In this section, I want to talk a
little about judging though I have spoken somewhat on that subject in other M-G
articles. Nonetheless, believers embracing the “judge not” doctrine from the
world of the spiritually blind is a classic illustration of going into
theological absurdity as a believer. Based on what we have learned in Part 5 since the natural (1 Cor 2:14) or sensual (Jude 1:19) man does not have the
Holy Spirit, it is foolishness for any believer to take the world’s spin on the
Scriptures. When the devil tempted Jesus, Satan misquoted the Word. This is to
be expected from the world who is of the devil. And our response is to rebuke
the devil and his people by quoting Scripture contextually.
Such
a practice of taking the world's point of view on Scripture is
analogous to listening to a man born blind who claims to be an expert art
critic or using a blind guide to lead an expedition up Mount Everest.
Believers can only understand Scripture truth by the Holy Spirit; how in the
world can a spiritually blind man instruct a believer, “having not the Spirit”
(Jude 1:19)? And yet, we have numerous believers, preachers, and parishioners
alike, buying into the world’s “judge not” doctrine! Their only defense is
“only God knows the heart,” [duh] while they overlook the fact that Jesus
commanded us to judge, but with one caveat; we must do it righteously, not
superficially or hypocritically like the Pharisees (Jn 7:24; Mt 7:1-5).
God only knows how many of us
may have encouraged others to continue unholy living because we didn’t want to
offend anyone by violating the cultural taboo of judging another. Of course,
God only knows the heart (1 Sam 16:7; Jer 17:10; Heb 4:12, 13), but we would be
hard-pressed to justify from the Word of God the refusal to judge another.
Righteous judgment (Jn 7:24)
implies that it is aligned with the Scriptures. It implies that there is a
wrong way to judge and a right way. It is about holy judgment, not hypocritical
judgment like the Pharisees. It’s good to remember that whenever we point the
finger, there are three fingers pointing back at us.
So many believers are obsessed
with metaphor and reason, seeking negotiation of the truth of the Word to avoid
being offensive while the enemy sees no reason not to be offensive and attacks the Church. The world wants the Christians to adopt the “judge not” policy
[toward them] while they [the world of the lost] continue to unfairly judge,
belittle, and persecute followers of Jesus Christ.
What makes the “judge not”
doctrine so appealing, in my opinion, is that it is very conducive to a Judges
21:25b mindset, “Everyone did what was
right in his own eyes,” not God’s eyes, His Word. Or how about this one in the
spirit of that verse, “You mind your own business, and I’ll mind mine for only
God knows the heart.”
Where is the accountability to
the body of Christ with such a mentality? Have we not figured it out by now
that if a doctrine claiming to be based on the Bible appeals to the flesh, it stands to high reason that those verses of the Bible are taken out of their context?
As we take up the mantra of the world to “Judge not,” we are actually saying,
“Judge not [me]!” It’s a subtle ellipsis (an intentional omission of a word or
words that would clarify a statement). We got a stake in that interpretation and a
little wiggle room. Have we not learned that we can’t trust the world’s view on
Scripture? But here we are anyway, using the “judge not” doctrine as an example
of believers going into theological absurdity by embracing it as Scriptural
truth! Matthew 7:1 is one of the most verses taken out of context in all
of Scripture!
If you are one who has bought
off on the world’s position to “judge not,” have you informed Jesus in your
prayers that He was wrong about Mt 7:16a, “You will know them by their fruits?”
Did you let Jesus also know that He was mistaken about the mouth revealing the
heart, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Mt 12:34)? Have
you corrected Jesus for commanding us to judge others righteously in Jn 7:24,
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment?” One
other thing, you might want to inform Jesus that you are uncomfortable with
self-judgment to avoid chastening (cf. 1 Cor 11:31)! I think those who are not
judging others are not judging themselves either; now, I have gone to meddling,
right?
The truth about judging is that Jesus frowned upon judging by appearance (Jn 7:24) and by hypocrisy, using the Pharisees as a prime example (Mt 7:1-5); He was not saying to completely stop judging lock, stock, and barrel, “Judge not, that you be not judged,” as if a warning not to judge at all (Mt 7:1)! Look at Mt 7:5, “...remove...and then...remove.” The danger of judging is judging unrighteously by appearance or hypocritically or both. Jesus never intended for believers to throw out the baby with the bathwater! They do so because they have taken the world’s point of view on judging others, “How dare you judge me or assert your values on me!” by the world, and “How dare you judge me; only God knows the heart!” by the Christians.
Do you avoid judging others
outwardly to “Let sleeping dogs lie?” Maybe you are one of those who thinks
that Jesus contradicted Himself? I hear that from those who hold to a low view
of Scripture all the time. They would have you believe that the Word of God is
full of errors because it is a book of man or the OT is out of date, and the NT
is full of errors, et al (cf. Rom 15:4; 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21)!
One reason why I talked about revelation, inspiration,
and illumination in this series is that our view of God is no higher than our
view of the Word? No wonder the CEO of this world wants to trash the Word. It is
the only offensive piece in our panoply of spiritual armor, the sword of the
Spirit (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12). We are more vulnerable to the attack by the enemy
if we keep the Word of God sheathed. God’s Word helps us to fend off spiritual
assaults and strike a deadly blow to Satan’s strategies against us.
Another reason was to show the
Holy Spirit’s involvement in all three Divine activities which supports my
assertion of just how theologically ludicrous it is for the pneumatikos (spiritual, born again) man
(1 Cor 2:15) to listen to the psuchikos (natural
or sensual, lost, not having the Spirit) man (1 Cor 2:14; Jude 1:19). Imagine
the ludicrous nature of any sons of Light adopting the interpretation of the
Bible from the sons of darkness!
Here’s the kicker on those
believers advocating to “judge not.” From the Sermon on the Mount, we see a
principle that reveals not only the expansion of our sinfulness before God, but
by application, we see that silent judging is still judging from God’s point of
view. This suggests that believers refusing to obey Jesus’ command to judge
with righteous judgment, which means not according to appearance (Jn 7:24a) and
without hypocrisy (Mt 7:1-5), are actually judging far more than they are
willing to admit while maintaining only God knows the heart! Did we not know
that absurdity breeds more absurdity? And this silent judging may involve
judging on the surface and judging hypocritically. We will see in the conclusion
of this series in Part 7 that we will not get away scot-free by focusing only
on the outward act but not the sin of the heart.
This principle revolves around
how God looks at our behavior. It is quite illuminating and disturbing in a
probable misconception of holiness before God. It is a general truth we are
aware of, but so many of us have not had that OMG realization of the extent of
our sinfulness before God and the pressing need for purity continually in the
daily routines of living because we are leaving our thought-life out of the
equation on holiness before God Almighty or dismissing it as inconsequential;
sin is mistakenly considered only in the act, not the thought.
We see nothing in the command to
be holy in our behavior of any half-hearted holiness, lukewarm holiness, or
selective holiness (1 Pet 1:15-16). We are holy in our behavior, or we are not.
This behavior includes our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Winding it up, we will look
closer at this inward dynamic, the stuff behind the hidden, that exacerbates
our holiness before God, a place where there are “labyrinths of impurity.” Once
again, we will see Jesus correcting the misinterpretation of Scripture with His
Words, “But I say.” Hopefully, in this one powerful
verse of Scripture, we will understand more clearly that Jesus does not separate
our thoughts, words, or deeds. We, of course, may not see it that way, and
therein lies the problem for most of us! <><
(1Co
11:31) For if we would judge ourselves,
we would not be judged.
Thot:
Whenever the devil and the world say, “For it is written,” they are more
concerned with an agenda than the context of truth.
Tender
Moment: God wants for you to take Him at His Word, to know the difference
between spiritual error and the truth. The Word is your only offensive weapon
against the enemy. For surely, the tempter will come again, and again, and
again to try and deceive you into letting go of something of great value without
realizing it until after the bad choice. Think of Eve, long and hard.
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| To Part 7 |
