Good gosh. I regret reading this thread.
There are plenty of versus on judging in the Bible too. Every single person reading and commenting will all get your day before Jesus.
I don’t question why some folks prefer to attend and worship God via primitive baptist or Methodist. The reality of it is that wherever you go; hopefully, you are growing closer to God and not just the minister/pastor or preacher.
God created the church for relationships among believers to serve him - to be a light to the world. Because where one of us had adulatory and repented and saved his marriage or family, perhaps God can use him/her to counsel others going through the same thing. Alcoholism, porn addiction, idolatry, drug addiction, lust, homosexuality, pride, arrogance, compulsive lying, laziness, stealing…whatever your sin(s) maybe. We go to church to worship God, because we need him more than he needs us.
I read this thread and it speaks of tremendous pride. None of us are worthy. It is through Jesus that we are all saved.
Christianity is under attack and so are our churches (made up of christians). The world is desperate for good news with everything around us failing. I read thread this with profound sadness. We are eager to judge others or spread gossip about folks who are doing their best to stand firm and spread the good news.
Right now, we are losing the younger generation. Many don’t know God. Girls trying to act like pornstars because boys are addicted to porn. And a growing number of kids are now gender confused. This is not the churches fault - it is the devils. The great liar and divider. This thread is definitely helping him too IMHO.
I'm the OP so I'll respond to your post.
First off regarding judging, the Bible doesn't say that we are never to judge. It says we are not supposed to use self-righteous judgment. That means if I'm cheating on my taxes then I have no right to judge anyone else about cheating on their taxes. Read further into Matthew 7 about judging others by their fruit for more on this. Paul tells us to be VERY judgmental in 1 Corinthians 5:11- "you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. DO NOT EVEN EAT A MEAL WITH THEM". Not my words, by the way. This applies, specifically, to holding other Christians accountable. We are also supposed to hold Deacons and Elders to very stringent judgement when we are choosing them. This is laid out in Titus and 1Timothy.
Secondly, the Bible is very specific about who God is, his character and how he is supposed to be worshipped. Read up on what happened to Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus to see what happened when they approached God with "strange fire" (improper sacrifice in their worship).
Lastly, I won't get into denominational differences, but I did give several examples of individual churches and individuals who claim to follow Christ but they refuse to follow what the scriptures CLEARLY outline. If they're not following what the Bible specifies, they are not worshipping the God of the Bible and that's creating their own God (idol).
