Bible study & prayer can be frustrating! When you get out of rhythm with it you are only left with a bad attitude. When you get into a rhythm of it you begin to be convicted by the Holy Spirit of things that hinder your walk with Jesus. My conviction over the past 2 weeks has been that of judging other people. Then when I get to this weeks passage for my sermon series which is James 4:1-12 I come across the word judge in the text. I do a little language work and notice that the word judge is in the present active mode which means that James is talking to those in the Church who are currently judging or involved in actively judging others. When it comes to understanding the Bible, context is everything! Read all of James 4:1-12 and notice how James not only talks about judging at the end, but he also talks about Church battles. I think this is a good text for all of us to memorize.I don't want anyone to think that by talking about judging others that I am suddenly Politically Correct because I probably will never cross that bridge. I am talking about judging others by tearing them in half verbally or internally because of what they say and what they do. We have many passages in the New Testament for those who sin against each other or the Church and refuse to repent. Those passages must be adhered to without wavering. But judging each other due to personality flaws seems to be a trend that has been around since the 1st Century. We forget that most of the time we have a fallen nature that is always battling with our Spiritual life. Remember Romans 7? Because of this battle we are so quick to point out most peoples faults instead of admitting our own and working through them. It could be my culture, my country, my upbringing, or perhaps my sinful nature that leads me to be so quick to pick apart others. No matter what label I ascribe to this sin it is still judging others which causes disharmony between myself and God and many around me. I am tired of the Church falling prey to this sin and I am tired of falling into this sinful trap.
I have realized through introspection and Holy Spirit conviction that I am guilty as charged by the Word of God! I realize as a Christian that I have an expectation to turn this around. I have made a commitment to God and myself that this must change. It will take time, prayer, hard work, and reliance on the Holy Spirit to get me to where I need to be. But I am willing to get through this because I have been stuck in this rut for several years now. Can you imagine being freed from the bonds of judgmentalism? I want to spend more time correcting myself and loving others than I do judging them. Remember the golden rule? We break that rule by being kind to ourselves and disrespectful to others when we pass our judgments on their faults and attitudes. I want to love like Jesus loved which means more grace and less judgmentalism. It is possible, but it requires effort.
2 comments:
Church discipline is at an all time low. I have talked to many who say that a fallen one should be loved back in. Even when you tell them that disfellowship is a last effort to get them to wake up they still say its too far.
The Church unfortunately has lost site of discipline within the body. You are correct! We definitely have a two-fold problem. We have the problem of judgmentalism and the problem of being too passive.
I have seen many issues with immorality that the Church should have disciplined several people who were unrepentant, but it did not. We are becoming too Politically correct.
Post a Comment