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Why Are Christians Judgmental?

Posted Nov 12 2010 by Jonathan Brink in  with 12 Comments

So I was talking with a friend who is an atheist, and she said that one of her bigger reasons for not being associated with the Christian faith was that Christians are so judgmental.  Her response was not new.  In fact in the book “UnChristian” by Kinnaman and Lyons, judgmental was one of the six qualities that defined the perception of Christians in our current culture.  In other words, her perception was very grounded. Dooooooh!

But as I was thinking about her words, I couldn’t help but wonder, Why?  So I thought I’d simply ask you the reader, “Why do you think Christians are so judgmental?”

What say you?

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About the Author

Jonathan BrinkI am an business development and communications consultant. I am also the senior editor and publisher for Civitas Press. I recently published, Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole, New Christianity. (Civitas, 2011)View all posts by Jonathan Brink →

  • http://jonjourney.blogspot.com Jon

    Hi, great question. I’ll give my 2 cents worth.nnIf God hates sinners… maybe we can too.nnWe don’t usually word it that way. But there are some great theologians who have concluded that God hates sinners… not just the sin. God can’t stand being in the presence of sin. He can’t stand to look at sinners. He wants to torture them for eternity in Hell. The holy God of justice somehow overshadows the God of love and mercy.nnMaybe, just maybe, a Just and Holy God would be still capable of loving sinners. As a parent I’m all for justice and I want my kids to live right. But when they mess up I can usually find a way to demonstrate my love to them, and still guide them toward a better way. Why wouldn’t we expect the same from God? He gives true definition to the meaning of love. nnDon’t get me wrong. God is still Just, Holy, and He is the final Judge. There is consequences for our actions. But maybe God’s character of Love is never compromised. If we view God loving sinners, we may learn to view sinners through His eyes too.nnGod bless!n

  • http://openmindedconversations.blogspot.com/ jshmueller

    Because sometimes the only thing that makes us feel good about ourselves is the opinion that at least we are not as bad as those we criticize. Maybe there’s also a theological conviction behind it that believes we need to make people feel like rotten junk first before they are ready to see and admit that they need a Savior.

    • David

      I like your thought there Josh, but I think it’s even more basic than that. Above all I believe it’s lack of a real Love relationship with Jesus first and then a lack of Love for others. And we all are guilty in this. Pride is a very sly enemy and even when we think we got ourselves coved in it comes. We are proud people and especially if we think we have the right answers or some special insight others don’t. Hard to make John 13:34-35 real. Even harder to make Phil 2:3-4 real, how about all of Phil ! rnrnrnPride is a terrible issue. Prov 6 tells us God hats a proud look even. We as Christians above all people should be just the opposit. More Loving and accepting and inviting to others. More joyful and happy to engage. But boy somewhere too many of us (me included) lost sight of what Love is. Especially how to Love. So we take the easy road and judge. It’s easy to judge and be judgmental for mostly issues of pride than to just love.rnrnThat said, doesn’t mean to don’t make decisions that bring most Glory to and help us to be better Christ Followers.rnrnAnyweay just my thoughts.

      • http://openmindedconversations.blogspot.com/ jshmueller

        We could also dig even deeper, David, and ask: why is there a lack of love? Why is pride so important? Why do we constantly compare ourselves? What is missing that we feel such a compelling need to make the other person look bad in order to feel better ourselves?rnrnOne way of looking at it, would be this: because we believe ourselves that in our attachment to moral failure we are evil in God’s eyes, we need to build up our sense of worth and value. Also, the more the other person represents a threat to our belief system and these mechanisms, the more we will try to cut them down. Being better by being right becomes essential to the way we define and see ourselves.

        • David

          I think your right Josh. Having to be right may mean we have a real self view issue. Our sense of worth gets tied up in that. That may be th entire thing…thats is how could God love us if we were evil in his eyes in the first place ? rnrnSo the issue then is how to over come that. How do you not have to be right as a way to see yourself as having worth and value. Especially if you think you are right ? ugh. I know that sounds funny but there’s not an easy answer. I know our worth and value comes from our relatioship to God and we have value because He Loves us. I know that. But putting that in practice is a tough thing to do. Especailly when making judgements of others. There’s the pride thing, Putting others first, and being willing to be wronged and or willing to let other voices be heard above my own I guess…

  • Brianmerritt

    I have a feeling that it has to do a lot with our post-evangelical and Protestant cultures. Many of these are reactionary movements and often revolution breads counter revolution and then when there is a fear that power and control are slipping there is a need for purity in the ranks. Plus, there is a lot of money to be made from systems and quantifiable consulting to prove that Jesus means progress and productivity. We have made the whole idea of Christ into a marketable industry that shines, but is a bit shallow underneath the bright lights. Christ Inc. has proved to be quite a billion dollar, multinational corporation.nnLast time I read the gospels Jesus’ movement was a spectacular failure in his short life. Plus, Paul doesn’t believe in laws and calls us fools. Maybe the American church needs to completely fall apart and disintegrate into nothing to accomplish Christ’s greatest achievement

  • Brianmerritt

    btw. After reading my response to Carol she called me Mr. Ha ha. So, that may have come off as a bit harsh. Yet, I think that when we see some of these names up in the neon lights that are profiting off Christ with no accountability it makes people cynical. Not against people making money, consulting or writing books. My wife would kill me if I was.

  • Franklin

    “God hates sinners”…someone called me yesterday and asked me if I thought God loved everyone. I said “of course I do”…but then went on to suggest that it is difficult to believe a God who loves everyone could order the murder of women and children (Canaanites). We usually excuse this behavior in God because we secretly believe the damned pagans deserved it…or we just say, well, he loves in a holy way and we can’t understand how holiness and love work together.nnDoes God love everyone? Maybe. If he changed, then perhaps he does now, but did he always? I don’t know. nnWhy are we judgmental? Maybe we didn’t fall far from “the tree”. If we are bad because of what we have done, and God hates some of us for it…well, then we get it honestly.

  • Eveapple

    Christians, along with every other human being, are judgmental beings. Maybe it’s because we secretly think that if we point out another’s flaw, then ours won’t be noticed. It’s a distraction defense mechanism. Christians, myself included, have just seemed to perfect the art. We’re like shell game artists . . . or Criss Angel.

  • Raelene

    When I used to be one of those judgmental Christians, it was because I was seeing others’ value using my subjective evaluation. Since reading your book and “What’s so Amazing About Grace?”, I’ve learned I left God out of the process and took on the role of the judge for him. When it made sense to give back the burden of being the judge, and see, using God’s objective, I’m no longer judgmental. rnrnSo for me, I was judgmental because I didn’t know another way of seeing it. I thought seperating myself from “them” was the right thing to do based on tradition and beliefs that were passed down to me throughout life.

  • somebody

    I have a couple very good friends who are Christians and they are great people. But sadly I would have to say they are definitely in the minority. I don’t know whether I would call myself agnostic or atheist. Religion is not a part of my life at all. Most of my personal experience dealing with Christians has been extremely unpleasant. Most Christians I’ve met are quite pompous and so quick to judge anyone who is the slightest bit different from their very narrow view of what is “right”. They treat non Christians as if they’re beneath them. They say “I’ll pray for you” as if it’s a polite thing to say but really what it means is “You are not okay the way you are, you have to be like me because the way I am is what’s correct and you need to be fixed”. Then they wonder why people are so turned off by them. I think Jesus really did sound like a swell guy. So if you want to be a good Christian then maybe should keep asking yourself what would jesus do. Would jesus judge others or belittle them for their differences? I don’t think so. Yet this is something that most Christians do routinely to anyone unlike them. Arrogance and hypocrisy will win you no converts. And when you disrespect me with your smug, self righteous comments, don’t be surprised when I walk away.

  • Pastor Joe

    Because they fail the greatest command in the Bible which is to love. Love covers sin.

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