Quote (njaguar @ Jan 22 2012 11:22am)
That's just it, the commandment is to love others as yourself, and as Jesus loved/loves them. That said, there's plenty of verses about not judging others, without looking to yourself first. It doesn't say that you can't be critical of someone in the same way you are critical of yourself, however! It just means that you shouldn't be hypocritical in the way you look at other people, and obviously, not to judge them, because we cannot see the whole picture. We can only see bits and pieces.
As far as turning people away, I'd say that is not entirely accurate. Everyone is different, some people need a carrot, some people need a stick, and some need a combination of the two. I think the verse I quoted sums it up pretty well. We are called to go forth and preach the word to others, but we're also supposed to display ourselves in an appropriate manner (ie, that verse).
Everyone has different things that drive them. For some people, the issue of what happens when you're dead doesn't matter to them (or so they claim), but this isn't the only purpose or the reason to believe. We're not called to follow God to be rewarded or punished after we die, we're supposed to bring glory to Him always in all that we do. It's about giving credit where credit is due, which is to say, to God. The reward thing, while important, shouldn't be the only driving factor; it should be about doing things for God, for selfless reasons.
I'm not convinced I am expressing my point clearly. I really like the way you stated to be critical of someone only as much as you are critical of yourself - it puts a different light on treating others how you would like to be treated, which is essential. In fact, I would take it even further in accordance with Matthew 7:5 which states to completely remove your own plank before removing another's speck. My point is that there are many issues that I am not able to be critical of of myself. For example, I do not participate in many of the controversial sin issues such as homosexuality, abortion, drug use, death penalty, etc. Torm1, you were the catalyst for a clarifying but even more difficult question to answer: Where is the middle ground between legalism and grace?
Though 1 Timothy 4:12 contains much wisdom, I do not think it completely suffices for this topic. For example, the words conduct and purity themselves are controversial in that many people no longer consider their conducts or impurities wrong anymore, at least in comparison to tradition and Scripture.
Paul, of course we are not called to follow God simply to be rewarded or punished after we die. But, I would argue that a significant way by which we bring glory to God is by standing up against the wickedness of the world. I can't help but draw comparisons from the stories of Jonah (who didn't even want to preach the truth), King David who literally went to war against Goliath's cursing of God, Jesus' righteous anger in the temple, and so many other stories of God's people fighting against idolatry. Regardless of how non-Christians receive it, is standing up to wickedness not only considered love towards God but also to others by spreading the "Burden of Truth" to them?
One person argued to me that our purpose is not to try to convince or convict people by teaching these controversial truths because that is the Holy Spirit's job, because when we do, it actually just turns people away from God. Instead, we are just supposed to love them like Jesus loves them. I'm not sure I agree. I would argue that it is our job to teach what is Biblical and that the Holy Spirit will produce the heart change from there. And, I would argue that their interpretations of how Jesus loved people is flawed. He never let anyone live in their sin out of fear that they would turn away from him!