"Do not judge." - Jesus.
I've been delving into the ideas Ted Dekker puts forth in "The Way of Love," and when it came to this teaching about judging, either he, or my own mind, began to ponder. In "The" garden was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. Satan tempted Adam and Eve saying if they ate of it, they would be like God. Like God in the ability to judge good and evil. Only they weren't able. We aren't able. We are not God. We can't see the whole picture like He can. Our judgment is faulty at best. Murderous at worst. So when Jesus said do not judge, isn't He, as the second Adam, commanding us to go to where we started? Letting God be God, letting Him do the judging? Trusting Him to ultimately deal with the issues that are passing away as surely as this life is?
In Christ, we are a new nation, a new people. Can I assert, a new Race? Our old man is dead, we are brand new. We are in the world but not of it. We NOW live in the Kingdom of God. He commands us not to get entangled in the affairs of this world, but to be light and love. Love: holding no record of wrong. It's dang hard when we see the meanness and arrogance around us, but as a follower of Christ, I don't see that He has called me to join the fray of angry humanity.
Can life in Christ be so simple as to be light and love in a dark world of hate? I think yes. Is it easy? No way. Nevertheless, I trust that I can do all things He calls me to do with the strength He supplies.
I've been delving into the ideas Ted Dekker puts forth in "The Way of Love," and when it came to this teaching about judging, either he, or my own mind, began to ponder. In "The" garden was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. Satan tempted Adam and Eve saying if they ate of it, they would be like God. Like God in the ability to judge good and evil. Only they weren't able. We aren't able. We are not God. We can't see the whole picture like He can. Our judgment is faulty at best. Murderous at worst. So when Jesus said do not judge, isn't He, as the second Adam, commanding us to go to where we started? Letting God be God, letting Him do the judging? Trusting Him to ultimately deal with the issues that are passing away as surely as this life is?
In Christ, we are a new nation, a new people. Can I assert, a new Race? Our old man is dead, we are brand new. We are in the world but not of it. We NOW live in the Kingdom of God. He commands us not to get entangled in the affairs of this world, but to be light and love. Love: holding no record of wrong. It's dang hard when we see the meanness and arrogance around us, but as a follower of Christ, I don't see that He has called me to join the fray of angry humanity.
Can life in Christ be so simple as to be light and love in a dark world of hate? I think yes. Is it easy? No way. Nevertheless, I trust that I can do all things He calls me to do with the strength He supplies.