Page 79 Lord’s work along the way. Paul thunders against the folly of judging someone else’s servant. There is an ancient Indian proverb that says, ,Do not judge another man until you’ve walked two miles in his moccasins. There is a wealth of wisdom in that quote. Namely, resist the urge to become bitterly critical of your fellow brethren in Christ, especially if you’ve never walked in their shoes. What follows are Paul’s instructions for the three kinds of people I just described. If you can find yourself here and embrace the wisdom of Paul, you will go a long way toward sparing the Body of Christ the strain of innumerable conflicts and divisions. Note that these are not rules or commands. They are exhortations given to your new man in Christ. Receive them as such. To the Weak in Conscience. Do not judge your brother or sister who indulges in something you consider to be wrong. Neither condemn them nor criticize them. Do not call them ,loose or ,immoral or ,less spiritual than you. Love thinks no evil. Believe the best. Believe that they have a strong conscience and that their practice is ,unto the Lord. Do not try to manipulate them or hold them to your standard either. Neither try to adopt and imitate their standard of conviction, lest you violate your own conscience. Remember that you are not their Judge or Master.
This, then, is the sense in which people are totally depraved: we have all treated God in the most insulting way by registering again and again a vote of no confidence in His promises.
Daniel Fuller