Thoughts from the Christian perspective: discernment issues as they relate to the current state of the church and society.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Judgments Are Necessary
It is quite impossible for either an individual or a church to make no judgments; for even the failure to make decisions is in fact a decision based on the implicit assumption that this circumstances are not weighty enough to force a judgment…. Neither an individual Christian nor a church can avoid responsibility by refusing to make judgements; for that very refusal is already a judgment, an evaluation of commitments, strategies, priorities, and competing truth claims….
D.A. Carson, A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13, p.70
6 comments:
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People take “Judge not, that you be not judged" (Mathew 7:1, NKJV) and use it to justify their behavior. Jesus said, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24, NKJV). Righteous judgment is right judgment. It is biblical judgment. It is His judgment.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone says, "Don't judge me," they are usually practicing some behavior that is totally unbiblical, and that behavior has already been judged by the Scriptures. We do wrong by looking the other way.
And when they DO say "Don't judge," they are making a judgment!
ReplyDeleteAmen, Ron L!
ReplyDeleteGlenn, often when a believer righteously judges error - whether doctrinal error or sinful behavior - said discerning believer is usually labeled as a "pharisee"...
Tolerance is embraced, with tolerance shown to all except Biblically literate Christians, of course. HAHA!
-Carolyn
You're absolutely right, Carolyn. Which is why I wrote this article a long time ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/who-is-pharisee.html
Hi Glenn,
ReplyDelete:) I "stumbled" across your Pharisee article a short while ago. It really ministered to me, due to what my husband and I were facing at the time, for discerning several errors in our (now former) church.
There (our former church), people who objected to the Son of God movie were also labeled "Pharisees" by the pastor.
Yet the correct term for discerning believers is "disciples". Today we might call them "Bereans". :)
-Carolyn
How dare anyone object to the "Son of God" movie! :oD
ReplyDelete