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Transcript 413C
Do Not Misapply the Bible + Mt 7:1
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Yes. I have two questions, and I'll take my answer over the air. I'm a born again believer, and I'm living in Sacramento. But I went to live in Stockton with my aunt for a while. And I feel that God wanted me to come back to Sacramento. And so I was reading in the Bible, and it said, "Go now." And I prayed that God wouldn't want me to go to Sacramento again, because I was afraid. And then it said, "Go now or you will be cursed." And I just want to know, could I be cursed?
And also, I know that the Bible says, "Judge not lest ye be judged." So what about judges and the people on jury trials?
HC: Fine. Thank you for sharing those good questions.
In relationship to your first question, never read the Bible that way. Just because you happen to find a phrase in the Bible that seems to relate to a decision that you must make, that isn't the way God brings truth to you. Suppose you were contemplating committing suicide. This is a dumb thing, of course, but I'll use it as an illustration. Or suppose you were contemplating doing some other sin. And then you were reading the Bible, or you opened the Bible and the phrase popped up in your eyes and it said, "Do it now," or "Go now." Then is God giving you a message that now you should go ahead with this sinful act? You see, that doesn't make any sense at all.
The decision whether you should live in Stockton or in Sacramento, or any other city, has to be based on an evaluation of how you can live most definitely to God's glory. There are certain rules that you read about in the Bible, as, for example, the Bible says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." Is it easier to seek the Kingdom of God, is it more beneficial to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in Stockton or in Sacramento? Well, maybe you can't determine that. The Bible says, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." The Bible says, "Ye are My witnesses," and so on.
As you read the Bible, you try to find anything at all where God has laid down rules for our life. And then you examine the question at hand in the light of these rules. Is it possible to live more to the glory of God? Is it possible to witness better there? Or is there someone I can help there? Is it possible that there I might make myself more available to the service of the Lord? These are the kinds of questions you must face, not look for a phrase that seems to leap out at you as you read the Bible.
Now in answer to your other question, when Jesus said in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not lest ye yourselves be judged," we must follow the Biblical rule of always interpreting scripture by scripture. If we isolate Matthew 7:1 from the rest of the Bible, we could easily conclude that under no circumstance could we serve on a jury, or could we serve as a federal judge of some kind. But when we study the rest of the Bible, we find that while the general rule is, "Judge not lest ye yourselves be judged," there are exceptions to the case.
Those who are in governmental employ as a judge, that is, if you serve on a jury or if you are a federal judge or a civil judge, that is permitted in the Bible. The government has been given rule over the citizens, and therefore they can make judgments. You read about the role of the government to the citizens in Romans 13, the first six or seven verses.
In the case of the church, those who rule in the church, the elders and the deacons, and the pastor, those who are given that rule or authority, may make judgment concerning the spiritual activities of the members of the church. If they are not living in accord with the Word of God, then they may make judgment, and if necessary they can excommunicate such a person. You might read I Corinthians 5 to see this kind of activity in action.
We parents of course can judge our children, whether they are living for God or not, whether they're doing right or wrong, and we can apply the necessary discipline to them.
These are areas where God allows judgment to be made. These are exceptions to the general rule. The general rule, however, is that we are not to judge our fellow man. That's somebody else's business. We find this is true in our political arena, don't we?, in our civil relationships. We can't go to a neighbor whom we think might be committing some kind of a crime and put him in prison. We might decide that it's wise to tell somebody about the activities going on next door, so that the proper investigation can be made. And if this person does look guilty, he can be brought before the judge, who is rightfully authorized to make judgment, and he can be examined by this judge to discover whether indeed he's doing wrong. And if he were doing wrong, he might be cast into jail.
But it is not our role to make judgment. And incidentally, I can't underscore this enough. This is a luxury that many people in the church really hate to give up. It is such a sweet moment, it is such a desirable idea, when we can look at someone else in the congregation who is doing something sinful, or doing whatever they are doing, and we can pass judgment on them "Oh, my, look what Mrs. Jones is doing now. And something really ought to happen to her because of what she is doing," or whoever it might be. This kind of activity is altogether opposed to what the Bible teaches.
If we see someone living in sin in the congregation, it's not our job to go to that person and point out his sin. Now some of you are going to be violently unhappy with this, but this is the fact. It is not our job to go to that person and point out his sin. What we think is sin might not be sin at all. Maybe we don't understand the whole situation. We're not appointed in that role. We can pray for that person. We can pray, "Oh Lord, is it possible that Brother 'so and so' or Sister 'so and so' is having a problem? And if they are, "Oh, Father, wilt Thou undertake on their behalf?" and so on. And we certainly can try to visit with that person in general, and maybe try to have some Bible study, or whatever. And if they begin to talk about their problem, then counsel can be given. But if they do not talk about their problem, then it's not our role to get into this matter at all.
Now if it became a flagrant kind of a thing, the rulers in the church would know about it, of course. And they, logically and legitimately, can make judgment. They can go to this person and begin to ask questions and try to discover what is going on. And if there is sin that's going on, they can counsel with this person to turn away from his sin and to cry out to God for mercy, and to discontinue living in this wrong way.