"Judgmental" is a word I have heard too often to describe Christians. Being a Christian, I definitely know some people who claim to be Christ followers who are judgmental, but they are the minority. Almost all of my brothers and sisters in Christ that I know are kind and full of love. The issue is that the world often times will see stating something as sin to be "judgmental." This is just not the case.

There is nothing wrong with saying that sin is sin. Jesus never compromised the truth to make people feel better nor did He ever deny that sin was sin. Jesus loved people in a way they had never experienced love before, and He did it while still acknowledging when something was wrong. He literally flipped tables over due to the sin being committed in the temple bothering Him so much. If I say lying is a sin, that is not being judgmental; that is just stating a fact. It also does not mean I hate liars; you can disagree with someone and still love them.

Christians should never have to apologize for believing what the Bible says is true, and I know I never will. The world has this picture of Jesus in their minds that He was a really nice guy who agreed with everyone and never called out sin. They like to twist the verse that says "God is love" to mean that God has no issue with wrongs and just does not care. If He didn't care about sin, He would not have died on the cross to save us from it. God loves us SO much that He never wanted us to have to deal with sin. His love is not an excuse to sin but should motivate us to try to avoid it as much as possible.

There is a difference in being judgmental versus caring about what someone is doing. It would be judgmental for me to think I am better than people because I am a Christian. It would be judgmental if I started running around telling everyone I saw they were sinners without actually sitting down to hear their stories. Often times people turn to sin because they do not know there is a better way and think the ways of the world are their only option. It is my duty as a follower of Jesus to tell those people that Jesus is better than whatever the world is offering. That's not judging someone; that's loving someone.

If you have a friend who is a Christian who tells you about Jesus and His redeeming blood, I hope you will not see them as judging you. Becoming a Christian is the best thing to ever happen to me, and when I share that, it is because I want the absolute best for that person. Even more, than me, God wants the absolute best for everyone, and that is why He sent His only Son to break the chains of sin.

As for the Christians who are judgmental, please take a different approach to evangelize. Remember that you yourself were once lost in your sin with no hope until someone showed you the grace of God. Show that grace to others and fill that grace with His truth. It may just change a life forever.