Real Truth/Hard Truth – a non-politically corrected series but a one that will bring hope, life and real love to people everywhere
She is just so judgey….
The church is so judgey….
It is my choice, people need to stay out of my face
Why don’t they stay out of my bedroom, choices, or whatever after all isn’t it my truth
If you respond to that with, there is a universal truth…some you will get the statement back…”there is no universal truth” the irony about that is the statement “There is no universal truth” it in itself is making a universal truth!
Think about that for a moment
Our cultural mores, standards are always shifting. Some things must shift because life really does change and as truth is applied some things that we held as cultural strongholds are proven to be false
Things like slavery, segregation, woman’s rights these three glaring examples are truths the Bible upheld that the culture was backward on long before any abolitionist the Bible said we are all equal in the sight of God and there is no differentiation between people of differing races.
Women like Deborah, Esther, In the new testament Lydia, Nympha Priscilla, were teachers and leaders in the church, the four daughters of Philip who were prophets, Euodia, Syntyche, Phoebe all were evangelist who worked alongside of Paul and there were others. This was all done in a culture were women were 2ndclass citizens their witness in a court of law was worth less than ½ of a man’s witness
Rather than the Bible being judgey or archaic, it has been ahead of the culture in these areas of truth and in most cases, it is Bible-believing Christians who brought this truth first to our culture
Real Truth does not change, however often it needs to be discovered
What is the truth about judging people?
On one hand, we are a judgment-free zone and we will always be but real love and real truth require judgment…let me show you what I mean
Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
This is the scripture most people think about when they talk about as Christians we should not judge….let’s take a closer look today
I have spoken about God’s love for us and I hope by now we all are getting it
I have spoken about knowing God’s heartbeat for us and my hope is that as you continue to think about that, even go back and re-listen to the sermons to really get it into your spirit that you become secure in the knowledge of God’s view of you and his love for you
These are the things that if we grasp them…makes us secure enough, confident enough in who we are and what we believe that we can speak truth to others that brings them to freedom
If someone is doing something that is against God’s principles God can’t bless them
1 Peter 5:5,6
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
God can’t bless us when we do things that violate His plan purpose and general principles for the way He has created us.
Everyone wants blessed…right?
Do you want to always live in God’s blessings?
I thought so…what about everyone that you know? Think about some of the struggles your friends and family are having…if you had the answer to helping them overcome and end their suffering would you share it with them?
Let’s make it more severe…if you understand the Father’s heart and you know that certain attitudes, certain actions, certain sins were going to cause your friends or family to spend eternity feeling hopeless, abandoned, utterly alone, suffering, living in fear, never feeling love, joy, peace, hope again?
Is it judging if someone keeps getting tickets or wrecking their cars for you to tell them to slow down, drive more carefully or to encourage them to take driving lessons..
The problem is much of the church has violated what Peter’s word was we have not shown love in bringing truth to people so we come across as speaking judgment
How does that apply to this scripture? I’m glad you asked
Let’s really look at what Jesus is saying
Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’, and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Jesus is saying and let’s pay attention to this….stop take a look at your own life first…it is easy for anyone to see a problem in someone else’s life but before we do that Jesus is saying to allow the Lord to teach you compassion, humility, and remind you of His heart and love for you
Paul challenges us always with this challenge
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6 But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.
Once we have done this once we have been able to make sure our hearts are pure, once we know the Father’s heartbeat and the have His love….and we have developed the “love your neighbor as yourself” attitude then listen what Jesus says…
Matthew 7:5
“…First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
You see it is not being judgey if you know someone is doing something that is harming them or going to harm them physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually
If you love your neighbor as yourself, out of a genuine heart of love, grace and compassion you will speak the truth to help bring them to freedom.
It is not loving to say…I don’t want to hurt their feelings, or who am I to judge whether what they are doing is wrong for them? Yes some things are gray areas but when we either see it in God’s word that it is going to bring some kind of harm to them or at worse they will spend eternity in hell if they keep doing what they are doing….is that really loving to not be judgey, to not speak the truth to someone
How much do you have to hate someone to know what they are doing is causing them or going to cause them great if not irreparable harm perhaps even eternal harm and not talk with them about it?
But who is to say what is right and wrong….God….if we are talking about eternity
The devil and our culture have played a great mind game
The devil loves no one he just hates the things that God loves and his job is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10)….if he can convince us that silence is loving and a person either comes to some kind of harm and curses God or dies without relationship with Jesus, then He feels he has won because he has destroyed someone God loves
That is what we must remember, God loves everyone what does he want for them
– plans for good and for a future and hope
– prosper and be in health even as their soul prospers
– have life and have it abundantly
– we know love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, meekness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control
– we would overcome
– be more than conquerors
These things and many more are what God has planned for us but we need people around us who are willing to speak truth into our lives to help us grow and protect us from; bad decisions, the enemy’s traps, and ourselves
We must love enough to examine our hearts daily and then be willing to speak into the lives of others to so they might not fall as well…if that is being judgey and be judgey but to me that is what I call love
Ezekiel 33
There is no real altar call today along this line unless you are willing to say, “God I need to repent of not really loving enough…allowing my political correct line of thinking allows harm to come to others.
OR
God, help me to see from this point of view, so I will not be afraid or insecure to speak the truth but to be able to speak the truth based on a genuine love for people and seeing them through Jesus’ eyes