To Judge or Not to Judge

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

 

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:37

 

The two verses above come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Of course, we call it by that name, he didn’t.  The verses have been misused on many occasions to protest any admonition or rebuke levied against an individual’s sin.  We all know the phrase, “Don’t judge me!”   If “judging,” in the sense that Jesus used it, meant calling another person to repentance, then Paul sinned on numerous occasions in his letters to the churches, as well as Peter and James and other writers of the New Testament.  These writers often pointed out sins in the churches to whom they were writing as they called them to repentance and, on occasion, even called out people by  name.

 

So, if this is not a prohibition of pointing out the sins of others, what does it mean?  It’s an important question and one that needs to be seriously considered in the area of spiritual freedom and spiritual warfare.  Let’s again settle what it doesn’tmean. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul commanded, “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you” (1 Cor. 5:9-13).

 

Jesus says, “Judge not…”  Paul says “Judge.”  Are these two teachings contradicting one another?  We believe that the Holy Spirit directed Paul’s writings and that Jesus spoke what he heard from the Father, so these cannot be contradictory commands because God does not contradict himself. What, then, do they mean?

 

Typically, the issue in spiritual matters is the heart and I believe that is the issue that settles the matter on judging.  When Paul commands us to judge those within the church, we are not making personal judgments but are submitting to the judgment of God’s word.  If a man or woman is living a life that is clearly contradictory to scripture and will not repent after leadership has gone to them, shown them what Jesus had to say about their lifestyle, and prayed with them, then some form of discipline is in order.  The key is that the “judgment” is out of concern for their salvation and the spiritual health of the body of Christ.  There is no self-righteous component in which church leaders are feeling morally superior to the person caught in sin.  Love is motivating the discipline in the same way that love motivates a parent to discipline a rebellious child.

 

The spirit of this “judgment” is revealed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians when he says, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each onelooking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Gal.6:11-3).  This verse describes the heart of proper judgment.  The Word is the standard rather than our own biases. We approach the individual with gentleness and a sense of our own weakness and vulnerability to sin. We typically judge the behavior rather than the heart or the person, because only God knows all the issues behind the sin.  We still deal with the sin, because unrepented sin puts the person’s eternal destination in jeopardy and eventually can lead others into sin as well. The goal of proper judgment is always redemption motivated by love.

 

The judgment Jesus speaks of is a personal judgment based on a feeling of superiority or a desire to hurt the other person. We tend to go past the behavior and simply label another person as if we know their thoughts and their heart.  Instead of saying that a young woman is involved in sexual immorality, we simply label her as a slut…verbally or in our own minds. At that point, we have made her “less than” us, although we probably have another variety of sin in our own life that we justify or don’t recognize.  That judgment exalts us and diminishes the other person.  We don’t feel concern, but rather contempt. We don’t love, but reject.  We judge the person’s worth and value, rather than letting God be the judge.

 

Here is the danger.  When we judge with that heart, we align ourselves with Satan who is the accuser of the brethren. Secondly, Jesus says that “with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.”  When we judge others with a heart of moral superiority, we open ourselves up to the enemy.  We have not shown mercy or forgiveness.  When we judge another, in this context, we sin and the unrepented sin is an open door to the enemy.  Not only that, but once we have cast another person in a certain light through judgment, we typically dismiss all evidence to the contrary.

 

The most difficult thing in marriage counseling is to deal with judgment.  Once a spouse has judged their partner as selfish, hateful, manipulative, perverse, etc., it is difficult for them to see their spouse in any other light.  Even when that spouse is changing, the one who has made a judgment will not see the change or credit the change.  Eventually, the “judged” spouse will give up trying to be different because they sense that whatever they do will never be enough. The spouse who has made the judgment will always feel superior to the other and their disdain or disrespect will poison the relationship.  Believe me, Satan will work hard to justify and maintain that judgment in the mind of the spouse who has made it.

 

This kind of judgment, because it is sin, gives the devil a legal right to afflict us.  That is how our judgment comes back on us.  If we judge someone to be a perverse person, Satan can treat us as a perverse person. If we judge someone to be selfish, the enemy can deal with us as a selfish person. In finding freedom, people not only need to repent of active sin and unforgiveness, but of judgments as well. In the same way that we repent of sin and renounce it, we must also repent of judgments and renounce them before we can dismiss every demon. Again, this is not a denial of sin, but a change of heart toward the sinner.

 

Once again, identifying behavior as sinful, based on the word of God, is not the same as labeling a person and thinking less of them because of our personal agendas.  The kind of judgment the apostle Paul calls us to honors the word of God and humbly seeks restoration of a person caught in sin. The judgment Jesus warns us against, actually diminishes the chance for restoration because we feel no obligation to try to redeem that person we have labeled and often seek to have others join us in our judgment against him or her.  So, as we examine ourselves to see if we are in alignment with the Father’s will, we may want to scan our own hearts and history to see if judgment is opening a door for the enemy or is keeping us from reconciling a relationship.  If we are ministering freedom, to others, judgment is an area that needs to be explored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you get into the business of helping people deal with their brokenness through counseling, prayer, and deliverance, you are never more like Jesus.  However, there is a side effect to going down that road.  As you choose to help people deal with their wounds and their pasts, more and more broken folks will show up in your life. Broken people know broken people, and if you are caring and helpful, they will send others your way. Undoubtedly, God will be entrusting some of these individuals to you so that you can dispense his grace in their lives.

 

Let me warn you, however, that Satan will also deposit some of these folks in your life.  Those individuals will have the uncanny ability to suck the life out of you for months and months and distract you from some very important things that God has ordained for you.  Many of us that are drawn to healing ministries have a spiritual gift of mercy and compassion.  That’s the way it should be. But sometimes, that mercy gift morphs into a “rescuer” theme that develops in our lives and we can find ourselves in bondage to a mindset that feels responsible for the well-being of every victim or broken person we encounter.

 

In itself, being a rescuer is very Christ-like. After all, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  That sounds like rescue work.  I would agree, but Jesus also set some very healthy boundaries around his rescue missions. You should as well. He displayed some of those when he went to the Pool of Bethesda and asked the lame man, “Do you want to be healed?”  Whenever we are working with broken people, that is a question we need to keep in mind. The truth is that not everyone wants to be healed, although everyone says they do.  Some do want to be healed but do not want to do any work to get to that place.  They want you to heal them and then want you to take up their mat and carry it for them.

 

Over the years, in our ministry at Mid-Cities, we have settled on a position that clearly states, “If you want to change, you have to do the work.”  Our belief is that when it comes to healing and freedom, God won’t do the work for us but he is more than happy to do it with us.  When Israel finally made it to Canaan, God could have cleared the land of Israel’s enemies with one sweep of his hand. He could have sent plagues, a band of destroying angels, or displayed any number of other supernatural acts to drive the tribes from the land.  Instead, he required Israel to go to battle.  He would lead them and assure their victories, but they still had to endure the hardships of warfare.  They had to face the enemy, check their faith, and swing the sword.  In doing so, their character was refined and their relationship with God was enhanced.

 

People who want their lives to be transformed have to fight some battles.  Our job is to equip them to fight and, at times, fight along with them. But our goal should be to equip them to engage with God and defeat the enemy on a daily basis or simply make better choices in the future.  Those who fall into the trap of becoming a rescuer tend to make the individuals they are rescuing dependent on them  – their wisdom, their gifts, and their resources. Part of the trap may be that the cycle may feel good to the rescuer because he or she see is making a difference in the life of a person and also because he or she enjoys the gratitude and admiration of those they are rescuing.  However, they are not teaching them to fight and they are not teaching them to depend on Jesus.  Everyone needs to be rescued from time to time, but when being rescued becomes a lifestyle for broken people, there is something wrong.

 

My wife Susan has a very wise saying when it comes to ministry to broken people. She says, “If you are doing more work than they are, something is wrong.” What you notice about Jesus is that his compassion met people where they were, but he did not leave them there.  He didn’t beg people to follow him or stay in one place long to make sure people followed through on his prescriptions for life. He pointed them to God, gave them godly counsel, got them started and then let them be responsible for their next steps.

 

There are those who truly want to change and are ready to do the work.  Invest in them.  There are others who want you to fix them and their life, but won’t do their part. They want God to magically change their hearts, their minds, and their circumstances while they sit and watch. God doesn’t work that way and neither should we. Let that person contact you when he or she is actually ready to do the work.  Others don’t really want to change, but simply love the attention and care they get as person after person pours into them without seeing much progress. That person needs to repent. And still others, want you to take away their pain but don’t want to give up some sin in their lives that has created the pain. They simply want you to rescue them from the consequences of their actions without changing their behaviors or choices. These too need to repent.

 

When you have begun to minister to a person who needs healing and freedom, you may have to carry most of the load initially. But that person should soon begin to make progress.  He should be engaged in the fight.   She should be in the word and in prayer.  That person should also make your appointments on time and consistently and must be willing to start aligning his or her life with God’s word and his commands.

 

Too often, our mercy gift kicks in and we keep meeting, keep rescuing, keep rescheduling for weeks and months because we feel responsible to “save the person.”  It is often necessary to remember that Jesus is their Savior, not us. Too often we enable irresponsible behavior and allow them to continue to see themselves as helpless victims who always need a hero to rescue them from the dragons in their lives.  Too often we keep them from experiencing the very consequences that would have been their best teachers.  God does not require that we fix broken people.  That is his job.  Our job is to give them godly counsel, point them to Jesus, and equip them to live as children of the king if they are motivated to do so.  We are to be responsible to them, but not for them.

 

As hard as it is, there are times when we just have to cut someone loose to whom we have tied ourselves because we realize we are trying to plant God’s seed in poor soil. No real fruit is being produced. The soil may improve over time, but for the moment, there are better investments for the wisdom, experience, mercy, and gifts God has entrusted to your stewardship.

 

I think we need to see ourselves as mentors or coaches rather than rescuers.  As we enter into a mentoring or coaching relationship with a broken person, we need to kindly and gently set expectations for growth and the work they need to be doing in order for authentic change to take place. That person should know that our goal is to make him/her dependent on Jesus, not on us and for them to become mature in their faith.  Growth and change will be an expectation in order for us to continue to disciple them. If it becomes apparent that you are working with a person who does not want to change or is not ready to change, you can still love them but you don’t have to pour into them.  We are certainly not requiring perfection.  After all, Jesus had to display a great deal of patience with the twelve who often seemed like spiritual knuckleheads, but they were on a growth trajectory and their hearts truly desired to be men who pleased the Master. I also suspect Jesus has had to be patient with us and give us second chances. But if the person you are pouring into is not displaying change or doing the work over a period of time, you may need to invest in someone else.

 

I’m not really writing this to instruct you in mentoring, as much as I am wanting to encourage you to avoid the rescuertrap and to even give you permission to cut yourself loose from unfruitful relationships that are keeping you from investing in other relationships that will bear great fruit and give you life rather than sucking life from you.  Remember, God sends some people your way, but so does Satan. A wise person will learn to discern who wants to be healed and who truly doesn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

I was brought to faith in a fellowship that had a stated goal of reproducing the New Testament church in our day.  That was actually a thought that gained traction in the 1800’s long after the Reformation had opened the way for numerous denominations to spring up and splinter the body of Christ.  The idea was that unity could be restored in the body if we took the Bible as our only source of authority and reproduced the church as we saw it in the New Testament.  One of the things they looked for were patternsthat emerged in the way the church functioned.

 

A cornerstone passage for the goal was taken from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. “What you heard from me, keep as the patternof sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us (2 Tim.1:13-14).  The 1stcentury church met on the first day of the week, so we must.  The church in the New Testament had evangelists, elders and deacons, so me must. The early churched immersed believers in water (baptism) so we must. You get the idea and it makes perfect sense. The problem was that we picked some patterns to follow and dismissed others that made us uncomfortable.

 

For instance, Jesus established a very discernible pattern in his ministry. In fact, it was a pattern that would mark the Messiah and his followers.  When John, the baptizer, found himself in prison, he began to doubt his own judgment about the Messiah.  He sent some of his followers to confirm that Jesus was who John believed him to be. “At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Lk.7:21-23). He not only preached the kingdom, but demonstrated the kingdom as well.

 

He instructed others to do the same. “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matt. 10:5-8).  Later, he sent out seventy-two others with the same instructions. Then, in “The Great Commission,”  Jesus commanded his followers to go into all the world and to make disciples of all nations by teaching them to obey everythingthat he had commanded them to do.  Whatever Jesus had commanded his apostles and close circle of disciples to do, they were to teach others to do.  He doesn’t seem to make any exceptions in his teachings.  Therefore, the pattern for all believers was to preach the kingdom and then demonstrate it with signs and wonders.

 

When Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy-two to represent him throughout Israel, they could not truly re-present Jesus without doing the works he did.  Neither can we re-present Jesus without doing those same works. There are some who believe such authority was given only to a few in the first century.  However, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (Jn.14:12-14, emphasis added).

 

Jesus clearly stated that anyone who has faith in him will do what he had been doing and even greater things.  He posted no shelf life and no expiration date on his offer because it was a matter of bringing glory to the Father. In addition, Jesus gave gifts to the church through the Holy Spirit by which “the household of God” could exercise authority and demonstrate the Kingdom as well.  That is how the church is to represent Jesus. We can do so because Jesus was given all authority by the Father and we, as believers, share in that authority,

 

Remember that the Father raised Jesus from the dead and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Eph.1:20-21).  Then “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms” (Eph.2:6). In the same vein, Paul wrote, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Col.2:9-10). If you can receive it, the truth is that we also are seated above all rule, authority, power, and dominion and have been given his fullness because we are seated with him.  We possess that authority now.

 

The church’s failure to push back the borders of darkness as Jesus did is not due to any lack in what Jesus has provided, but due to a lack of faith or understanding by God’s people, so that we don’t claim and operate in the power and authority reserved for us. Until we are committed to reproduce the New Testament Church in its fullness, we will never be all that Jesus wants us to be and his glory will not cover the earth until we demonstrate his glory through his authority and power.  No matter how many “patterns” we reproduce, we will not truly reproduce the church Jesus died for, without the exercise of his power and authority as we share the gospel.

 

I occasionally run into committed Christians who have no interest in politics and who stay at home on election nights without casting a vote.  Their feeling is that politics is of this sordid world and we are to be invested in spiritual enterprises rather than the mudslinging of American political parties. I certainly agree that current politics are worldly, fleshly, and even disturbing.  Media coverage is aggravating on both sides and seems to sow fear, discontent, and division at every level.  Watching it steals our peace.  There are seemingly many spiritual reasons to withdraw from the process and insulate ourselves from the shouting and the slander of our political system in America. The devil clearly has the upper hand in this arena. If want to stay away from all that, I get it. So do I.   The question, however, is not about our comfort and our emotional well-being as much as it is about living out God’s will in our lives.  What is his will concerning our involvement in the political process of America?

 

Jesus taught us that we are to be in the world but not of the world.  That doesn’t mean that we are to isolate ourselves from society like monks walled off in a desert monastery.  We are not to hide from the world, but to overcome it.  Neither are we to compromise with the world but to lift up a higher standard without an aroma of pride or self-righteousness.  Jesus is our model.  He certainly did not hide from the world but engaged with drunks and tax collectors and even had conversations with women whose lives were marked by sin without compromising his faith. Not only that, but he engaged the political system of his day on a regular basis as he spoke with and, sometimes against, the power structures of Israel and Rome. In each case, he was the influencer rather than the influenced. That is the key.

 

We tend to hide away so that we won’t be defiled by a fallen culture.  We take the Old Testament approach.  We avoid the lepers or the sinners so that contact with them won’t make us unclean. But the New Testament model is counter to that.  We touch the lepers and make them clean and we engage with the sinners to be salt and light in their darkness.

 

We all know the Lord’s Prayer and, especially, the part that goes, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  God’s kingdom comes to earth when his will is done here.  The Great Commission is another expression of that mandate.  We are to make disciples of nations, not just a few individuals within those nations.  His purposes will not be fulfilled here until we redeem culture because that is what defines nations. Redeeming culture and even politics is taking back from the enemy what he has stolen. To redeem it, we must first pray for it because Jesus was teaching us to pray. But after praying, we have to influence culture in order to redeem it.  To influence something we have to engage with it.  Salt changes the flavor and light changes the atmosphere. We are to be both in the nation where God has placed us.

 

In America, much of our influence will come through the people we place in positions of leadership.  We do that through the political system.  Our political system is a mess but it is not evil in itself.  It has become evil because we, as believers, to a large extent, have removed our involvement and our influence.  When light is removed, darkness appears.  Rather than abandoning the system, we should overwhelm the system by flooding it with prayer and believers who run on platforms that sincerely reflect God’s values. Scripture says that righteousness exalts a nation.  God, then, connects righteousness with the state of a nation and certainly it’s very destiny.  Our part is to be a leaven for righteousness in this country.  Leaven invades every part of the dough.  We cannot withdraw from those parts we consider worldly and still be leaven, rather we should direct more leaven to those areas.  We should not be defiled by the world, but it should be made clean by our touch. We should not be defiled by our politics, but our politics should be made clean by our involvement.

 

I know….sometimes you can’t seem to justify voting for either candidate.  But you are not voting for a candidate as much as the values he or she will imperfectly represent.  A vote can push back against the darkness. It can’t eradicate sin (only the gospel can do that), but it can restrain sin and that is a step in the right direction.  It is one way that good resists evil. God is neither Democrat nor Republican.  He is the standard, however, that will judge this nation if believers withdraw from the process. Our goal as believers should not be surrender and withdrawal, but to aggressively take back territory that the enemy has stolen.  We do that with prayer and engagement. We can do that immediately through our vote if we vote for kingdom interests.

 

Paul said, “I have become all things to all men, so that by all means some might be saved.”  In other words, Paul determined to use every tool available to advance the kingdom of God on this planet.  I believe a vote bathed in prayer is one of those tools.  So…I encourage you to pray diligently over this next week for God’s Spirit to direct the hearts of those entering voting booths so that they vote for kingdom values whether or not they understand what they are doing. I also pray that every believer will do the same so that his vote and her voice will be a leaven for the righteousness of God to once again permeate our culture.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed  (Jn.4:46-53).

 

This is a familiar story from the Gospel of John.  Jesus had grown up in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter.  Nazareth and was less than 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee and less than four miles from Cana. He performed hundreds of miracles in the region of Galilee, the northern province of Israel in which the Sea of Galilee rests.  Many of those were in Capernaum, a small city on the northwest shore of Galilee. Two notable miracles were seen in Cana. The story above describes the second notable miracle in Cana where Jesus had earlier turned water into wine.

 

The background is important here because in Mark 6 we are told that Jesus had returned to Nazareth after performing a number of miracles in Jerusalem and other towns in the region.  Even though they had heard about his miracles, we are told that he could do none in Nazareth because of their unbelief.  Familiarity was their problem.  They had watched Jesus grow up in the shop of his father Joseph and could not see him as a prophet or the Messiah, but only as the carpenter’s son. In their minds he could never be more than that.  Sometimes we need to get away from our old friends and family for us to take on our new identity in Christ because their inability to see us as a different person sometimes gets in the way of our ability to see ourselves as a different person.

 

In contrast, John tells us about a royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum and near death some 16 miles from Cana. Jesus had already performed miracles in Capernaum so we can assume that when the official’s son became gravely ill, hearing that Jesus was back in Galilee, he  went after Jesus.  Perhaps, he went on horseback or walked, but his mission was to find Jesus and take him back to Capernaum to heal his son.

 

After finding Jesus and pleading with him to return to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus simply told him “You may go.  Your son will live.”  The remarkable statement in John is, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” That is the core of faith.  Faith is taking God as Father, Son, or Spirit at his word and acting on it. Too many of us, myself included, tend to analyze the words of Jesus and then add our own “except when” or “except for me.”  We tend to add footnotes that add qualifications to his words or his promises when he simply wants us to take him at his word.  The minute we qualify his statement or add a disclaimer, the enemy has won.

 

I’m not saying that we should not be honest about our struggles to believe. Most of us believe Jesus totally in some areas of our lives but in other areas we are the man who cried out, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” Perhaps, the dividing line is defined by those promises on which we take action and those on which we want to give it some more thought. The royal official didn’t continue to coax Jesus to come with him. When Jesus told him his son would live, he headed home.  The remaining question seemed to be whether Jesus was given a revelation as a prophet that his son would eventually overcome his illness or whether Jesus had the power and authority to direct healing from a distance. When the official heard that the fever left his son at the same time Jesus had declared that he would live, the question was answered.  Surely Jesus was more than a prophet because even the great prophets of the Old Testament had to be present for healing to occur.

 

What promises do we say we believe but hesitate to take action on?  Which promises do we believe for others, but not ourselves?  What promises do we say we believe but then add qualifiers for when the promise might be true?  Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves so we can address those areas of our lives for which we need more faith.   Then we can mediate more on the promise, pray for a greater gift of faith from the Holy Spirit, listen to the testimony of others, and choose to take action on the promise even while a small cloud of uncertainty may still hover above our heads. Our goal is to bring our requests to Jesus, take Jesus at his word when we receive a promise, and then depart believing that it is done. That is the faith that moves mountains.

 

Many, if not most of us, have been part of a church where the accepted practice was for individuals, marriages, and families to project an image of relational health and spirituality that approximated the Christian idea.  The truth is that very few of those individuals or families were very close at all to the image they projected. In all fairness, they projected an image because they thought they would be rejected by their Christian community if they didn’t “have it all together.” Our fear of being judged and rejected is the very thing that often keeps us in bondage to the thing we won’t confess.  Whatever we won’t acknowledge and confess has power over us.

 

James tells us, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed(James 5:13-16).  Not only physical healing but spiritual and emotional healing as well come through confession.  Confession of sin or weakness is simply choosing to be transparent with God, a mature believer, and even yourself.  It is simply agreeing with God about some part of your life that is misaligned with the Father’s will and acknowledging it to others.

 

Transparency allows healing for several reasons.  First of all, many illnesses – physical and emotional – are manifestations of demonic spirits.  It is amazing how many illnesses and infirmities in scripture were caused or, at least, maintained by unclean spirits. The list includes blindness, deafness, seizures, muteness, back problems, etc. All of those were healed immediately after a demon was cast out.  We also see individuals tormented by demons and the scriptures name spirits of fear, heaviness (depression), confusion, and a host of other spirits that affect our emotions. If we have sin in our lives that we haven’t dealt with through the cross, then that sin gives the enemy a legal right to afflict us until we have confessed the sin and repented.  Transparency through confession enables us to rid ourselves of those demons.

 

Secondly, I believe that everyone’s deepest fear is the fear of being unloved, i.e. rejection.  We avoid transparency because we fear that if others were to become aware of our shortcomings, they would no longer accept us or love us. The truth is that many of us have experienced the withdrawal of love because we didn’t live up to another person’s demands or unrealistic expectations.  We learn early to hide our failings or to blame others for them.  As long as we hide our failings, our fears, our weaknesses or our sins we will never overcome them.

 

Paul told the church at Galatia, “Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each onelooking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal.6:1-2).  The sense of “being caught in a trespass” is not that someone discovered another person’s secret sin, but that someone has been entrapped or overtaken by a sin or a weakness. The wisdom here is that we should confess our sins to the spiritually mature because they will not reject us and they will maintain appropriate confidentiality.  The spiritually mature are all too aware of their own weaknesses and have long since stopped judging others.  They see themselves in a priestly role of hearing confession and dispensing grace to those who need it.  It is very healing to share your deepest shame with another person and discover they do not reject you but respond with love and compassion to your vulnerability.

 

Satan works in the dark.  When we hide our sins and our struggles, he will reinforce them and use them against us.  He will constantly blackmail us with the fear of discovery until we choose to bring our struggle into the light.  He then loses his power over us.  Both our acceptance by the spiritually mature and our choice to be transparent with our sins or weaknesses is healing.  I want to emphasize that ff you have something to confess, do so with people you can trust.  Ask around. People in a church tend to know who will dispense grace and healing rather than judgment.  It is usually those who have chosen transparency themselves.

 

A third transforming power in transparency is found in John’s first letter. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn.1:8-9).  The word translated as “purify” in this verse is a word that means to remove a stain from cloth.  Sin leaves a stain – a residue in our hearts, our minds, and even in our genetic makeup. I believe that as we confess our sin and receive God’s forgiveness, the Spirit of God gets busy scrubbing out the stain so that it loses its influence.  It no longer remains addictive and has less and less power to draw us back.  It loses its power to produce shame in us and even them memories take on a different meaning for us. Confession or transparency also tends to broaden our own awareness of areas within us where the Spirit needs to do some work.  Just as important, sharing my fears and my failings with someone else is also an exercise in taking personal responsibility for my actions.  That is also a first giant step in spiritual maturity.

 

This decision to be transparent is a powerful step toward freedom and healing. In many cases, God requires it. Transparency and acceptance have been the power and attraction of twelve step programs for decades and the church in many places could take a page from their playbook. As essential as transparency is, I will admit that not every environment is safe for us to be open about our struggles. Because of that, I suggest that you ask the Lord to lead you to a safe place. Some churches are very transparent because their leaders are transparent. Perfection isn’t required and if someone pretends to be perfect they are not trusted in those churches. Small groups can be that place of safety.  If that is not available, ask around and find a spiritually mature person to mentor you. In that mentoring relationship you will find safety to be transparent.  Moments of transparency are transformative. Even Jesus, who was without sin, was transparent with his closest disciples. He didn’t try to be superman.  He acknowledged that he was tired. He expressed doubt and frustration at times. In the Garden, he shared that his soul was overcome with sorrow and dread asked them to stay with him and pray.

 

We need people with whom we can be totally transparent.  It is healing and it is a significant door to freedom.  But I also believe that we should not live life as an open book because many people can’t be trusted with our openness.  The gospels tell us that Jesus wouldn’t entrust himself to men because he knew what was in their hearts.  With those closest to him, he was totally transparent.  Our transparency must be guided by wisdom and not recklessness or a false sense of spirituality because we are totally open and totally frank.  Proverbs tells us to measure our words and speak them at just the right time and in just the right ways, rather than blurting out whatever comes to mind at any moment.  Having said that, however, we will not overcome some of our deepest wounds and most besetting sins until we openly talk to someone about them. Commit to it and ask God to provide that moment and the people you need.

 

 

 

 

 

If you have ever seen many of the Hollywood depictions of Jesus in years gone by, you might notice a common thread that runs through most of them.  In most of these movies that span decades, Jesus always seems to be somewhat sad or somber and is barely affected by what is going on around him.  Philip Yancey called this the Prozac Jesuswho had little emotional reaction to the world around him, as if he were perpetually medicated.  I suppose the film directors thought that demeanor made him look spiritual or “other worldly.”  One of my favorite depictions, however, was the Gospel of Matthew with Bruce Marchiano. First of all, Marchiano looked Jewish instead of being tall with blond hair and blue eyes.  But more than that, he was emotional.  He was alive and animated. When someone hurt, he hurt with that person.  When someone laughed, he laughed.  When someone was healed, he was just as excited as the person who suddenly saw colors and shapes for the first time.

 

I like that because when we see someone set free or healed, we get excited.  I love to see someone experience Jesus in that way.  What we need to remember is that it is important for individuals to experience Jesus rather than simply experiencing healing or the one through whom Jesus healed the person.

 

When it comes to healing, I believe that the more we point people to Jesus, the more healings we will see.  Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom.1:16). There is power in the gospel and the gospel directs our faith to the one who heals.

 

Healing is obviously a great evangelistic tool. We always hear reports about great revivals in third world countries where hundreds or thousands are healed and come to Jesus, but healing should be even more available to God’s people than to the lost in those nations.  Faith is the currency of heaven and faith resides in believers.  Spiritual gifts were given to build up the body of Christ including the gifts of healing. The psalmist declares that God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases (Psm.103:3).  Speaking of Jesus, Isaiah wrote, “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Isa.53:4-5).  Isaiah is clear that Jesus died and bore not only our sins, but our infirmities and diseases as well. James also promises healing to God’s people.  “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (Ja.5:14-16).

 

I think that sometimes we believe God is more willing to heal the lost, so that they might come to Jesus, than he is willing to heal the saved.  But the principle is that God’s gifts are reserved for his people first and, then, for those outside the family. We are told, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal.6:10).  Remember when the Gentile woman came to Jesus asking for him to cast a demon from her daughter? His reply was that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel and that is wasn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs (Matt.15).  Of course, she replied that even the dogs get the crumbs and, because of her faith, Jesus healed the daughter.  The point is, however, that God reserves his gifts first for his children like any good father.

 

As the gospel is shared and people are pointed to Jesus, faith has the opportunity to rise in that person and as they accept Jesus, the gift of healing becomes more available to them that before because it is part of our New Covenant with God.  A fair question then is, “Why does it seem that more unbelievers are healed in great crusades than believers in churches?”  I believe it is because, by and large, we have not taught the full gospel to the church.  The gospel should promise not only the forgiveness of sins, but the healing of infirmities and sickness as well since Jesus bore all of that on the cross for his people.  Strictly speaking, we should believe in healing every bit as much as forgiveness. Both are promised as a result of the sacrifice of Messiah. A biblical study of “salvation” indicates that salvation does not just provide blessings after the funeral but on this side of the grave as well and includes not only forgiveness but provision, protection, freedom, and healing.

 

The power of the gospel is that it produces faith for all the things the blood of Christ purchases for us.  Pointing people to Jesus – his love, his sacrifice, and his intercession – is a great prelude to healing.  So…as we get excited about healing or any of the other gifts, we should not forget the giver of the gifts but clearly point people to him before they ever unwrap what he is giving them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there ever a time when a person is clearly demonized but deliverance is not in order?  We all want to help.  We all want people to experience the goodness of Jesus. We all want to push back the borders of the dark kingdom.  But is deliverance always in the best interest of the person? There is probably a part of each of us that initially says, “Of course!”  But Jesus shared a story that raisesa caution flag in this area.

 

After being accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan and then being asked for a miraculous sign, Jesus said, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first” (Mt.12:43-45). He then compared the nation of Israel to that man.

 

A lot of believers find this story disconcerting. Without understanding the issues, it creates fear about deliverance and the enemy coming back in force.  The issue for the man in the story was not that he had been demonized and set free.  The problem was that the demonic spirit left a vacancy that was not immediately filled by a new tenant. The new tenant should have been the Holy Spirit, so that when the demon returned, he would have found a “no vacancy” sign.  Any demon that is cast out is likely to return in an attempt to reclaim his territory.  If the same demon that was cast out doesn’t return, another will come along.

 

There is an old adage related to spiritual warfare that says,” The first battle is getting free; the second battle is staying free.”  The key is in understanding what gave that spirit a place in that person’s life in the first place.  Demons set up a habitation in men and women because something has given them a legal right and an open door to do so.

 

The danger in just ministering deliverance to someone is that the individual may have a wide open door in the spiritual realm that will allow that demon or others to quickly return.  Before deliverance, some discipleship is usually in order and, for none believers, an introduction to Jesus.  We need to remember that the demonized individual has probably coexisted and functioned with the demon for years, so a few more days or weeks won’t be the end of things. (A person tormented by a spirit of suicide might be the exception if they seem unstable.)

 

There are three main entry points for demons: persistent, unrepented sin in the past or present, generational sins and curses, and trauma.  If a person has lived a life of sin in the past or has been involved in the occult, demons may have set up residence then and, even if the person has repented and come to Jesus, there may still be a demon or two to deal with. The door may be closed to new residents, but the old residents may still be renting out a room.

 

If a person is currently in a sinful relationship or hiding secret sins such as an addiction, the door is open.  If the person is divisive, angry, a chronic gossip, or has refused to forgive someone, etc. then there is currently a wide open door. If they do not acknowledge their sins and repent, the door will stay open, the demon will return and, perhaps, bring others, so that the person may be worse off in the end than in the beginning.

 

Sins of the fathers as well as curses coming down to the children to the third and forth generation may also constitute open doors that need to be closed before deliverance.  A great deal of demonic oppression comes down through bloodlines. Curses established by the words or actions of ancestors carry demonic assignments.   Until the sins that established the curse are renounced and the curse is broken, those demons will have a legal right to continue to afflict the person. Occult involvement, violence, and sexual sins of the fathers seem to be primary doors for demons to establish a stronghold in families.

 

Demons also seem to find entrance into the mind and emotions of individuals who have experienced trauma. Prayers for healing and the touch of Jesus to mend broken hearts is often in order, as well, before deliverance.

 

The warning related to the words of Jesus is not to rush in and create spiritual vacuums that may be refilled by the enemy because they remain vacant.  Spending some time discovering the broken places in an individual, past life styles, ungodly relationships from the past or present, generational sins, family patterns that suggest a curse, and, especially, unforgiveness is time well spent. In addition, exploring whether or not the person you are ministering to is actually saved is always a good idea. Many demonized people go to church and identify as Christians, but have never actually surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.  Until they do, they have no defense against the enemy. Dealing with sin, curses, and trauma closes the door so the enemy can’t return. Asking Jesus to fill that person with his Spirit takes care of the vacancy.

 

If a person is not willing or is not ready to repent of sins, exit an ungodly relationship, forgive someone who hurt him or her, or is not ready to make Jesus their Lord, deliverance might make things worse rather than better and you may want to pass on setting them free – at least for the time being.  The same is true for physical healing.  The same things can get in the way of physical healing that get in the way of deliverance, so visiting about those issues and aligning the person with Jesus may increase the number of people who actually get healed when you pray and the number that maintain their healing.  Spirits of infirmity are behind many physical illnesses so deliverance may also be needed before physical healing can be accomplished.

 

So…to parody Hamlet…To deliver or not to deliver…that is the question. Take your time, pray about it, and visit with the individual.  Ask pertinent questions.  If you free a person and the demon returns, they will assume that deliverance doesn’t work or isn’t even a real thing. It may even be difficult to cast out a demon when that spirit’s legal right to afflict the person still stands. If they cannot get free or experience nothing as you minister deliverance, then they may not be open to deliverance again. Just know that it is not always in the best interest of a person to minister deliverance until some basic discipleship and discovery occurs first.

I was browsing through the third chapter of John again this week.  It’s is one of those chapters that, no matter how many times you have studied it, you always know it contains so much more than you understand.  But one thing was evident to me as I read the words of Jesus again as he spoke to Nicodemus.  We should never underestimate the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer and in the Kingdom of God.  When you say it, it sounds trite – as if everyone knows that.  My experience, however, is that most believers don’t know that because they treat the Spirit as a minor player in the Godhead.  He gets an honorable mention on Sundays as one who, perhaps, played a significant role 2000 years ago but since then has been rather tame.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  I am reminded of that when Jesus cuts to the chase with Nicodemus.  Nic was a Pharisee as well as a member of the Sanhedrin.  But to his credit he was a truth seeker, although he still cared a great deal about his position and what other members of the  “good old boys” club thought of him.  He came at night so that he would not be seen with this “questionable” Rabbi. He represented another group within the Pharisees or the ruling council who were not quite ready to condemn Jesus because Nicodemus said, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God…” He came with a list of questions representing this little group.

 

We must speculate on where he was going with his questions because Jesus sidetracked his dialogue and began to speak about his own agenda.  However,  I feel confident that Nic was going to ask a series of questions about the Messiah and about the nature of miracles and so forth. That would have been an amazing discussion to hear and a spiritual discussion at that.  However, Jesus knew it would have been a futile discussion because this brilliant theologian and descendant of Abraham would not get it.

 

Jesus simply said. “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Clearly, for Nicodemus, that must have seemed like a hard left turn that, perhaps, was leading to nowhere.  What an enigmatic statement that seemed to just come out of left field.  Nic tried to track with Jesus a bit and so protested that a man could not be born again when he is old. Then Jesus added to the confusion by saying that no one could even enter the kingdom unless he was born not only of water but of the Spirit. Here was a man who all his life had been taught that knowledge of the Torah, love for the word of God, and good works would gain him entrance into the kingdom. Jesus simply said that entrance was not based on anything we could do but solely on the basis of what the Spirit would do.

 

When Jesus said that a man could not see the kingdom,  he meant that a man could not understand, perceive, or experience the kingdom without being born again.  An equally valid translation would be that he could not see the kingdom unless he was “born from above.”  That birth from above was by the Holy Spirit.  In the same way that Jesus was born by the Holy Spirit coming on Mary, we can only be born again by the Holy Spirit coming on us and we cannot see, perceive, understand, or experience the kingdom without the work of the Holy Spirit. If our initial realization of the kingdom comes only by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then all other experiences and insight into the kingdom can come only by the Spirit as well.

 

If we place limits on the Spirit, we place limits on our understanding and experience of the kingdom.  In an effort to make God understandable, we miss out on understanding.  In our efforts to keep the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts from being abused, we abuse our own experiences with God.  In order to enter the kingdom, we must be born from above.  In other words, it is not just an intellectual exercise of acknowledging who Jesus is, but God has to do something to us. A new creation (2 Cor.5:17) means that suddenly, we are different and distinctive from the rest of creation. I believe that someday science will be able to measure a shift in brain function, DNA, or genetics that occurs the moment someone is born again.

 

I do not believe that being born again, being born from above, or being born of the Spirit is simply a metaphor for us as we somehow take on a new philosophy of life. When the Spirit comes power is imparted.  Radical transformation is initiated. Positions shift in the heavenlies as we are seated with Christ. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is rumbling around in us waiting to get out.  All of that begins with the Spirit of God and continues with him until the Spirit himself raises us from the dead. The Spirit is immeasurable power and wisdom and can only be capped or quenched by us.

 

In too many places, the church still quenches the Spirit in the name of doing everything “decently and in order.”  In my Bible, when the Holy Spirit showed up, fire erupted, people spoke in tongues, people went out and preached in the streets, buildings shook, everyone had a revelation or a tongue or a prophecy, people got healed, and demons got cast out. Some even dropped dead in church for lying to the Spirit.  All that doesn’t seem to fit our definition of  “decently and in order.” Many of our churches could benefit from a little disorder orchestrated by the Spirit.

 

We have even elevated intellect over spiritual gifts and spirituality.  If you don’t think so, check out the classifieds in a Christian journal where churches are looking for staff members and pastors. The qualifications are rarely based on spiritual gifts, spiritual maturity, intimacy with Jesus, or how many people a person has led to the Lord.  They are most often based on degrees earned in an accredited university or business experience in the corporate world. Jesus himself nor his apostles should even bother to apply. They would not meet the qualifications.

 

Although the Spirit points us to Jesus, Jesus points us to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is God along with the Father and the Son.  We should pursue Him with as much passion as we do the other members of the Trinity.  If we fail to do so, we may enter the kingdom as a newborn, but we will remain in that same condition for years to come.  Our problem is not that we don’t know enough scripture, but that we haven’t experienced God enough.  That experience comes through the Holy Spirit.  Maybe we should make a real effort to get to know him.

 

 

 

This is our 7thand final installment of the Beattitudestaken out of the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.  Again, these are important teachings because most scholars believe that Jesus taught the principles and commands in the Sermon (Matthew 5-7) over and over during his ministry.  Repetition suggests that he thought these were not elementary, but rather essential teachings for every follower of Jesus, so it is wise for us to revisit these teachings from time to time.

 

The last two beatitudes are in an interesting juxtaposition.  Blessed are the peacemakers and blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. The positioning almost suggests that peacemakers can anticipate persecution.  That is the bad news.  The good news is that they are in good company.

 

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons or children of God.  A son or child of God is one who has the character of God.  “Like father, like son” is the old expression.  A peace maker is one who has a heart for peace, harmony, reconciliation, and unity.  A peacemaker is not a pacifist in the sense of avoiding conflict at all cost. Jesus is the Prince of Peace but he had numerous confrontations with the Pharisees. He is also pictured in Revelation as the commander of the armies of heaven going out to war.  The idea is that this person’s first desire is peace. He or she will endure a personal wrong and not insist on his or her rights in order to maintain a relationship. This person will be forgiving, longsuffering, and patient in order to maintain peace.  He or she will constantly work toward reconciliation as long as there is the possibility and even sacrifice for the restoration of a relationship.  That is also the heart of God who gave his only Son so that the world might be to reconciled to himself.

 

The reason peace making often invites persecution is because peacemaking often appears to the world as weakness.  When you turn the other cheek, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who despise you…those whose hearts are hard and self-centered will see you as timid or a pushover and will often move quickly to take advantage of your willingness to be wronged without striking back.

 

I have noticed that, for the most part, when we obey Jesus, we are put in vulnerable situations in which people can “use us” or take advantage of us.  Jesus taught that if someone sues us for our coat we should give him our cloak as well.  If we are compelled to carry something one mile, carry it two. Our vulnerability requires us to depend on the Lord for protection, provision, and vindication. Paul knew the risk better than anyone but pointed to peacemaking as long as it was possible.  “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom.12:17-19).

 

The peacemaker must trust God, perhaps more than anyone, because they will be vulnerable in many situations. Note that Paul said to be at peace as much as is possible.  Even for the peacemaker, there is a time to go to war when all avenues of peacemaking have been exhausted and evil will prevail if not confronted. Remember, we are to resist the devil and seek justice for the weak.  We are to care for the widow and the orphan.  Jesus sternly confronted the Pharisees because their legalistic perversion of God’s Law was keeping men and women from a relationship with the Father. Paul often confronted sin and wrongs in the churches he had planted because the toleration of such things would eventually infect the church and put the salvation of other believers at risk. He did so after an extended time of pleading with patience for those in sin or those tolerating sin to repent. He would rarely oppose evil on his own behalf but would certainly “go to war” on behalf of the church or the weak when his attempts to make peace were rejected.

 

Peacemaking will eventually invite persecution or, at least, will put us in a position to be taken advantage of. Our desire for peace and reconciliation reflect the heart of God so that we can be counted as his children, but remember that the world hated Jesus and will eventually hate those who carry his image. The “up side” is that vulnerability and persecution force us to maintain a true dependence on God which then draws his presence to us.  The presence of God reveals the glory of God and his glory reveals his goodness. His goodness always blesses. There is clearly a price to be paid for his presence, but it is s always worth the cost.

 

Jesus gave us a list of things that create a state of blessedness for his people.  They are clearly counter-cultural but the kingdom always is. We all want to be blessed but blessing often comes with risk…of not being like everyone else or of placing ourselves in vulnerable positions.  My problem is that I want to be at peace with the world while I am at peace with heaven as well.  Biblically, I can’t pull that off. The world and the kingdom are at odds. I must choose one and if I want to live under a state of blessedness, I must choose the kingdom.  If you search through the Sermon on the Mount, the message of choosing is imbedded in the texts.  Our challenge is to choose Jesus everyday and then trust the rest to him.