Be careful lest you fall

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! I Corinthians 10: 12

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7: 1 – 2

We know it takes only ‘faith as small as a mustard seed and you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move (Matthew 17: 20) but the converse is also true. It can take one tiny seed of criticism, judgment, doubt and unbelief to grow into something very unhealthy.

We know from our recent time in South Africa what a terrible and destructive fire can come from one small spark.  James tells us that ‘a great forest can be set on fire by a small spark and the tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body’ (James 3:  5 – 6).

I have been dismayed recently by how one small negative remark about another person can grow into a feeling of deep distrust and suspicion about that person based on nothing more than another's idle remark.

Even worse I found out how quickly I can slip into terrible criticism and judgment of others based on what I have read in the media or seen on television. It feels so justifiable when leaders are corrupt and hypocritical or worse when the body of Christ starts taking large chunks out of one another, to feel angry and self-righteous.

However I quickly came to realise I was standing right on the edge of a slippery slope only a small step away from falling right over. Fortunately God reminded me from reading Steve Backlund’s book Igniting Faith in 40 days that ‘criticism and condemnation will actually decrease personal and corporate faith.’ Chastened I backed down from my anger and self-righteousness and extended the grace I like to receive but find hard to give.

So what do we do when faced by sin and shortcomings in those who we feel should know and behave better? Pray. Pray for them that God would open their eyes, not because we are right and they are wrong but because if they are sinning then they are damaging themselves as well as the church or nation.

We must forgive especially if it is personal and then hand the people to God for his righteous workings in their lives. Finally we must bless them. This moves us from the low ground of hatred and anger, judgment and criticism to the higher ground of grace. It sets us free and moves us away from the edge of self-righteousness which leads down the slippery slope to hypocrisy.

Jesus is our perfect example. Nailed to the cross, crucified as a common criminal yet having done nothing wrong, having spent an exemplary life of doing good to others he forgave those who were wronging him. Jesus life was a life of love and grace. He said ‘For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world’ John 12: 47.

Next time the small seed of criticism and judgement gets sown in your heart whether by yourself or others, weed it out quickly. Set yourself free.  Let’s live the life of love and grace that Jesus won for us on the cross.

Pride and prejudices

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2: 1 – 2

Have you ever asked a question or said something and the minute the words were out of your mouth you realised you had said the wrong thing? Maybe there is an awkward silence or embarrassed looks but you feel really bad and may not even know what it is you have said wrong.

I think the Magi must have experienced this.  They were astrologers probably from modern day Iran and having studied the stars for years they realised that the new star in the sky meant a baby had been born who was King of the Jews. Naturally they had gone to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people and to King Herod’s palace, assuming he would know all out it.

Having asked the question they could immediately tell from the reaction of their audience that this ‘good news’ was in fact a complete and unwelcome surprise.  Herod was an unstable megalomaniac who murdered a large part of his close family and anyone else who he didn’t like. To tell him that a new king had been born was probably the worst possible thing to say.

Herod realised that the magi were talking about the long promised Messiah so he called the religious leaders to ask them where the baby would be born. They assured him the prophecies spoke of Bethlehem. At this point it is very surprising that if magi from 1000 miles away had taken the trouble to come and worship the king of the Jews, why didn’t even one religious leader want to go to Bethlehem, only 5 miles away, to check out the story?  This was the Messiah – spoken of by the prophets for hundreds of years – and they aren’t even interested?

I assume they didn’t believe the magi because they were Gentiles. They assumed God would speak to them and he hadn’t so the story could not be true.  Of course this assumption played out for the next 33 years. Jesus could not be the Messiah because God had not spoken to them about it. They never believed Jesus was the Messiah and most Jews still do not believe it even today.

We may be confident that Jesus is both our Saviour and the Saviour of the world but it is very easy to miss out on things God is doing because they don’t come at us in the way we expect or God hasn’t spoken directly to us. God will raise up all sorts of unlikely people to do his work and we must be careful not to be so offended by the messenger that we miss the message. I know of situations where people will not listen to a message or prophecy because they do not like the person speaking or they will not receive a healing or miracle because of the person praying for them.

The magi were right and they found Jesus the Messiah. The religious leaders were so full of their own self righteousness that they missed one of the great events of history. It was shepherds and magi who got to see Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and kings and religious leaders who missed it.

Let’s keep humble hearts and be open to what God may be doing. If it is in the Bible, no matter how unlikely, it is God so let us ask him to challenge our pride and prejudices so we don’t miss anything that He is doing.

Do not judge or you too will be judged

‘Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7: 1 -2

These words from Jesus can be very hard for us to correctly assess our attitudes.  When does realistically evaluating or testing a situation turn into the sort of judgement that Jesus is talking about?  It is right that we honestly evaluate and ask God to help us when looking at situation or people’s actions that we may not be comfortable with. Jesus himself judged the Pharisees found in Matthew 23. 

Judgments are called decisions in some verses of the Amplified (Romans 11:33) and this can be a helpful way of looking at our motives behind our judgements.  It is what we do with these decisions.

If having evaluated something we move from there to criticism and condemnation then beware. You too will be judged in the same way and you may be found even more wanting than that which you have been criticising.  It is very easy when looking at other people’s faults and weaknesses to overlook your own and move into hypocrisy and self righteousness.  It is no coincidence that immediately following these verses  Jesus talks about talking the plank from our own eye before trying to remove the speck from someone else’s eye.  It is always easier to see someone else’s faults than our own.

Joyce Meyer tells the story of how much she suffered with sickness in one of her pregnancies having had no problems previously.  God showed her that she had judged, criticised and condemned another woman suffering with sickness in pregnancy for her ‘weakness’.  Having judged another, Joyce herself was being judged. 

If we do find the weaknesses and sins of another very trying, especially if they personally impact us, then we must forgive and bless them.  Take their weaknesses to God and ask him to help you deal with them in grace and not criticism and condemnation.  Ask God to help you deal with your weaknesses and show you the planks in your eye. Trust him that as you keep a right attitude he will deal with the other person.

Judging others can become a source of bondage for us as we hold others in judgement.  Dealing with other people in grace, humility and kindness in their weaknesses releases the same flow into our lives and our weaknesses.  As we seek to walk in ever greater freedom let us treat others in their weaknesses as we too would wish to be treated in our own.