2008-09-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week in a second look at MT 7: 1-5, I was led to begin writing about our need to take utmost care in judging another person or a situation. 1) The words used and their timing should follow prayer for wisdom and compassion from God. They need to be chosen carefully and timed when the person or people involved are not preoccupied, in the heat of anger, or in some circumstances which interfere with them really understanding the message we are conveying. MT 18: 15-17 outlines the method God prescribes for dealing with problem people in a church setting. “If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back [LK 17: 3]. But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the Scripture [DT 19: 15] says. And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or tax collector.” 2) When making a judgment, we must be aware of the needs of those with whom we are communicating.
What this should say to us is be sure by investigating the situation completely and carefully first before making a judgment. Christ has very specific warnings and instructions where children are concerned, in LK 17: 1-5. “ Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Things that make people fall into sin are bound to happen, but how terrible for the one who makes them happen! It would be better for him if a large millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch what you do! If you brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents , forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in one day, and each time he comes to you saying, ‘I repent.’ You must forgive him.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Make our faith greater.’” Any rush to judgment doesn’t take into consideration extenuating circumstances or a thorough investigation of the facts. When our emotions are driving our thoughts and actions, it is likely that the devil is establishing a stronghold in the person doing the judging. The same can be said for motives of the flesh driving behavior. Some examples of this are rushing to judgment for political reasons, reasons of wresting decision-making power over others. Rushing to judgment caused a great deal of trouble when a person’s behavior became erratic in my own past. Later, it was found that this person had a brain tumor that was affecting his cognition and behavior. Once the condition was treated, the erratic behavior stopped. A lot of people ended up with egg of their faces for having rushed to judgment. Thankfully, they apologized and were forgiving, but not before the person in question suffered much needless pain and sorrow. Next comes 3).
There needs to be an orderly method of judgment. God provides this for us in 2 COR 10: 3-5, “It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” Malevolence and mean-spirited judgments leveled on another don’t obey Christ’s directives in any way. Remember MT 7: 1-2 telling us that we will be judged as we judge others? Judgments made with fleshly ulterior motives never obeyed RO 14: 13, “So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide to never to do anything that would make your brother stumble of fall into sin.” There is no place in heaven or on earth for holding grudges, rushing to judgment with flesh-driven motives, or making mean-spirited judgments that ruin a person’s reputation. When I was younger two other family members did this to me. I can’t tell you how painful it was. And yes, God eventually passed His own judgments on the two wrongdoers, but by then, the damage was done. Later, it was proven that their judgments were wrongful. The lesson I learned from this was two-fold. Be careful to choose your friends wisely, and always be the kind of person with whom confidences can be safely shared.
The rush to judgment, a poorly-conceived investigation, lack of connection to the Father, and mean-spirited prejudice all played a part in the cruelest of all judgments, that of Jesus Christ by his own countrymen. While it is true that God ordained that Christ should suffer and die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, Christ was human enough to have some human thoughts about all of this in the Garden of Gethsemane, as we see in LK 22: 42, “’Father,’ He said, ‘if You will, take this cup of suffering away from Me. Not My will, however, but Your will be done.’” Yet in the end, Christ was scourged, beaten, and went to the cross, so that we could be saved. What greater love can there be than giving One’s life for the salvation of mankind?
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You in utter reverence for Your superior attributes and heroic actions. Without You, we are lost, mired in sin that leads to certain spiritual death. With You and the power Christ gave us to be obedient to Your direction, we can emerge victorious in the name of Jesus Christ against sin and destruction. Dear Father, we have all seen the chaos in our society that rushing to judgment, judging without considering the needs of the person we are judging, and not using an orderly method of judgment can cause. In the past history of America from the mid 19th to the early 20th centuries, the rush to judgment often led to innocent people being hung by groups of vigilantes. The acts of prejudice against minorities were widespread in our country, because of myths about them being inferior to the majority. How quickly we forget the accomplishments of Jews, African Americans, and other minorities right here in America! By no means are Americans in the time period mentioned above the only ones guilty of insensitivity to the needs of others. Evil motives forwarding a rush to judgment have been with mankind throughout their history. Today, we must pray PS 19: 12-13, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” Our prayer continues with PS 51: 10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” We know that each of us is capable of rushing to judgment, making poorly-conceived judgments, or using impure and wrongful motives to drive our judgments. Help us, O Dearest Abba, to refrain from this behavior and to right our thoughts and decision-making to conform with Your will. We acknowledge Your superior wisdom and power, and Your compassionate intervention in our lives. We offer You our praise and thanks for Your marvelous presence in the lives of all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is in His mighty and holy name that we offer up this prayer. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit is leading me to write about our need to avoid projecting our own problems upon others in the matter of judgment, and if space permits, begin looking at the parallels between MT 7: 1-5 and RO 2: 1-6, 17-24. Yielding our spirits to God’s Holy Spirit isn’t always easy. It involves submission of the will of the flesh to the will of the Lord. People who learn to do this find real power, the power given to them by the Lord Jesus Himself. There is no weakness in yielding to the Holy Spirit. The one who does this is acutely aware at all times that God is near. PS 145: 18, “He is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him in sincerity.” Calling on God is one of the most important things we can do. It is enormously comforting to know we are never alone or abandoned when we endure in faithful reverence of Him. PS 68: 19, “What a glorious Lord! He Who daily bears our burdens also gives us our salvation.” Remaining in close, loving relationship with our Creator through prayer, an open channel to Him in which we should always let Him speak first, and through daily study of His word pleases Him and blesses us. PS 119: 24, 93, “Your instructions give me pleasure; they are my advisers…I will never neglect Your instructions, because by them You have kept me alive.” Having a forgiving heart releases much pent up tension in one’s life. When we are forgiving, God can share His own pleasure at defeating the devil’s propensity for leading people into grudge-holding and other evil. PS 32: 1, “Oh, what joy for those who rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!” God is forgiving and wants us to be that way. Just think how wonderful God’s attitude is, as seen in HE 8: 12, “I will forgive their sins and will not longer remember their wrongs.” Need I say more?
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn