Tuesday, February 10, 2015

THE BOOK ON JUDGES

"But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore..." - Romans 14:10-13a



Joel Osteen

There hasn't been a more polarizing name within evangelical Christianity in my lifetime. You would be hard pressed to find anyone inside or even outside of the Body of Christ who hasn't heard of Joel. You certainly can't swing a dead church anywhere in Houston, Texas without hitting an ocean of opinions about Joel, Lakewood Church, or the ministries birthed from that church.

Okay, here's where I put my disclaimers:

I do not know Joel Osteen.
I've never met the man.
I've never spoken to him.
I've never read anything he's written.
My only experience with Joel Osteen are the few times I've stopped my channel surfing to watch and listen to one of Lakewood Church's heavily edited 30 minute programs.

I have my opinions about Joel Osteen's preaching style, sermon content, and physical appearance. That and $5.00 will get you a big cup of Starbucks.

My reason for invoking the name of Joel Osteen is to discuss a disease within the Body of Christ that has been running rampant for generations. In fact, this soul sickness has been around since the enemy of our souls introduced doubt about God's Word into man's thought processes (Genesis 3:1).

This disease is at the root of the mass exodus of many modern church-goers. It is the primary reason for the birth and existence of all of Christianity's denominations and sub-denominations. It is a foundational cause for all of the church fights, church splits, and pastoral vacancies.

The disease is pride and its manifestation as ungodly judgment between God's people.

Pride's impact on humanity began in Eden and has carried its viral destruction across human history. Pride is insidious, deceptive, nearly impossible to self-diagnose, and its impact on the Body of Christ at large cannot be overstated.

Think I've entered hyperbole-land?  Here's a fun exercise. Drop Joel Osteen's name on your Twitter feed or your Facebook page. It doesn't matter what light you paint him in. You can be negative or positive in your post. Just type Joel Osteen's name and wait. I guarantee, before the sun sets, your Facebook/Twitter feed will be filled with positive and negative declarative statements from pride-filled people about a man they have never met, never spoken to, and know absolutely nothing about save for what they've seen, heard, or read from his ministry output.

Does anyone see the problem with that scenario?

Opinions are fine. Everybody's got them and I'm certainly not advocating the abolition of sharing opinions about any given subject. If I were to do that, I'd have to shut this blog down and stop preaching, teaching, or basically speaking out loud to anyone.  Forming and sharing opinions is not the problem.

The problem is when we believe our opinions are divinely inspired and profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

I find it humorous that whenever the subject of ungodly judging comes up in an instructional setting, those that feel they have the right to sit in judgment of their fellow believers usually run to their favorite justifications for their actions:

Judging Justification #1: God's word tells us to judge one another. I'm just obeying the scriptures.

Judging Justification #2: There are wolves out there devouring the sheep. Somebody's got to warn them before it's too late!

Judging Justification #3: You telling me I'm being judgmental is judgmental. You're a hypocrite and I don't have to listen to you anymore.

To the first point, I will agree God's Word does indeed give instruction for saint-on-saint judging (1 Corinthians 5:12, 6:1-5; Philippians 1:9). However, in the context of those scriptures, there is the understanding that the individuals charged with judging be "filled with the fruits of righteousness" (Philippians 1:11). In other words, judging has requirements beyond owning a Bible and possessing the ability to form thoughts and opinions about any given subject.

To the second point, I agree there are wolves seeking to devour the sheep. However, I would also add that it is very difficult to discern wolves from sheep without God's involvement in the process. It has been my experience that many who are on the hunt for the wolves do so from an intellectual, human perspective than a spiritual one. If you doubt this statement, you haven't been on any of the Christian forums found on the internet.

To the third point, I would ask a simple question. What was the difference between the Pharisees calling Jesus a heretic and Jesus calling the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers?  Judgment was invoked on both sides but only one side was using 'godly judgment'. The other side (see: Pharisees) were using what Christ described as judging "according to the flesh".

I could write on this subject for a while, complete with a lot of personal anecdotes.  The plain truth is, we all struggle with understanding the difference between our personal opinions/preferences and Holy Spirit-led discernment. God knows I've misjudged many people and situations over the years because I was blinded to my capacity for pride-filled, ungodly judgment. The stories I could tell of mistakes I've made on this front could fill several books.

On the flip side, I've also been the subject of many people's judgments. In every case those who judged me and my family were firmly convinced of their infallibility in correctly identifying error and sin in my and my family's lives. They could not have been more wrong.

The truth of the matter is, when we speak words of judgment on other believers, we are speaking on behalf of God. This cannot be overstated. Speaking on behalf of God carries a great deal of responsibility, including penalties for failing to represent Him properly.

Not just anyone can hold the title of 'judge'; not on Earth nor in Heaven. Judges must be appointed and that appointment only comes once the appointee has met the requirements for being a judge. No one with any measure of sanity would consider it appropriate for someone to walk into a court of law, grab a black robe, take a seat in the judge's chair, and start presiding over court cases. Yet most of God's people have no problem appointing themselves judges in God's kingdom because they have tenure and/or title in a church, have sat through a number of Bible studies and/or sermons, and have a copy of the Bible in their possession.

It takes more to be a judge in God's kingdom than a collection of memory verses and a pulse.

At the risk of being misjudged as insulting, I will spell out the biblical requirement for godly judging for you:

Godly Judging Requirement: The godly judge must be submitted to the Lord The Righteous Judge.

That's it. That's the requirement.  Of course, elaboration is needed lest any be deceived into thinking they automatically meet this requirement because of their church attendance or biblical knowledge.

"Submitted" means more than a token excursion into the spiritual realm whenever we feel like attending church or have to pray to God when there's an emergency. "Submitted" also means more than a duty-bound, legalistic approach to serving God wherein our pride is 'puffed up' by our collection of spiritual merit badges earned by every act of compliance to a man-centric form of church service.

Submission means complete 24/7 sacrifice of our will and ways to God. If we are not willing to truly make Christ the Lord of our lives, we have no business speaking on His behalf; ESPECIALLY in the area of judging others.

If we are not obeying God in our daily 24/7 lives, we are not qualified to question anyone else's obedience of God. To do so is to enter into the hypocrisy that Christ spoke against throughout His earthly ministry (John 8:15).

If we are bringing judgment against sinners who commit sins we are not guilty of but are doing nothing to purge ourselves (2 Timothy 2:21) of our own sins and weaknesses, we have no credibility as a 'righteous judge' and as such our judgments become 'obstacles' and 'stumbling blocks' instead of spiritual correctives. (Romans 14:13b)

I realize these statements are not popular, especially among those who have placed themselves in the position of judging others. But the truth is if we haven't met the qualifications for speaking on behalf of God in the form of godly judgment, we need to sit down, yoke up with Christ, and learn of Him (Matthew 11:29).  If you don't know what those qualifications are, you REALLY need to yoke up with Christ before you engage in any judgmental activities.

My reason for approaching this subject is at the core of my being. It isn't just my personal experience in ministry or my tenure in church that drives me to bring instruction on this controversial subject. It is my passion to see God's people matured into Spirit-filled, Spirit-led vessels of honor that drives me. I am eager to pass on what God has been teaching me about the Christian lifestyle. I am filled with this singular passion and it is this passion that has brought me to a level of relationship with Christ that I never knew was possible on this side of eternity.

It is in the bowels of Christ that I have learned and am still learning how to see this Earth through His eyes. It is during an extended season of being yoked up with Him that I have begun to see and understand the difference between leaning on my own understanding and leaning on His everlasting arms.

God did not call us to be wolf hunters. He did not instruct us to identify and remove the goats/tares from the sheep/wheat. We are not put on this earth to seek and destroy those who do not preach like we would preach, teach the way we would teach, or serve the way we would serve.  What God wants us to do is walk in humble obedience with Him and let Him lead us into all truth. He wants us to live a sanctified, submissive, sacrificial life. He desires us to make Him Lord over every aspect of our lives.

When we succeed in consistently and habitually living as a vessel of honor, then we are qualified to speak on His behalf.  That includes many different types of manifestations, including divinely guided discernment and judgment.

Filled with God, we can and do operate supernaturally.

Filled with self, all we have to lean on are our five senses and the knowledge we've collected over the years.

I'll let you judge for yourself which way is preferable to our King...