakes. We have more than enough work to keep ourselves focused on being and becoming more what You intended for us to be and do. Help us, Lord. This is a prevalent problem in our society.
In Jesus Name, Amen