Don’t Judge a Book by it’s Cover

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24

Maybe you have heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” I personally learned this while at my school library, back when I was in the second grade. Up until that point in my life, unless the book had some pictures to go along with the story, I wouldn’t read them. I liked the illustrations throughout the book to help me picture the story in my head. The cover of the book was especially important to me. If I didn’t like the way the picture looked on the front cover, I wouldn’t even open it up to the first page. 

However, one day the library was giving out some free books to the students, so I decided to have a look to see what there was. I must have gotten there after a bunch of the other students, because by the time I got there, the only books that were left were books without any jackets or pictures on the covers. They were all plain, with the title of the book written in plain text. I don’t know why, but that time I decided to pick up one of those books, and actually start to read it. Just looking at the book that I had chosen didn’t inspire me very much, but as I slowly read the story, I began to enjoy it more and more, and I in fact enjoyed that book more than any of the others that I had ever read up to that time. All that time, I had been judging books by their cover, instead of what was inside.

That is similar to how people sometimes judge each other. Sometimes people judge each other just by their physical appearance. A person might be dressed in old clothes, with stains or rips in them. They might look disheveled or unkept. But they might be one of the nicest people that you will ever meet. Similarily, a person might look exceptionally sharp and well dressed, may talk intelligently and seem outwardly good, but in reality they are filled with evil inside.

In the time of Christ, Jesus upbraided many of the religious leaders and Pharisees because they appeared outwardly that they were righteous and holy, but they were filled with iniquity and sin. To the normal, average, everyday person, the Pharisees must have seemed like holy men, but Jesus didn’t judge them according to their physical appearance. He judged them according to their deeds and actions.

In John 8, the Pharisees were speaking with Jesus, and they told Him that they were the children of Abraham, but Jesus told them:

“I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 

I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 

Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 

Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 

He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” John 8:37-47

So you see, they were claiming to be the children of Abraham, but their deeds showed otherwise. It was all just for show for them. Abraham loved and served God, but the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus! Jesus spoke the truth, and they wouldn’t believe in Him. 

They were kind of like a building from 100-200 years ago; the buildings that looked big from the street, but they just had a “false front” so they appeared bigger than they actually were.

The same kind of things are happening in “modern Christianity” today. People can flash a bright smile, dress beautifully, and try to appear to others like they are the children of God, but God doesn’t judge a person by their appearance, remember. The Pharisees dressed up in large, flowing robes, and prayed out in the open, but it was all just to be seen by men. It was all for show.

In Acts 20, Paul warned the church that after he was departed, men (grevious wolves, he called them) would arise from out of the church and try to draw people after them, and away from the church.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30

The devil is a crafty, cunning individual, and he will try to do anything that he can to try to turn people against Christ. Everyone has this image in their head that the devil is a monster with horns and a pitchfork, but the Bible teaches that he can appear as an angel of light. He can appear good and wonderful, and can come in many forms.

God doesn’t judge a person according to whether they are rich or poor. He doesn’t judge according to a person’s race or skin color, or how they dress, and neither should we. God judges the heart. Do they love His Son and are they keeping His teachings? Are they loving others? Are they keeping themselves from sin? Or is all just a sham?

Don’t judge a “book” by their cover. Look inside, and you will discover the truth.

In Christ,

Andrew