.jpg)
The word Judge in biblical terms means two things; firstly, to judge is to condemn someone based on a certain righteous standard they might have failed to attain. That kind of judgment is reserved only for the Almighty Himself, whose throne of judgment we will all stand before, not many days from now. The second type of judging something or someone has to do with making a distinction between truth and error, what is right and what is wrong. The right term for this is the word “discernment”. This kind of judgment is part of our daily Christian life. We all must examine, test and observe everything in light of the truth that is already revealed in the Christian Bible. In other words, we all judge, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. In fact, we have to. This is what Jesus meant in the Gospel of John, when He said, “In your judgment, do not judge with appearance but judge with righteous judgment.” I am a little surprised that many intelligent believers who read their Bibles every day don’t seem to know that Scripture commands us to have sober minds, so as to examine, test, judge and make distinctions with matters concerning the genuineness of our own profession, the teachings of our leaders, the behaviors of other believers and even the spirits that come in the name of God. Here are just two examples
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? – 1 Corinthians 6:5
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world – 1 John 4:1
The hypocrisy of the “do not judge” crowd
I suppose I have presented enough evidence that judging is a Biblical thing that is fundamental to the well-being of the Gospel message itself. Yet I have observed that there are some folks – Lord have mercy on them – who deliberately ignore the rest of the Bible, and willingly pluck out “do not judge” kicking & screaming out of the Holy Scriptures and use it to defend clear error and obvious false teachers. According to them, bad doctrine must be left unrefuted, regardless of the damage it inflicts upon innocent souls and the reputation of God’s Name. Somehow their conscience can handle any kind of falsehood, except for the truth that confronts that falsehood. Even more, they think it is okay for them to rebuke you for what they think is wrong, while they deny you that same freedom. In other words, you are not allowed to judge false prophets but they are allowed to judge you. “Just leave it to God”, they say, yet they can’t follow their own advice and “leave you to God”. That is hypocrisy of the highest rank. Next time you hear someone say “Do not Judge”, don’t hesitate to shake your head because there is no sincerity to such statements – just agendas to defend sinful behaviors.
Furthermore, the people who push the “Do not judge, just leave it to God”, actually do it because they elevate human beings (their leaders), above Christ, and their faith is based on these “super anointed men”, not on Jesus Himself. Hence they have no Biblical response to those who criticize the error of their spiritual leaders except the anger of “judge not”.
Love and truth are not enemies
Another ideology that many religious persons have come to embrace is that one who speaks the truth has no love. I hear today that we are all supposed to preach “love, love and more love”. Their appeal is another misuse of a Bible verse “God is love”. Indeed God is love, but He is also holy and just. His love is certainly not an approval for sin, is it? These love folks also believe loving someone is only telling them positive words that tickle their ears; to tolerate anything and anyone no matter how lost they are. That my friend, is not love. In fact, that is the worst form of hate. I imagine myself being blind; totally not aware of a sure danger before me, do you think it’s okay for my own friends to let me stagger towards that ditch, all in the name of love? Of course not!
The silly argument I have heard is that “we must not offend people, we need to love like Jesus”. Agreed with a follow-up question: are you saying that Jesus and Paul didn’t rebuke and correct the wrong? If they did (as evidenced in Scripture), then does that mean they had lost their love for the people? You see friend, there is much at stake when it comes to spiritual things. Many souls are literally burning sticks that need to be snatched from the fire. And the way to do that is to be proclaimers of Biblical truth, with love yes, but also without fear or favour. Some need to be taught, others need to be encouraged and corrected, yet there is another kind that needs to be rebuked – sharply (Titus 1:13). That is what love does. Therefore, truth and love and are not enemies, on the contrary, true love rejoice in truth (1 Cor 13:6).
Conclusion
There is a day of judgment on which all of us will stand before the righteous Judge and give account for our lives. In the meanwhile, He calls us His people to judge between that which is true and that which is false. It’s part of looking out for one another and is another way of preserving the purity of the Christian doctrine. Go and do likewise.
Sinothi Ncube
Comments
Post a Comment