Playing God

Do you like to play God?

The way we play God is by judging other people. And we do it all the time.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. Why is judging others playing God?

Because God says it’s his responsibility to judge. He judges the living and the dead.

The Bible tells us in James chapter four, verses 11 and 12, “Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Why do we do it? Because it appeals to our pride. Because we think we’re better than others. It’s a self-righteous attitude of putting other people down, being critical and being judgmental. Jesus condemned it more than almost any other sin.

When we hear about how other people have fallen, there's something inside us--a little bit of pride--that makes us gloat over their misfortune. We think, “At least I’m not THAT bad!” and we judge them as a failure.

Some people speak and act as if they have the gift of criticism. But God says we shouldn’t speak against or judge others, comparing them to ourselves.

In addition, when we judge others we break God’s law that says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus called it the second great commandment. Loving God was the first.

One of the reasons we have the Bible is so we can know how to live and act toward others. But, for some reason, we can’t leave well enough alone. We have to add our own rules to God’s perfect law—and then we judge others by our rules.

Jesus said it’s wrong to judge others when we are involved in the same sin we condemn. He called people who do that “hypocrites.” And when we judge others like that, it blinds us to our own faults.

Often we judge others based on outward appearances: their face, hair, or clothes. Many times we are quick to condemn before we hear all the facts. When we do, we show our prejudice.

Religious people especially love to judge others based on external observances. We count how many services a person attends and judge them accordingly. If someone worships on a different day or eats a different diet than we do, we judge them. And God says, “Stop it!”

We also like to judge other people’s motives. Why they do what they do. But the Bible says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He…will expose the motives of men's hearts.”

Playing God comes natural to us. To stop doing it, remember that God says he will use the same standard to judge us that we use to judge others. The Bible reminds us that we are all accountable to God: “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.” We need to just stop doing it.

I think it’s a part of our fallen human nature to take delight in seeing another “Get what they deserve.” Well don’t forget that God shows mercy to us. None of us “get what we deserve.” If we did, we’d all be miserable! God is a merciful God and he wants us to be merciful too.

If you want to find fault in others you can. Everybody is imperfect. It all depends on what you look for. One of the things you have to do with friends is overlook their faults.

And when you come to God, through Jesus Christ, God not only overlooks, he forgives!

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!