“Love and kindness” and “thou shall not judge”, has become two of
the most famous buzz phrases in an overly permissive society. The use of
these phrases has caused the true Christian message to be dumb-down and
to adhere to the guidelines established by the government pertaining to hate
messages. The condemnation of sin is controversial and is considered hate
speech, as God and sin become relative. The admonition of Paul in 2
Timothy 4:2 is quickly cast aside and the contextual nature of the
scripture is often overlooked in favor of presenting a gospel that is not
controversial.
A Gospel that is non confrontational is more capable of providing
for the bottom line of the organized church.
It ascribed to the scripture that says, “let both grow together until
the harvest…” The proliferation of the organized
church has left many struggling for a message that embraces all to come
together and enjoy the entertainment aspect of Christianity.
As we engage each other in this holiday season, there is a
constant reminder of the of the message God gave in Jeremiah 31:3 to the
prophet concerning the Children of Israel, and I reiterate, this message was to
Jeremiah concerning the Children of Israel. God’s message was, it was
with love and kindness that he had drawn them. One of the interesting
aspects of this proclamation is that God is saying when you were slaves under
the guardianship of the Egyptian rulers; I extended to you my love and
kindness. I allowed you to grow and flourish, and when you became a
nation, I delivered you. He is saying, the hardship you endured was a
test to see if you could and help you survive as the children of God and
fulfilling his purpose of subduing and establishing an earthly kingdom.
Now if we shape it and twist it, stumbling over the Ages and
Dispensation, claiming the children of Israel is the church or the world, we
create certain anomalies within the scripture that cannot be sustained through
Bible research, the application of the Knowledge of God or just plain common
sense. In the beginning God demonstrated his love for man by creating him
in his own image and bestowing upon him the gift of freedom of choice. It
is a biblical fact that man’s first encounter with the devil resulting in the
abuse of this great gift. The freedom of choice infused with the
knowledge of good and evil paved the way for the justification of sin in todays
society. It became easy to say God will not punish me because he love
me. Because God often spoke of his love and kindness the fear of God has
been tempered.
The message of love and kindness have become the gospel of love
and kindness because it embraces man in his sinful nature. God loves me,
therefore I am blessed is a misnomer that has invaded the church and the world
outside of the church. God knows and understand, if I sin, he will
forgive me because he loves me. If this is true, then what was the
purpose of Jesus suffering and dying on the cross?
Christianity has always existed as a religion that sought to
condemn the evilness of the world. Within the last one hundred years the
knowledge of good and evil has grown expeditiously and the fear of God has
decreased. God, Christianity and the Bible are subjected to modern day interpretations.
There is no hesitation to speak out against the one God concept,
rearrange the scripture and even use the scripture to justify sin. If the
scripture is used to condemn, then love and kindness take center stage,
and it is backed up with Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not
judged. If that is the case, how do we reconcile this? 2 Timothy
4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. Ephesians 5:11 And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them.
This command of judging refers to the rash, censorious, and unjust
judgment. See Roman 2:1. Luke 6:37 explains it in the sense of condemning.
Christ does not condemn judging as a magistrate, for that, when,
according to justice, is lawful and necessary. Nor does he condemn our forming
an opinion of the conduct of others, for it is impossible not to form an
opinion of conduct that we know to be evil. But what he refers to is a habit of
forming a judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance for every
palliating circumstance, and of expressing such an opinion harshly and
unnecessarily when formed. It rather refers to private judgment than judicial,
and perhaps primarily to the habits of the scribes and Pharisees whom he was
addressing.
That Christ does not here forbid judicial judging by the civil
magistrate, nor ecclesiastical judging by the church governors, whose office
gives them authority so to do. 2 Timothy 4:2. Nor does he forbid one
Christian to pass a judgment on the notorious actions of another, seeing the
duty of reproof cannot be performed without it; but it is such a rash and
censorious judging our brother, as is void of love towards him, as is
accompanied with contempt of him, especially if we have been guilty of the same
or greater sins before him. John 7:24 Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
The application of God’s love as expressed in the ancient days was
much different from what we perceive to be an expression of his love
today. Many of us growing up in the early sixties knew our parent loved
us, yet they would punish us harshly for our wrong doing. Many times our
idea of suffering was nothing but the performance of a job that need to be
done. God loved Joseph, but he was allowed to suffer and endure hardship
to prepare him for a task that he had been selected to perform. God loved
Moses, but first Moses had to endure the hardship of a good soldier.
Even so, God often spoke of his love for the seed of Abaraham, yet they
were to linger in slavery and their journey to freedom was not without
punishment, because they fail to obey their creator.
Many ethnic groups or nations have served in the servitude of
another group or nation, rather than the acceptance of the struggle as stepping
stones, their hearts have become hard and the price that has been paid by those
who pave the way has been desecrated. The Children of Israel were guilty
of the same desecration. It began soon after their deliverance, when they
began to wish they had remained in Egypt, then they began to question God
because of their suffering. They even began to question God as to
the reason for their suffering. Because of their questioning and disrespect
for God, they were scattered among the nations.
After the Gospel of grace was extended to all mankind, suffering
became a necessary and productive element to prepare a person or group to
reign. The suffering that we are encouraged to endure in no ways detract
from the love and kindness of the father. If it were not for the love of
the Father, we would have long been destroyed. We have created a God who
is helping us and carrying us through the storm, but in reality Jesus is
standing at the finish line with his hands outstretched saying, “if you can
endure, I will give you a crown of life.”
