Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “God’s Call to Mission”. I like the emphasis in this lesson. Each day’s title says so much: “Moving beyond our Comfort Zone”, Becoming a Blessing to the Whole World”, Abraham’s Call”, “The Early Church and Comfort Zones”, and lastly, “Starting from Where You Are”. The last lesson is the one I would like to write upon today. This is so essential. But we must start properly.
Of all people, we Adventists who hold to the entire Bible, who claim to know our God best because of it, must reflect God’s character best. The quarterly states, “Sharing the truth is not about convincing others how wrong they are….”. If we do this, we are in reality, judging. Judgmental attitudes are NOT from our God. Over and over He assured us that He does not judge us (that’s right. The true nature of our God is not one of “judge”, as we conventionally understand it).
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5: 22). “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved… And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3: 17, 19). “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47).
Unfortunately, many Christians have a God who is two-faced… a God who says that He does not judge in the person of Christ, but surely judges you (condemns you) in the end. And we use this concept to judge others today… condemn others… something Christ did not do. And something we are so warned against.
“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things” (Romans 2: 1-2).
In this text, not only are we warned against judging others (that those who judge are practicing the same sins as identified in Romans 1), but we also see what God’s “judgement” really is. It is a revealing of truth. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). And the “word” Christ spoke was always the truth (see KJV “verily” or “truly” Matthew 6:5, 6:16, 8:10, 10:23. 13:17, etc. etc.). The truth of ourselves, the truth we seek to hide/ deny… the truth revealed. So, we must be those who speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). The “truth” must always be spoken in “love…. or not spoken at all.
As time draws to a close, we must be sure that we believers do not fall prey to judging others. It is not our job. We are called to love others, even as our Father loves. Judging others is not for us. Others need our love. In the final analyses, do we believe God’s methods of truth spoken in love are superior? The way we act toward others reveals our understanding of God. I pray that our lives reflect God as He really is, not as we sinners perceive Him to be. To finish the work and to not have to re-do it, we must start from where we are with a proper start… seeing and relating to God as He is… a truthful, loving God.
With brotherly love,
Jim