Right and Wrong Judging; Constructive and Destructive Criticism

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Chances are, if you have taken a stand on what is right and wrong in any arena, someone (whether he/she believes in Jesus or not) has quoted Matthew 7:1 to you: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” But what is Jesus really saying? Dr. Brown talks about the true meaning of this Kingdom principle on the show today!

Hour 1:

Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: Let us first examine and judge ourselves, pointing the mirror at ourselves so we can see what’s wrong in our lives, and then with a pure and humble heart, let us address what is wrong in the church and the world. Let us make righteous judgments without being judgmental.

Hour 2:

Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: There’s no question that God is moving in the earth, and so is the enemy; that there is outpouring as well as deception; that the body is being built up, and that there is also much compromise in the body. We must have wisdom to tear down what is wrong and to build up that which is right. Let us cure the patient, rather than kill the patient!

REVIVAL RESOURCES!
The Revival Answer Book

Revival [MP3 CD Series]

Other Resources:

How Saved Are We? by Dr. Brown: This unsettling book challenges us to ask ourselves what kind of born-again experience we have had if it calls for almost no personal sacrifice, produces virtually no separation from the world, and breeds practically no hatred of sin.

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Go and Sin no More [mp3 CD]: Titled after Dr. Brown’s book release, this eight part series highlights key biblical truths regarding sin and holiness. This series is a must for believers desiring to walk in holiness before the Lord.

The Gospel that Judges Our Secrets VOR Article by Bryan Purtle

Is it remarkable to us that Paul conveys the reality of God’s judgment as a crucial component of his “gospel”? Do we see it as “good news” that “God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus”?

Paul is addressing the issues of Law and conscience in Romans 2, and he swings his subject back around to the inward reality, as apostles always do. He declares that even if all seems to be intact externally with the saint, the real issue of judgment has to do with “the secrets of men,” for the Lord is ever and always concerned with reality, and not with the mere appearance of things. […]

Why You OUGHT to Judge: VOR Article by Frank Turek

At least one lesbian is not happy with me for the case I made last week against same-sex marriage on our TV program. She wrote me this ALL CAPS e-mail with “VERY JUDGEMENTAL” in the subject line:

ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME AND I AM A CHRISTIAN LESBIAN AND HAVE BEEN FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS. STOP JUDGING AND MOVE ON!!! I AM SO TIRED OF ALL YOU UPTIGHT, DO RIGHT, SINNERS JUDGING PEOPLE.

I wrote her back asking her why she was judging me for judging. It seemed like a fair question. After all, if I am not to “judge” her, why is it OK for her to judge me? And if she’s a Christian, doesn’t she know that God has already judged homosexual behavior as immoral? I mean, I didn’t make the judgment that homosexual behavior was wrong. God is the standard of morality, not me.

But the main point is that my lesbian pen pal did what most liberals do when they are faced with arguments they don’t like—they misuse Jesus’ apparent command not to “judge” in order to shut you up. […]

4 Comments
  1. One of the callers brought up an interesting situation, about how so many have become caught up in doctrine and they’ve become as Pharisees.

    When I read about the Pharisees in the gospels, they seemed to me to be about judging others according to doctrine.

    But were they hearing people who came to them to hear matters of judgment and justice, things that naturally come about as people’s lives affect one another?

    Were they doing that work as a service to God and man with the view or goal of righteousness prevailing, or reconcilliation based upon righteousness, truth, and mercy?

    Isn’t that the kind of judgment the Lord would have us do?

    Not only did the Lord tell us to “Judge not.” He also told us to “Judge righteous judgment.” (Matt 7:1, John 7:24)

    So what can help us to prevent us from becoming Pharisees?

    May I suggest that people tend to become Pharisees when they do not do the judgment the Lord would have us to do? (see Jer 22:3,4)

    One thing that may so often happen if someone should speak up against something wrong, is that they will not hear you.

    The gates of their city is closed.

    A man by the name of Malcolm Smith one did a Freedom From Fear Series of teachings and one of them was about the word “desolate”.
    (Desolate And Alone)

    He described it as a ghost town, where there is no one home, a city that used to be a lively city, one where there used to be children playing in the streets, one where laughter was once heard, but now there’s no one to be seen. Everything is closed up, and if there is anyone there, you likely wouldn’t want to meet them.

    Their community is like an old mining town in which the precious minerals which once made it wealthy and brought about new construction, and new people, and new businesses, has long since all played out, and now there’s nothing left of what it once used to be.

    It’s just an empty shell of what it once used to be. “Catch a tumble weed or two.” as Malcom had said.

    Can you visualize a creeky door swinging on it’s rusty hinges as the wind blows, and the dry dust?

    Where do people go to find justice, truth, mercy, goodness, kindness, where the thing that God loves so much (justice and judgment) is done in the fruit of the Spirit, with reconcillitation by the gospel of Christ being the goal, in order that our joy may be full?

    Who was it that caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy in the book of Job? (chp 29) It was God wasn’t it, but wasn’t Job also a part of it, and wasn’t it well with him.? (Jer 22:16)

    Are they lined up in front of the doors of your church?

  2. Ray,

    And he said it all that with an English accent. Makes it easier to listen to, doesn’t it?

    Cheerio old boy.

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