"THOU SHALT NOT JUDGE!"

"THOU SHALT NOT JUDGE!" - AUDIO

 

It has come to my attention that the Body is divided and also unclear about the issue of judging.  This devotional is addressed to both those who are cautious and those over eager to judge. The issue of judging cannot be separated from discernment.  Simply because discernment is the act of judging between what is wrong or right, or in to know what something is.  When we discuss the topic of judging others, we have to include discernment as well. 

We have all heard the words, “Do not judge” and somehow equate this to you are not allowed to say when something is wrong in a particular situation.   And yet to us is given the responsibility to expose the works of darkness.  We cannot do this without judging the wrong from the right.  To us is given to render judgment on that which is directly contradictory to the Word of God and His statutes.  This is our moral obligation and responsibility that comes with being a Christian.  Part of being a light unto the world is not just to love and be Christ to others, but also to actively engage in spiritual warfare.  Discernment is a critical component to this warfare.  We have received clear directions from the Word of God as to what spiritual warfare entails.

2 Corinthians 10: 4 - 8

⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

⁶ And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

⁷ Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? if any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

⁸ For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:

Here Paul is admonishing and rebuking the Corinthians by exerting his authority in the Lord.  In fact, Paul is judging, that is to say discerning, where they are at as his flock.  Taking responsibility for their spiritual state.  He is saying, when I show you the error in which you are walking in, it is with the purpose to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God in you.  I am pulling the strongholds down that have been built by the deception you have walked in.  Saying that what they are about and believe is in contradiction with the knowledge of God.  Who God is.  Then he says his aim is to take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  Basically saying that they are disobedient.  The reason why he does this, is that once they are walking in obedience after repenting, they themselves will be ready to take revenge on all disobedience. 

Paul’s aim is clear.  He is exposing the wrong, in order to bring them into a place of obedience, so that they in turn will be equipped to take revenge on all disobedience.  This word revenge means to carry out justice or to retaliate. 

Paul is speaking here as a shepherd of the flock with the intention to first free the flock and then to equip them.  The motive is that of love, even though he had to be brutally honest with them. Such is the case when we need to speak the truth.

The reason why I am mentioning this scripture first is to bring across that we are engaging in spiritual warfare when it comes to discernment and speaking the truth, in sometimes very uncomfortable or confrontational ways.  We tend to look at the people and feel afraid to offend, whilst we ought to ask ourselves what is worse.  Offending them or keeping them in bondage?  We forget the spiritual ramification or alternative.  We have to understand that it is inevitable that we will expose the man/woman when we expose the works of deception done through them.  In Matthew 24 Jesus tells the disciples when they asked Him what would be the signs of the end-time, that deception is first on the list.  Of all He could have said, the first thing He mentions is deception.  In fact, in that one chapter He mentions deception four times.  It stands to reason just how important it is for us to distinguish between judging unrighteously and righteously.

Among the gifts of the Spirit scarcely is one of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment.  This gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indespensible in these critical times.  This gift will enable us to distinguish the chaff from the wheat and to divide the manifestations of the flesh from the operations of the Spirit. - A. W. Tozer

I wonder what Tozer would say of the deception in this day and hour?  It is quite simple when it comes to unrighteous judgment.  Simply put, don’t criticize everybody and be so opinionated about everything, thinking that you know it all.  Also, sweep before your own door before you are so quick to judge others.  Make sure that you are not guilty of the very same thing.  For instance, homosexuality is a grave sin, but so is fornication.  How much fornication do you watch on television?  Both are sexual sins.  Do not be a hypocrite.  We have to be willing to be as equally hard on ourselves as we want to be on those we deem as false.  And the reality is that there are many people out there that somehow feel better by putting others down.  Secretly they relish in finding fault with others because then they would not look or feel so bad.  This is all out of a very poor self-image.  Then there are those who personally just like to “stick it to” those false preachers and teachers because they had it coming, often in the guise of great concern for the flock, all the while relishing the reactions.  Others like the idea of upsetting the proverbial applecart, because for them, to be right is everything.  Of course, this too is done in the name of love, whilst within their heart it is actually about the confrontation itself.   They enjoy the attention.

Luke 6: 37 says that we are not to judge and condemn others if we do not want to be judged and condemned.  He ends with the simple statement…forgive and ye shall be forgiven.

This verse has nothing to do with discernment with regard to whether somebody is walking in error or deception.  Rather, the focus is on a wrong done unto another. The word judge means to avenge or decide, and the word condemn is to pronounce guilty.  In this context to forgive makes perfect sense.   So we cannot use this verse as a means to cop out of our responsibility to discern and fall back on  “nobody can judge”.  The only time we are not to judge is when we have been wronged and are to forgive and leave room for vengeance, as vengeance belongs to the Lord. 

Deception has no preference.  It is ready to latch unto you like a parasite at any opportunity you afford it.  Indeed deception is within the sphere of the mind, building strongholds on the basis of vain imaginations and lies coated in truth.  Just enough for you to tolerate it on the basis of 95% truth to 5% lies for instance.  Tolerance is often depicted as long-suffering or not being judgmental.  But I submit to you that when it comes to truth, tolerance is compromise.  Secretly we do not want to give up our favorite teacher or worship band.  Secretly we like what it brings to us and live in willful disobedience by “tolerating” the 5% lies.  The reality is that everybody makes mistakes, but we are talking about purposeful deception.  Not that it excuses us to hold on to a teacher when we know that what they are preaching is directly contradictory to the written Word of God.  David says in Psalm 138 the following:

Psalm 138: 2

I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth, for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.

Who are we to minimalize His Word that He places above His Name in the name of tolerance? Many fall back on the statement of “we are all just sinners saved by grace”.  Or they will say that even Paul said that he is the chief of all sinners.  This a classic cop out because the truth is often that we do not wish to be the bad guy and offend man and yet we are willing to offend the Most High.  The reality is that we would rather want someone else to do it so that they take the punch that comes with it, as long as it is not us.  This is nothing but being a coward.  We have to be willing to admit to this cowardice and our willingness to please man and not the Most High.  That we prefer to only appear as loving and caring Christians.  But the same Christ that loves unconditionally, whom we are to emulate, is the same Christ that called the Pharisees white washed tombs full of dead bones.  We have to come to the party, take deception very serious and accept the responsibility of discernment in the Body of Christ. 

Ephesians 5: 10 - 14

¹⁰ Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

¹² For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

¹³ But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

¹⁴ Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Here a sleeping Christian is synonymous to a Christian that is not willing to expose darkness.  Think of a watchman asleep on the wall.  We must be willing to lay bare the dark secrets of the enemy, whether false teachers or prophets.  Whether in worship that comes from the premise that by the right ambiance and mood the presence of the Lord is procured or our best friend across from the table of us.  In the light of His warning to us in Matthew 24 about the last day’s deception and the fact that there will no longer be the love of the truth, I cannot imagine what an offence it must be to Him if we think that we can sit on the fence and leave the judgment on deception for another with the cry of “Oh, I may not judge!”  To not judge therefore is akin to being a sleeping Christian.  The Good Shepherd’s son or daughter sleeping whilst the wolves are luring away the flock in order to devour them.  Are we not to have each other’s backs and be able to speak the truth in love in order to protect one another?  Do we think that we will not be held accountable? 

Ezekiel 33: 6

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

I have to wonder whether our resistance to judge does not stem from out of a false humility and fear of man.  Sadly some are willing to speak against a doctrine or ideology, but unwilling to expose the vessels through whom it is done.  Some are perfectly okay if our brother and sister is deceived, just as long as we all get along.  After all, does the Word not say that we are to seek peace with all men and blessed are the peace-makers?  We just simply do not want to be “that” man or woman.  And of course, we do not want to hear the words “Who are you to judge?”  But ask yourself, “Can there be any true peace without truth?”  Is this not a pseudo peace in the name of tolerance? 

Why is it that we have decided to “take the fifth” when it comes to speaking up against false prophets and teachers?  John 7: 24 says that we are to remove the beam out of our own eye before judging another on the splinter in theirs.  Why are we not willing to expose the splinter in our brother’s eye after we have removed the beam from our own?  This is the purpose of removing the beam, so that we may be able to better discern.  Unfortunately many Christians have decided that this scripture speaks against judging.  When in fact it is actually telling us to judge, but to do it righteously. 

1 Corinthians 2: 15

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

A spiritual man is one who walks by the Spirit and is one mind with Christ.  In itself this speaks of one who cannot be judged by another as he has already judged himself by taking the beam out of his own eye in repentance.  Note, that this is not just someone who has repented of a particular sin in his own life that he wants to expose, but this is someone walking in holiness.  You may be able to sweep before your own door, but inside your house it looks like a hoarder.  Even though we are commanded to judge, we are to live in holiness when we do.  Therefore he can judge all things because he sees with the Most High’s eyes.  That is to say from His perspective, being one of mind.  The reality is that we fall for deception and are willing to compromise with the truth because we do not have a love of the truth as we should have.  We respect the truth, but do not jealously guard over it.  And because we are “lukewarm” about the truth, we are lured away by our own sin and desires of our hearts.  Such as movies and television programs with a gospel theme, but distorting and manipulating the truth for its own gain. The Word clearly says that His people perish for a lack of understanding.  Just as a word of caution, some people are very opinionated and speak without finding the necessary information first to back up their opinion.  

Proverbs 14: 33

Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.

Those who have no idea what they are talking about best keep quiet and sit back and learn.  To speak on a matter without understanding and the necessary knowledge is foolish and sheds a bad light on righteous judgment.  It smells of ignorance and pride.  We fall for deception due to not being grounded in the Word, drawn away by people’s dreams and visions and amazing spiritual experiences, touching the desires of our own heart to be as close to Him as they are. So we are drawn away by the desires of our heart and the truth falls by the wayside. 

Having said all that, please do not for one second think that I am saying that we are to all climb on our high horse of judgment and let all pass under our rod of affliction.  This is not what I am saying.  I am making a case based upon the Word of God the reason why we must judge and also exposing the reasons we have not.  Also to shed some light on deception.  Now I would like us to focus on discernment. 

The first thing we have to consider when we discern, is to ask ourselves, “What spirit is at work in me by how I judge or discern?”  Many years ago I was involved in Christian counseling.  I believe there is a place for Christian counseling within the Body of Christ, but the emphasis must be Biblical counseling and not mixed with the ideologies and phylosophies of pshycology that has nothing to do with the ministering of the Spirit verses the depedence on humanism.  Once the Lord set me free to understand the carefully designed trap in this, I was all of a sudden on a truth mission to expose every lie.  I started listening to many people exposing deception in the Church.  In a way, I went from one extreme to another.  Both were not good, and I praise Him for teaching me this invaluable lession.  Because, in exposing and speaking against so much deception, I invited a critical and harsh judgmental spirit to blind me and use me to come against the Church.  This is not to say that the deception that I saw was not true, but the spirit in which I spoke was not of Christ.  I was out of balance and out of line.  

Philippians 1: 9

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (discernment)

One of the easiest and most natural thing to do is to fall back on our knowledge and understanding.  Yet to us an admonishment is given in Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3: 5 – 7

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

From this scripture alone we can see that when it comes to discernment, it is of utmost importance that we are guided by the Spirit and not our knowledge or understanding only…no matter how true.  This is not to say that the Spirit will not use our understanding, but what we know and understand must be subject to the Spirit and not the other way around.  At the heart of discernment is our unity with Christ.  That is to say being of the same mind.  It does not matter what your opinion is.  It does not matter what your volume of knowledge is.  The only thing that matters is His opinion and perspective on the issue.  How He feels about it.  And does what He feels about this issue constitute that He feels the same way about all similar issues that may come?  Am I in touch with the still small voice of the Spirit and is my unity with Him as such that I am aware of His disposition?  Is He mildly displeased or livid?  Is He pleased or irritated?  What is His tone in which He desires to address the issue?  What is His heart?  Because in the end the only one whose opinion matters, is His.  Jessy Penn Lewis said the following.

“Truth is everything as God sees it.”

The very act of discernment or judging requires of us utmost dependence on the guidance of the Spirit, because of our propensity to lean on our own understanding.  Wisdom is the principal thing and discretion or prudence will keep us in all our ways.  Can we say that our judgment is righteous just because we are doctrinally correct?  In the end it is His heart that is to be expressed and if what comes out of our mouth stinks of self-righteousness and pride, have we then made His will known or our own, even if it is true? Who is to say that you are to speak at all just because you know what to say?  Does the timing matter of when we are to speak?  We may be right in what we are saying, but at the same time be completely out with our timing.  According to Him there is a season and a time for everything.  So it does matter.  The Most High does not need us to save the world, He just need us to be obedient.  It is important that we ask ourselves, “Am what I am saying coming from me or from Him?”  “Is this righteous indignation coming from me or from the Most High?”  This is why the Word says that we have two ears and one mouth.  We are to be quick to hear and slow to speak.  We are to have rule over our mouths.  Discernment is more than just knowing right from wrong.  It is foremost about loving the truth.  And the Truth is a person.  Not a doctrine or an ideology or whatever other idea we can come up with.  Discernment at the heart is about defending the Truth.  And is not truth falling by the wayside every day in our society and the moral standard of the world going down in the tubes?  Our Kingdom mandate is a moral mandate.  Discernment is about expressing the heart of the Father, not your own.  Therefore just knowing the truth is not enough, but we have to also love the Truth.  If you are more cautious not to offend man, but are willing to offend the Most High, what does that say about your love of the Truth?

Our thoughts and the meditation of our hearts has to be pleasing in His sight.  From out of pure vessel He wishes to express His heart, so that the truth may not be tainted or mixed with our opinion, disposition or wrong motives.  A vessel who feels what He feels, sees what He sees and whose heart is broken over those who are led astray.  That are willing to pray for them as much as they are willing to expose their works by His Spirit.  Within us the heart of God is to palpitate as a living force that causes us to speak in both love and judgment.  We are always to speak the truth in love, but very often that truth hurts before it sets them free from the strongholds built by vain imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Him.

When we say that we get that it is about the love of the truth, about protecting the flock, then it is incumbent upon us to walk by the Spirit, which is in meekness.  Meekness is one of those adjectives that can very easily be seen as weakness.  Although it is defined as humility, humility only serves as one shade in this many faceted diamond.  We are told in Matthew 5 that the meek are blessed for they will inherit the earth. In fact, Paul has some choice words to say about judging or discernment.

1 Corinthians 6: 2 – 3

² Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

³ Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

It is very clear that we are to judge and that we are to be mature enough to judge the smallest of matters.  We can either have the disposition of I am a sinner saved by grace, or we can have a disposition of being a child of the Most High God who will one day rule and reign, out of a heart of meekness.  This is not to say that we are ever to forget how fragile and receptive we are to deception and need His grace.  But meekness speaks of an inner strength and character that will never tolerate deception in the Name of grace or love, but rather to speak the truth in love. 

Paul says the following in 2 Corinthians 10.

2 Corinthians 10: 1

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

Meekness often seems like weakness when in fact it is quite the opposite.  Meekness is who Christ is, and He was everything but weak.  It is the embodiment of authority, but with no intention of insisting on its own way, but seeks to serve both the Most High and His bride. The principal behind meekness is wisdom and prudence.  As we grow in the Lord, this very disposition is to be the underlining foundation of judging righteously, apart from His love.  At the heart of such meekness is also a disposition of diffidence.  Not in the negative sense of no self-esteem, but an unassuming and modest opinion of one’s estimation of yourself and your abilities, including your knowledge.  Never above being wrong and in fact, willing to be proven wrong even if fully convinced of being right.  It is a willingness to be taught as much as you are willing to teach.  No demand on being right.  This meekness, just like a tapestry with a perfectly and beautiful picture in the front, is woven with trials, tribulation and persecution at the back where no one sees.  Therefore with the truth it yields the sweet aroma of empathy, understanding and wisdom.  It is not puffed up in its knowledge, but the aim is to serve. 

The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit.  Somehow we have claimed it as ours and not His, to yield and smite the flock or just simply lay it down as if no responsibility for our actions is laid upon us.  It is the Sword of the Spirit and so we are to be guided in meekness of heart, by being in one mind with Christ how we are to yield it.  But yield it we must.  

The reality is that we are all guilty of judging others.  The real question is, are we judging righteously? 

Psalm 141: 5 portrays the heart of David, the man after the Most High’s heart.

Psalm 141: 5

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

Leviticus 19: 15; 17; 31

¹⁵ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

¹⁷ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

³¹ Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

If anything, may the resounding message of this devotional be that it is not about my opinion or knowledge, but about the heart of God and the love of the truth.  May we understand that to us is given to subdue and expose the works of the enemy not for the sake of judging, but to rescue and protect the flock.  We are all engaged in spiritual warfare in various ways.  Some of these ways are in deep intercession, others in walking in love and truth, and then the command to expose the works of darkness.  If we do not protect the flock from the wolves, who will?  May we seek His face and strive to have a disposition of meekness so that He may have full play in us and through us.  This is our Kingdom mandate, to uphold, love and protect the truth in love.