"For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?"
1 Corinthians 5:12 (NKLV)
We are often told, by the secular liberal, "judge not, lest ye be judged." This is used as a way to keep the body of Christ impotent and helpless, buying into the post-modern idea that "everything goes." But the true teaching of Scripture is more subtle, and more sharp.
We are not to judge people, but rather to judge actions. And, we are to judge actions solely by how they relate to the ordinances of God. Further, we should be focusing our energy on the discipleship and correction of believers, not at pointing fingers are the unbeliever.
The Church has, historically, really failed in this. For example, focusing on homosexuality as "the" sin, whilst ignoring the marriage and sexual sin in the Church; this led to a completely powerless message that was ignored. Rather, we should have stood up and shown a picture of what marriage is; in this way no one would ever have been able to compare the fake unions with the true. An unbeliever has no reason to care if we say that God ordained marriage in such and such a way. He doesn't believe in God. But, and unbeliever will care if he sees our marriages are strong, vital, producing life and love and community. If he sees men and women acting in synergy, he will understand why "God created them, male and female."
We should, therefore, focus on the sin issues within the body, and should not be passive. Too often, the modern Church teaches doctrine only, hoping that "one day" the Spirit will convict the body of sin. But the Lord expects the shepherds He has assigned to be teachers of morality, not just head knowledge. Further, the members of the body should be holding one-another accountable, not leaving it up to the Spirit to convict them. The Spirit most often speaks through fellow believers, especially among less mature Christians who may not be in constant prayer or reading of the Scriptures. We are a communal entity. For how can the eye say to the ear "I do not need you."
Shame, then, is absent from the modern culture, and especially from the modern Church. We must hold our own to a high standard, yet we must stop expecting the unbeliever to adhere to a set of rules made by a God he does not even believe in. If we focus on our own internal health of the body, then we will be clean and pure and our message of Salvation will sound all the stronger. People will have an intrinsic reason to care about our beliefs, rather than just an extrinsic or metaphysical reason. If the Church doesn't make a real tangible difference, here on earth, why should anyone care what we say about Heaven?
There is no reason for an unbeliever to care about our definition of marriage if our marriages are poor. There is no reason for an unbeliever to care about our definition of morality if our daughters dress in the culture's styles. And there is no reason anyone would see power in the Bride of Christ if we are impotent and swayed by every wind of modernity.
The Church has power in this world, but this power is mostly as a light into darkness, not as a finger pointing blindly into space.
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