Judging Rightly

MESSAGE: Wineskins (podcast)
SCRIPTURE: Luke 5.33-39

Before you go any further in this blog, watch this video:



This video is a witness encounter between Ray Comfort (the guy with the microphone) and P-Nasty (you can probably guess which one he is). This video is taken from one of the "Way of the Master" videos that we use in our evangelism training course (which you MUST do if you haven't already!). In one of our recent classes, one of the students saw this video and was outraged. He thought that anyone who would assume that P-Nasty was not a believer was judgmental and hypocritical, because we of course don't know what is going on in P-Nasty's heart, and even by his own admission he "accepted the fact that G-J-uh, Jesus Christ died for my sins, you know what I'm saying? He died for my sins, he gave me another chance. If it wasn't for Jesus Christ I wouldn't be here right now." Earlier in the interview, Ray told P-Nasty that he needed God's forgiveness, and P-Nasty responded by asking, "How do you know I ain't got His forgiveness?" and Ray responded by saying, "I know what's coming out of your mouth, and that's what's coming out of your heart - it gives me a clue." The student in our class thought this was the epitome of judgmentalism and legalism. What do you think? Was Ray right in "judging" the man as not being saved and as needing forgiveness?

In this past week's scripture and message, we saw the Pharisees judge the disciples as being unspiritual because they didn't spend all their time fasting and praying. Apparently, fasting and prayer were some important marks of true spirituality in that day, and since they weren't particularly observed in the lives of Jesus' disciples, they were judged as not spiritual. Jesus rebukes the Pharisees by saying that their brand of fasting and prayer isn't authentic because it's done out of a desire to fulfill a ritual and that there's no spiritual meaning behind it. Jesus would later go on to say that fasting and prayer aren't rituals - they're deep acts of communion with God. And he also goes on to say that the brand of fasting and prayer that the Pharisees are promoting isn't anything like the kind that Jesus is encouraging. In fact, they're so different, the two can't co-exist.

This should teach us as Christians a couple things: 1) we can't go around judging people by what they do and what they don't do, because we can't see their hearts. In other words, actions are actions, and they only mean something if they're done with pure worshipful motivations - which we can't see. Thus, we can't judge a person's spiritual authenticity by what they're doing - it might be authentic, and it might be phony - we just can't know for sure. 2) We need to be making sure that our own spiritual actions (prayer, fasting, Bible reading, serving, singing, communion, etc.) are done in truth, and in a desire for worship and communion with God. Anything NOT done with such motivation is worthless, and is not the kind of spirituality that Jesus demands from his followers.

But then, back to P-Nasty: was Ray right in "judging" him as being unsaved? This question requires some consideration. Since we can't know the hearts of people, the best we can do is form a hypothesis based upon the evidence of the fruit of their life. Are they living in holiness? Are they bearing "fruit in keeping with repentance?" Is the fruit of the Holy Spirit evident in their life? Are they communing with God on a regular basis (prayer, reading the Bible, etc. - again, these are mere actions, but they are actions that should be evident in the life of a Christian)? The Bible tells us that "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." This is one of the things that Ray says to P-Nasty: he says that he can tell that P-Nasty does not have God's forgiveness because of what is coming out of his mouth, which is ultimately coming out of his heart. And what was coming out of his heart/mouth? Self-righteousness; a love for sin; a refusal to admit his offense before God; by these things, Ray (rightly, I believe) determines that P-Nasty is not a believer. These are merely some criteria by which we can "judge" others to see if they are in the faith, but of course, this must be done lovingly and reverently, not done to condemn (but do know that scripture commands us to confront those who claim Christ but who are steeped in sin).

A lot of people toss around the old "judge not, lest ye be judged," phrase quite a bit these days. They say that Jesus never judged anyone. WRONG! Jesus judged everyone he came into contact with, as do you and I. It's impossible to live life and interact with people without making some kind of judgment about them. Plus, Jesus ALWAYS judged sin as being wrong, and the sinner as needing to be saved (he can do that since he's God). Thus, when we encounter sinners, we can make a similar judgment: sin is wrong, and sinners need to be saved. What that verse speaks to is making a moral judgment on someone because of their actions - condemning them - which is not for mankind to do, but for God alone. Instead, it's our job to love them, preach the gospel to them and introduce them to Jesus.

Here then, is what I think about P-Nasty. He says that he has God's forgiveness, and that he "accepted" the fact that Jesus Christ died for his sins (spiritual action). While I can't make a definite decision about the truth of this claim because I can't see his heart, I can form a hypothesis by the evidence of his actions, which are still steeped in sin and unrighteousness. Since the Bible calls believers to flee from sin, and to be living in righteousness, I can make a conclusion that he is indeed not saved, and that he indeed needs Jesus. I can't make a moral decision regarding him, though, and condemn him, because I can't see his heart. I can't determine what he believes in truth. Only God can do that. Thus, it's my job to love P-Nasty and to warn him that his professed lifestyle is not what the Bible says a believer should be doing, and I can encourage him to examine himself - examine his heart, his sin, his desires, his motivations, etc. as compared to scripture and make a decision based upon that examination.

So was Ray a Pharisee by "judging" P-Nasty because he didn't see him "fasting and praying?" Definitely not in the same sense that the Pharisees were judging the disciples. Ray used the evidence he saw in the guy's life and formed a conclusion - then he loved him enough to tell him about Jesus. He didn't make a moral or spiritual judgment on P-Nasty. Instead, he reached out in compassion. Let us go and do likewise.