The title of this article might imply that this blog offers
a correction to those who judge others without the slightest degree of empathy.
That interpretation of the title would be far from target. Actually, I want to
talk about the dangers that emerge when we allow our emotions to influence our
judgment or critical thinking. I realize there are a large number of Christians
who think that any kind of judging is wrong. In answer to this objection, I
defer to Scripture. Paul informs the Corinthians, “Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are
outside God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”[1]
Paul is referring to a man practicing sexual immorality all the while
professing Christ as Lord. There is no place in the Christian group for
individuals who profess Christ with their lips and deny Him with their actions.
Judging is an essential component of the Christian life. Again Paul says, “But he who is spiritual appraises all
things…”[2]
The Greek word translated “appraises” is anakrinw and it is the Greek word for judge. This is why many English
translates use the word “judge” in their translation of this verse rather than
appraise. In other words, the spiritual person judges everything. To the
uncritical, this looks like a hypercritical person because they examine things
carefully in light of biblical principles. This does not mean that there is no
such thing as a hypercritical attitude. Of course there is. It does mean that
in our culture, one should be very careful before labeling someone as
hypercritical because that could be falsely judging a brother or sister who is
actually obeying Scripture in its imperative to exercise discernment.
By heart, I actually mean emotion. Our feelings often cloud our
judgment on any number of issues. Should I allow my kid to hang out with this
other kid who may be a bad influence? Should I permit my daughter to date that
boy? What would it do to her if I forbad it? Should I place an employee on
warning even though I really like her as a person? Our emotions tend to get in
the way of our judgment and tend to displace the priority of our convictions.
This happens in the Christian community when we really don’t want to identify someone
as a false brother because they spoke softly or were really kind or seemed very
sincere in how they talked about Christ. Our reaction is to place some sort of
priority on that kind of behavior as if it matters that someone is soft-spoken,
or speak kind to us about theology that we know is false. It is even more
difficult to keep emotions out when the other person shows emotion, such as
tearing up when they speak of Jesus. Make no mistake about it, emotion is no
substitute for a regenerated heart. Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light, but he is actually a roaring lion walking around seeking to tear us to
shreds. Think about how a lion hunts. The Gazelle sees the open plain, wind
blowing the tall grass, with the heat of the sun on its back. All is quiet and
tranquil. Everything feels so incredibly peaceful. The animal relaxes as it
lowers its guard. What it does not realize is there is a killer just 30 feet
away, hiding beneath the tall grass, just out of site. The environment feels
one way, but it is actually quite the opposite. False brethren do not wear
labels announcing they are false. They come in secretly, looking like the real
thing. In fact, often times, they look better than the real thing. These are
pawns of Satan, and most of the time, they are completely unaware that they
themselves are playing the devil’s fiddle.
The apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
penned authoritative and therefore, binding instructions to the Galatian
believers. In telling the Galatians the story of his trip up to Jerusalem with
Barnabas and Titus, he writes that “Titus was not even compelled to be
circumcised.” This indicates there are details that Paul does not have time to
provide. He gives us a clue in the next sentence when he says in Gal. 2:4, “But it was because of the false brethren
secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in
Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.” That Paul would say this
immediately after saying that Titus was not compelled to be circumcised is a
clue that these men were placing great pressure on Titus to conform to abhorrent
teaching. I am in a discussion with a Church of God minister at this very time
who thinks that it is more important to be effective evangelists than it is to
be theologically sound. He refuses to acknowledge that it is impossible to be
an effective witness of something you don’t really understand. Sound doctrine
is not negotiable. Note that these brethren were categorized as false brethren
according to Paul. The Greek word is ψευδαδέλφους which simply means false
brethren. These are pretenders because their convictions and lives do not line
up with those of the community to which they claim to belong. They come in all
stripes and flavors. Some of them are very sweet and soft-spoken. They don’t
mind serving, cleaning, cutting the grass and even are involved in ministry.
They can be some of the nicest people in the church. This makes it very
difficult for one to confront them and it especially makes it difficult for us
to label them as false believers.
Labeling false brethren as false brethren, while extremely serious, is
a necessary practice within the Christian group. There is something far greater
than the nice lady or man who is attempting to persuade us of their teachings
while claiming to love Christ. That something is the revelation of God in
Christ as disclosed in Scripture. The truth of God in Scripture is what is at
stake. It is easy to identify men who are fleecing the flock, like T.D. Jakes a
heretic. His wealth gospel and modalism stand condemned without ambiguity.
However, it becomes more difficult when those we have confront are closer to
home, standing in front of us attempting to convince that the venom they spew
is God’s truth. It is especially difficult when these people are very likeable.
Nevertheless, confront them we must, that is, if we love them.
Paul goes on to tell the Galatians that his team did not yield to
these teachers even for an hour. In other words, Paul and his team did not give
these men the time of day. He dismissed them immediately. Why? Paul says he
responded this way toward these false teachers so that the truth of the gospel
would remain with the Galatian believers. That is my entire point. Paul took
anything and everything, including emotion, out of his decision to label these
men for what they were. He did so, he says, for the sake of the truth of the
gospel. Paul knew that these men had made progress introducing the Galatians
and even getting them to adopt a false gospel. These teachers were of high
repute. They were men of great influence in the community. They were using this
influence to distort and pervert the gospel. Paul made no bones about it. He
matter-of-factly labeled these men as false brethren who were essentially
enemies of the faith and he dismissed them from the Christian conversation.
They were not to be given honor nor were their views to be respected. The honor
and truth of God were being compromised and the souls of men were at stake. I
would to God that we would see truth this way today. Somehow, somewhere along
the way, we have lost our passion and conviction for the truth of Scripture
that Christ said would make us free indeed.
When it comes to standing up for the truth, you must guard your
emotions. There are times when it will be difficult to inform the person in
front of you that their beliefs do not reflect genuine faith. You don’t want to
tell them that. You don’t want to “hurt” their feelings. I think of the time
that Stephen confronted the Jewish leaders of his day and how they become so
angry with him that they killed him. Truth often hurts. It cuts deeper than
anything else can. Sometimes, God uses that to rescue believers from serious
doctrinal error and even the rim of heresy. Other times He uses it to inform
true believers of who the wolves are among them. The point is that we must find
a way to become comfortable with standing up for the truth. This is not to say
that you are not emotionally moved by the results. That is not my point. My
point is that you cannot allow positive or negative emotions to interfere with
sharing the raw truth of Scripture with people. Plant, water, and God will do
the rest according to His will.
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