Good Morning Friends,
When we see a person in sin, we do not know how hard they have tried not to sin. We do not know the power of the forces that are prompting the sin and we do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. With that in mind it should be difficult for us to discriminate against a person based on the behavior we see. Thankfully God has set forward rules to guide behavior in a better direction and nudges us through the Spirit to love people into turning direction before undesired consequences result. Still, disapproving in a disparaging way of another’s behavior, including their civil disobedience is a problem.… even if the cause they are supporting is clearly wisdom. There is a lesson to learn when the tipping point is the balance between God’s laws and the laws of a government. Being critical of others in these situations has consequences and some of them are unintended. Knowing when to engage and how is a tricky wicket, for the road to ruin has a lot of well-meant intentions. Thankfully heaven is filled with good works. So, I wonder, How Is A Christian To Judge Between Justice And Mercy When It Comes To The Issues Of Our Day?
Scripture: He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Luke 6:39-42 (NRSV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 (NRSV)
If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-27 (NRSV)
learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:17 (NRSV)
Message: The stakes are high when we consider the fate of a nation, a community, a family, a friend. But Paul, in today’s scripture, kept the focus on a person’s soul and the sharing of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit more so than political positioning. For sure scripture makes it clear that we are to defend the oppressed. Jesus even says that whatever we have done to the least of these we have done it unto him. In Jesus’ long list of woes against the Pharisees and teachers of the law, he rebukes them for neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness while focusing on particular issues of less weight. The Pharisees legalistically put a hedge around behavior to better assure that people did not sin, but it did not work. Still there is little question that Christians should protect the vulnerable and oppressed as best they can, even to the point of standing with them. The question is how we should go about it. And that is a topic of ongoing debate that has taken to the streets and resulted in violence in several places in America this year. Certainly, there are those moments that we are compelled to help a person on an individual basis. The Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us to act. There are even Good Samaritan laws to protect people who help another in an emergency. But when we move from individual actions to collective ones and take a stand on any political issue, we risk creating a dynamic that divides people. Interestingly the idea of governments caring for the poor and oppressed has been in institutional existence for only about 500 years. Before that there were law but few programs. The reality is that Jesus, when he walked the earth, did not have to deal with the issues of gun control, abortion, vaccines, climate change, drug legalization, gay marriage, immigration, transgender rights, universal healthcare, policing, racial inequality, income inequality, required masks, and tax cuts that consume our attention and seem to divide our allegiances today. The focus was more in helping neighbors and as a priority loving God. The challenge therefore today of engaging in social issues is figuring out the ways to get involved in the topics we are called to without reducing our love of God and love of our neighbors in the process. And the greatest challenge here comes when we are compelled to make a judgement that prompts our own civil disobedience when scripture indicates we are to avoid that if we can. It is clear that today’s scripture does not say we are not to judge, but when combined with other scripture implies that it comes with consequences. If I gave you a list of names of people, for example: Hillary Clinton, O.J Simpson, Billy Graham, Lebron James, Tiger Woods, Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, Mister Rogers, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump. Each of them is known publicly, and even internationally for their exploits in life. Some good and others bad. Alive or dead, they are known either by their personality or what they have done or not done. They are known for their character or conduct, attitude, or actions. And this elicits a feeling inside of us that seems true. But if we have been known as being a bad individual, or for making some horrendous mistakes, we may well wonder if there is any hope for us to ever change our course. Taking the lumber out of our eyes is hard work and taking it out of governments eyes is near impossible to the point we may conclude that we and others never really change without a revolution. Productive discourse is difficult in this kind of environment. And we face that difficulty today. There is no shortage of issues dividing our country and our church. But it does not always mean that government has to be the sole solution or that people of faith and good faith cannot be part of the solution too. There is no Bible text that says Peter and John formed a political action committee to raise money to run ads in the Jerusalem Times and to lobby the Sanhedrin to care for the poor. Historically over the last 500 years there has been a cycle of leadership in caring for the oppressed that transitions from the church to the government, and then to the private sector. If the church abdicates its role in service when the time comes for it to lead, we will be stuck with what government and the private sector provide whether or not people are protesting. A unified approach of all three seems a better solution in solving the issues of our day. But for Christians we should never take our eyes off the goal we have been given which is indeed a higher calling combining justice and mercy with the love of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins Christ provides for people’s salvation.
And So, we will all be judged by Jesus but hopefully also transformed by his love. We are to experience the amazing work of Grace through the power of Jesus Christ. We are to seek both justice and mercy in the communities in which we live but with a purpose of glorifying God in the process. The Apostle Paul’s conversion is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the change that Jesus Christ can make in one’s life. The transforming power of Jesus is clear in the scriptures. And Jesus judges us considering his great work of grace. And that is the judgement that counts. So as Christians we are not to be just spectators but the degree we are to be engaged will vary from topic to topic and from individual to individual. We are not required to approve of what other people believe and do. But we are required to obey the laws of the land and the laws of God. And God help us when these laws come into tension for these times require all we have got so we might approach the situation wisely. Yes, we are to love the sinner and hate the sin. Interestingly when it came down to people’s lives Jesus was not always politically correct and we as the called-out assembly of God may not be either. But we need to try to be spiritually correct. In community we walk a fine line between making judgements and not being judgmental. For there is a higher calling than pointing out people’s sins. If we have too rigid a belief system, we may have trouble loving God and others. We are therefore to judge our beliefs. We are not to pick nits. We are to use our heads and hearts for they are to be the same focus. Yes, we are to judge the sin in a person’s life and lovingly and gently restore them. We are to help the oppressed and sometimes even in acts of prompting social change. But first we must judge our beliefs and motivations to see clearly. We are to test everything and hold fast to what is good if the goal is evangelism and the transformation God provides. Yes, there may come a time when Christians should resist a government that commands or compels evil or to fight unlawful behavior. But physical suppression of what we see as a sin is best left to those trained and commissioned to deal with unlawful behavior. Christians are to submit to the laws of the land but seek first the Kingdom of God and help others do so in order to discover forgiveness.
Pray we see clearly and completely and compassionately. Pray we are transformed by love so that we might judge wisely. Pray we judge not by appearances but with the mind of God. Pray we seek to free people to live lives of love. Pray we realize that when we make judgments about people, we really reveal a lot about our relationships with Christ and our heart. Pray we therefore be judged by our care and compassion…by our love and concern for others. Pray we realize that being judgmental may not be just. Pray we realize that we see the outward person but not the inner life of others. Pray we judge rightly and love compassionately. Pray we do not judge a book by its cover, but open and read it. Pray we celebrate the incredible life transforming power of Jesus Christ. Pray we run God’s race. Pray we make the Gospel our main mission. Pray we seek the Kingdom of God first. Pray that there is always more that unites us than divides us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 