To Judge or Not to Judge

The following response to an earlier post caught my attention, and I wanted to address it fully.  This line of reasoning has been around for some time and I just can not abide by it.  I’ll explain why.  But first a look at the posted response.

 

 

“Anonymous said…

This was in my mailbox as part of my Bible verse of the day and I thought of you.  Romans 14:1-13.  (See passage)

<snipped for brevity>

I pray that you consider that you risk losing someone by judging them.”

 

 

The key verse in this passage is Romans 14:4, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”

 

Thus the idea is promoted that the Christian should not judge.

 

There are two fundamental differences between what I promote and what this passage condemns.

 

First:  The passage is clearly written about Christians passing judgment upon other Christians.  I agree with the passage, that such a practice is wrong.  From time to time you will hear a minister condemn the activities of another minister.  That is a bad business.  As we grow in the Lord it is important to learn that God calls each of us to unique avenues of ministry.  My favorite example is to compare Noah with Moses, both had the problem of getting a large group over a body of water.  Noah was instructed by God to build a boat, and the fact that he did so makes him a great man of the faith.  But if Moses had followed Noah’s example at the red sea… it would have been a sin.  Moses was given different instructions, as were fitting to the situation.  This is confusing to the new converts.  But what it means is that we should not criticize OTHER CHRISTIANS just because they do things differently than we would.  This is normal, expected and even part of God’s overall plan. 

 

Second:  The activity in question is not something that is clearly contrary to the Laws of God.  Neither the parting of the Red Sea or the building of a boat is a violation of any of the ten commandments.  Please note that there is a huge difference between violating the laws of God and violating the traditions of various denominations.  Mankind is always writing rules.  The Scribes and Pharases turned God’s basic laws into several volumes of man-made rules.  Any Law Library is another example of this fact.  Every denomination has it’s version of the Doctrine and Covenants, whether or not they have stopped and wrote them down.  Men like rules!  BUT the only rules that we will be held to at the great judgment, are those which are given to us by God.  Those are the only ones that really count.

          Also note that there is a huge difference between expounding on the Law of God and passing judgment.  How can anyone keep God’s laws if they do not know what they are?  And how can they know what the Laws are, if no one teaches them?  But teaching the Law is not pointing our finger at someone and calling them a sinner.  It is the act of expounding or promoting the Laws of God.  Nor is admonishing people not to lie or steal a judgment of any particular individual.  It is educating them that the act itself is a sin.  In other words, I maintain that exposing sin is not the same thing as exposing the sinner.

 

Now that I have defined the differences between what I believe we should be doing, from what we should not be doing.  I’d like to explain WHY we should be doing this.  Okay?

 

The biblical cautions against being judgmental are clear and oft quoted. But these assertions have been so overstated that they impress me like the difference between being open minded and being so open minded that have become mindless.  Are Christians really supposed to be so judgment free that they become the epitome of indiscretion?  I think not!  The act of discerning right from wrong is a fundamental exercise in judgment.  Learning right from wrong is a lifelong process and a fundamental part of Christianity!  But that isn’t all.  It isn’t enough to pursue this for yourself only.  The “Live and let Live” philosophy of life.  I think God calls us to do more than that.

 

A part of being a Christian is being salt and light to the world.  Salt is a preservative.  We are supposed to help preserve the nations.  The scripture asks the provocative question, that if salt looses its flavor, how will you season it?  Then it points out that flavorless salt is good for nothing.  My take on that?  Simple, if the Christians look like, act like, sound like the world… well if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and acts like a duck, it is a duck.  Christians who blend in too well with the world, so that you can’t tell the difference between them and the lost, are not being salt or light.

 

To make the point a little sharper, we need only consider God’s word to Ezekiel.  See Ezekiel 3:17-21.

 

“17.  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

 18.  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

 19.  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

 20.  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

 21.  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.”

 

As I understand this, if we are not warning the lost of the consequences of sin, then their blood is on our hands.  We are accountable.

 

Haven’t we all been commissioned to spread the gospel message?  Are not we all given that task?  Then I ask you this; how can you tell people about the saving grace of Jesus, if and when the lost know nothing about God, God’s Law or their sin?  You might as well be telling them that Santa Cause threw himself on a live grenade to save them from the bogeyman under the bed.  It is all a bunch of silly nonsense to them.  You have to start, like the book of Genesis starts, with the existence of God, that God created everything, and that means it all belongs to Him, and that because he owns it, he has the right to make the rules.  Then I need to know what his rules are, forsaking all the man-made tripe, and then I need to figure out whether I’m guilty or innocent by those rules.  Then and only then will the gospel message become meaningful. 

 

What they do with that message, is between them and God.  But if we fail to warn the world about the whole “the wages of sin is death,” thing, then we are the ones who sin before God.

 

-Pastor Torch.

Endurance 05

The pitfall of false apostles. During his travels Paul ran into this cleaver little scam. Think of the guy who is riding a donkey and gets it to move by dangling a carrot in front of its nose. In like manner a false apostle is someone who uses what motivates you to get you to do his work. They see that you want to grow in the Lord and that you’re striving to learn the things of God. So they tell you all sorts of great stories and stuff on one hand, but with the other they make certain requests known. They need money, they need food, they need you to serve them in some manner. Hold the phone. So do all pastors, teachers and priests. So what is the difference? Ah… good question. The difference is when they sell you on the idea, somehow, that what they offer is special and you will only receive it, if you get it from them. Remember that God is no respecter of persons. What he will do for others, he will do for you. So no man has anything special and unique from God. Neither can any church, organization or group make that claim. The only unique name in the Bible is the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. The word says that there is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved. Therefore the one thing you need from God, Salvation, is given to you directly by Jesus. No man, no organization, no group, no not even a church or a prayer room full of ordained ministers can do anything to affect that. So when you find that the teachings of this one or that one is starting to bring you under bondage to them, rather than closer to Jesus, well, you are being lead astray by a false apostle. These critters can be hard to discern from the real thing, and a mite hard to deal with. But here is something I learned the hard way. The false apostle will eventually reveal their true heart. You know that where your treasure is, you heart will be also? If their heart is with anything other than God, that is your queue! Common maladies are the love of money, power, prestige, and/or fame. Hints of such maladies may be discerned when for example a pastor declines an opportunity to minister to the lost because: ‘it costs too much’, ‘they would not become members of this church so it isn’t expedient for us to do so’, ‘our mission is elsewhere right now and that would just put an unnecessary burden on everyone’, or ‘if we did that, the press would have a field day at our expense!’. If you have heard any of these lines, or anything like it, you have been given a clue that the person does not have his heart in the right place. Pray for that person and be on guard. Do not allow them to ensnare you and burden you. If you do, you’ll eventually become aware that you have been made an (er) donkey … out of.

Endurance 04

The pitfall of self. Did you know that the Bible is full of time-tested advice about how to deal with life’s problems? It motivates the faithful toward self-awareness, self improvement, and it leads them to success. Did you know that the faithful tend to live longer and with a greater quality of health? But the Christian faith is neither a self-improvement program, nor a path to success and it is not a health plan. The fundamental difference between self-improvement programs, get rich scams and health enhancement programs lies in your motivation. If you are motivated by self-interest, self-promotion, self-enhancement… if what drives you is what you can get out of it, then you have missed the boat entirely. You are self-centered, maybe even proud. Christianity is not something that is self-motivated, but in fact it is self-sacrificing. It is just the opposite from what the world sells. Romans chapter 12 talks to us about being a “living sacrifice” for God. Jesus demonstrated this by washing the feet of his disciples, a task normally given to the lowest servant. He taught that those who desire to be first, come in last, but those who prefer to put others first, will be elevated to the seat of honor. When Jesus began his ministry, he started with a forty day fast. He was very hungry when he was done with this, and that is when He was tempted. The first thing he was tempted with, was to prove Himself the Son of God by turning stones into bread. Why would that have been wrong? You know, turning stone into bread is no more a sin by the law than was turning water into wine. But Jesus wouldn’t do it! Why? Could it be, because it would mean that he was using his power and authority, given to him by God, for selfish motives? He was the one who was hungry. He was the one who was being challenged. And no matter whether he did it to show his power, or to appease his hunger, to act as Satan suggested would have meant that He was doing it for himself, doing it selfishly. That would have been a sin. There is a message going around, that has missed this point. It is know as the “prosperity gospel” and it advises it’s followers to claim wealth and prosperity for themselves though the power of Jesus name. There is truth behind the message, but the fundamental point that they miss is that Jesus didn’t die on the cross to become your personal genie and wish fulfiller! In fact, God’s program is more like this: Jesus did the job you couldn’t do, he fulfilled the Law, so that we could do for him the thing that He could not do, populate the Kingdom of Heaven. It is accomplished through an exchange of lives. I give him my life and in return he gives me his. When you consider that my life is wretched, miserable and bound for eternal damnation, and that his is good, honorable, and bound for eternal glory, well this deal is a wonderful opportunity for me! But the key is, again, I have to lay down my life, my self-interest, my self-centeredness, and take up the cross that Jesus has for me to carry. If I never give up being the center of my life, I can never realize the life that Jesus has for me. The Christian has a lot of great and wonderful blessings to look forward to, but if your interest in the Christian Life because of what you will gain from it, you have already sabotaged yourself, and you will become disappointed and bitter. The Christian is not the center of his own world. He does not worship himself.

Homosexual Part 2 (My Responce)

Homosexuality Part 2 Wow, at this point I’ve had three responses to my ‘dilemma’. I used the homosexual group as an example of an audience that needs to be reached… and that has prompted some reaction. Anonymous reactions, but hey! Since I can’t address their assertions individually (I have no address to which to send a response) I’ll take a moment here to address them. The first and most basic question is the question of whether or not homosexuality is a ‘sin.’ But what is sin? Sin is a violation of God’s law, in the simplest of terms. In the broadest sense, the Bible says that for a man to know what is the right thing to do, and fail to do it, for him it is sin. That casts a very wide net. But if we just stick to the idea that sin is sin if it violates God’s Law, as it is written in the Bible, well, we can still show that this thing we call homosexuality is a sin. Leviticus 18:22 “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Leviticus 20:13 “And if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” And for those of you who think the Old Testament is of no consequence, here it is in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? (that means you don’t go to heaven) Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God,” As Jack Sparrow would say, “there is what a man can’t do, and there is what a man can do.” According to the Bible, those are things a man can’t do, but what of the things that a man can do? Did you know that we are commanded to love one another? Let me see, how did that go again? I think it is in Romans 12:9 “Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong(evil). Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Now I have a question for all of you. If you were in a position to see that the path I am on will soon end in certain death, what would you do? If you love me, really love me, you would not want to see me die, you would warn me and hope I’d listen and get off the path, change direction or something to avoid the impending doom. Right? Right! So, is it difficult for any to believe then, that the –most- loving thing I can do is to inform the homosexual that his chosen path leads to death? It is not out of hate, nor ignorance nor fear, that I say this. I have to tell him that, I am compelled to tell him that out of LOVE! Anything less would be empty words of blessing while we stand idly by and wait to watch them die. That would be hateful and unloving… saying nothing is hate. Informing them, that is love.

Endurance 03

Endurance 03 Before attempting to plot out the path of the new Christian, I think it would be good to point out a few common pitfalls. This would be things that one should avoid doing. By doing this we can trim off some of the numerous possibilities, and then we will be able to deal more handily with what is left over. I think the first pitfall comes to us from several directions. It can be said that Christ died for sin, past, present and future. This is true. But to then assume that a Christian can no longer do any wrong, and to further suggest that any effort on our part to avoid sin, is just a waist; well, that is pure nonsense! Now there are other ways in which this idea is presented, one approach has been dubbed “Greasy Grace”, and another is “Predestination.” Both of these lead to the same ultimate result. “Back-sliders” are what we call people who have gone back to living the same life they had before they were saved. This is the pitfall. It comes from becoming indifferent about your faith. Indifferent, apathetic, cold, or lazy can all be said of the person who is back-sliding. So is the person who is living this apathetic Christian life saved or lost? On one hand they have been forgiven, but on the other hand, ‘faith without works is dead.’ Since salvation is ‘by faith’, are they still saved when that faith is dead? Ultimately the question is not ours to determine. But we can look into the Word for a clue. I feel I have found the clue I need in Revelation 3:15-19. In the letter to the church (Christians) at Laodicea, God says, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (I don’t think that is a good thing. It doesn’t sound very saved to me.) “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.” Clearly then indifference is a bad thing, and diligence is a good thing. You can reserve your thoughts on the salvation question for a future time if you like, but at the very least this passage gives us a heading. Anything that would move us into an inactive, indifferent, or apathetic Christianity, is moving us in the wrong direction. Those things then, that move us to be active, diligent and watchful, those things are moving us in the right direction. Being a Christian is more than putting on a costume and pretending to be something that your not. It is more than signing up for a club and paying the dues. It is more than the observance of a new diet plan. We don’t start by counting the number of times we transgress God’s law and then slowly deprive of ourselves of those transgressions until we reach some desired level of righteousness! Christianity is a fundamental shift of the core beliefs. Jesus Christ becomes the foundation on which we build a completely new home, and a completely new lifestyle. Anything that remains of the old ways are probably nothing more than a pile of trash that is hindering you from enjoying the fullness of your new life. (more to come)

Endurance 02

Endurance 02 To be honest, I did not know, nor am I totally sure right now where I am headed with this discussion. I had a number of questions that I needed to work out the answer to, but God is faithful. In church last Sunday, I saw the guiding hand of God take the pastors sermon, which was based largely around baseball, and use it to put me on the right track. His sermon? “Hitting Your Way Out of a Slump.” Mr. and Mrs. American, I have news for you. You have lost your first love and you need to get it back. That passage in Revelation 2:2-5, that may as well have been written to us. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first.” (NLT). I think most of are aware of this on some level, but I want to point out just how far it has gone. The other day an employee of a large retail corporation was telling me that they were forbidden to say “God bless you” when a customer sneezed. They were told instead to just say, “Bless you”. Last night I channel surfed across one of these extreme video programs. A pickup truck had evaded the police and crashed. It spun around about thee times before coming to rest in the middle of the road, ejecting the passenger who was left lying on the street. The camera approached this man on the ground and caught his words which were both audible and sub titled for the audience. He called out, and they beeped over what was presumably a profanity forbidden by the FCC. TV and Radio broadcasters have a list of things they can not put or say on the air. But in the subtitles it read “J-----“ and I thought to myself, what cuss word starts with the letter ‘J’? Then it hit me. The man was calling out to Jesus! And that is what they cut out, bleeped over and considered too profane for the audience to hear! In contrast, right now I’m listening to a Top 40 radio station located in Spain. This is a secular station that plays only the songs that are on that nations top 40 list. And guess what I hear? I hear some songs that are all about God or Jesus. Some of which are more readily identified as ‘Christian music’ than a lot of what our local Christian music station plays everyday. The only such music to cross over from the ‘Christian’ stations to the popular stations here in America are those that DO NOT speak of God or of Jesus. Songs like ‘Butterfly Kisses’ which was nice, but had nothing to do with God. See the contrast? It is no longer a question of ‘Separation of Church and STATE’, we have progressed to the point where the things of God are considered socially unacceptable by PRIVATE parties that deal with the public. Private parties forbid the use of these words for FEAR of OFFENDING people. Think about that! How sad is that in a nation that was founded by and for the purpose of evading religious persecution? The FREE EXERCISE of religion is written into our laws as a guarantee of religious freedom, but our society has renounced the very faith that brought us this nation and this freedom! We have lost our first love! So what should we do? Take up arms and revolt? Build more churches? Invest in more outreach programs? Get a PR company to Christianity a total make-over? Who can hope to beat the advanced weaponry of our own government? America has more churches per capita than any other nation doesn’t it? We already have radio and TV dedicated to the ministry 24/7, what more could we ask for? Who would take charge of the PR corp? Few denominations agree enough with what message the Bible was written to express, imagine if they had to agree with what image we should all be identified with! Clearly we did not loose our first love because of these things, and attempting any of the above would be silly, or worse, even disastrous.