Monday, June 3, 2013
342 - The Elevator to the Top
Spirituality Column #342
June 4, 2013
Current in Carmel–Westfield–Noblesville–Fishers–Zionsville
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recommends friend and preacher Brent Riggs’ awesome and succinct article on Judging (link), or Google “Brent Riggs Don’t Judge.”
June 4, 2013
Current in Carmel–Westfield–Noblesville–Fishers–Zionsville
The Elevator to the Top
By Bob Walters
Do you dare to “judge”?
If you listen to a
sermon and then listen to the news, read the Bible and then read a newspaper,
go to church and then go to work, the world doesn’t seem like a very consistent
place, judgment-wise.
On the one hand we are taught that God is good, the Bible
is true, Jesus saves, the Holy Spirit breathes life, comfort and peace, and
that our faith in Christ and love of others is our open door to eternal
freedom.
On the other hand … we
hear the clanging gong of mankind’s relentless self-interest.
Personal convenience, comfort and desires largely govern our
modern world, thoroughly aided and abetted by advanced technology, instant
communication and lax social license. How
ironic it is that a proof-texted line from scripture is often the first line of
secular philosophical defense for unanchored, issue-driven, modern elitist
ethics.
“Do not judge” should be the fallen world’s motto.
This scriptural instruction, in various terms, appears in
Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37, John 7:24, and James 4:11 covering various contexts of
love and righteousness. Not one simply
says “do not judge” and leaves it at that.
Still, the phrase seems to be the only biblical sentiment much of the
world insists everyone else follow.
Pick from among the
political, social, or moral hot buttons of our time – abortion, gay marriage,
gay Boy Scouts, gun control, health care, immigration, government scandals,
social economic polarization, liberal media, conservative talk radio – pick
anything that will get an argument going.
Somewhere in the conversation will surface a secularized plea with the shoplifted
mantra of faux-scriptural authority: “Do not judge.”
Forgetting, of course,
that to be on any side of any issue requires judgment.
My mission here is not
to settle the great secular discussions of our time or to judge anyone’s spiritual
bona fides on the knotty problems of behavior and faith our modern world
presents to every one of us. My mission
is to expose and to “judge” the oxymoronic silliness of arguing against God’s biblical
truth and judgment with an abridged and misapplied Bible verse about truth and judgment.
As secularized social
and political debates transit one’s cultural conversations, be wary of biblically-tinged
arguments that intone “do not judge.” It
may or may not signal lack of faith, but it surely signals lack of biblical
understanding. The Bible pleads with us
to use our judgment to seek God’s truth all
the time.
Use that judgment to elevate common discussion above the fallenness of
earthly agendas. And remember, judgment at
the top belongs to Jesus Christ.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recommends friend and preacher Brent Riggs’ awesome and succinct article on Judging (link), or Google “Brent Riggs Don’t Judge.”
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