Monday, September 5, 2011

Condemnation is Not for Us.

In the last passage, Paul talked about the guilt of the Gentiles before God. He said that even thought the knowledge of God was in everything around them, they rebelled anyway. They created idols. They were gossips, slanderers, and all around miserable people. They knew that their actions could only result in spiritual death. Not only did they not care, but they delighted in others who did the same. The sad fact is this happens even today. Today’s passage, Romans 2:1-16, deals with the natural reactions of the believers to these things.


Naturally, people look at what Paul describes in 1:18-32 with disdain. What kind of a person does this, we ask. How terrible they are. Someone who does this to others, and delights in others doing the same surely deserves their punishment. Destroy them, oh Lord, for they are unworthy of you.

Now we, as believers, are compelled to evangelize the unbeliever. We see these actions and we hold to our calling to spread to them the gospel of Christ crucified. One form of evangelism that is popular, and also drives me up a wall, is the “turn or burn” style. Everyone has heard this one. It goes like this: “Well, if you don’t accept Jesus as your personal savior, then you’ll just wind up in hell.”

Hold the phone here! Who, exactly, are you to pronounce hellfire and damnation on someone? Did we not cover that they already know they are condemned? Did we not cover that they don’t care? And did we not cover that all men are just as guilty in God’s sight as they, believer and unbeliever alike?

How arrogant we are to presume to know the mind of God, that we can pass such judgment on someone else? We, being just as guilty, were shown mercy by God that he gave his son in edification of our sins. Do we know whether God will choose to have mercy on these people we so easily judge? Here is the fact; by judging an unbeliever, we heap condemnation on ourselves.

So many times have I seen and heard this turn or burn evangelism. And no matter how many times I say, “Do not judge lest ye be judged,” the argument returned is the same; “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” This verse, used by the evangelist for the argument of why to use the turn or burn evangelism, comes from 1 Corinthians 6:2.

The problem the evangelist faces in this case is the argument using this particular verse does not hold water. Neither is it a contradiction. To understand fully what Paul is saying both in Romans and in the letter to the Corinthians, we need to look further at the words used in the original manuscripts.

In Romans 2:1, Paul says this: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things” (RSV). The words Paul used here in the original manuscript are krino and krima, meaning judge and judgment respectively. These words can also be translated as condemn and condemnation. So, looking at it in this sense, to whom does condemnation belong?

Consider this: a man comes home one day to find his wife murdered. The police do an investigation and there is some evidence that points to an extramarital boyfriend of this man’s wife. There is not, however, sufficient evidence for the police to arrest him.

The widower, on the other hand, is absolutely convinced that this boyfriend of his wife is guilty of the crime. He sits for days and broods on how this other man who had no business being with his wife came along and stole her from him. He becomes so convinced of this man’s guilt he passes the sentence of death on the boyfriend and carries out the sentence. He is now guilty of that which he believed the boyfriend of doing. Who is to say that, if the boyfriend was found guilty in court, that the court would not have chosen mercy? In the same respect, when we judge someone in the form of condemning them, are we not putting ourselves in the place of God? By committing such a sin, we are placing ourselves in the same place as the person whom we are condemning; much like the bereaved husband became guilty of murder when he killed his wife’s boyfriend.

1 Corinthians 6:2 reads as such: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases” (RSV) In this context, Paul uses the Greek word, “diakrino.” This can also be translated “to discern.” So, yes, we as believers will judge the world. When we do, however, we will be discerning that which is holy from that which is unholy. The thing we will not do in judging the world is condemnation.

Thing is, both condemnation and reward will come from God. We as men will receive from God according to our works. Those who do what is contained in the law, though they do not have the law, will show that it is written on their heart. Likewise, if someone who has the law does not do what is contained in it, he will be condemned by the law.

This, too, can be seen even today. I have met many a person who call themselves Christian in one breath, and then start gossiping about someone in the next. I have met many a person who are not professed Christians who would go out of their way to help someone in need. Who, in this case, do you believe exemplifies more how Christ taught us to live? Do you think that because someone did not pray a little prayer with you, yet they exemplify Christ’s teachings, will be left wanting on judgment day? Mercy and love are key. If we show mercy, we will receive mercy.

I have a friend who is one of the most amazing men I have ever met. His story, however, does not start out so well. He spent much of high school drinking and smoking weed. He dropped out of college to start a career as an iron worker. One day, upon coming home early, he found his wife in bed with another man.

After the divorce, he went into a downward spiral that included alcohol and cocaine in large quantities. After one night of partying, he was riding his motorcycle home and attempted to pass a tractor trailer. He hit the back wheels of the truck and his motorcycle spun out of control. He was going about 85 miles per hour and was not wearing a helmet.

This event caused him to go into a coma for an extended period of time. While he was in the coma, he had a vision of Christ Jesus. He was told by Christ that it was not his time to die, but rather his mission was to help widows and orphans. Today, he volunteers at a local church and with Youth for Christ. He is truly a light shining in the darkness. Regardless of what he did, Christ came to him, showed him mercy, and now this man lives his life according to the teachings of Christ. I get text messages from him every day with a small passage from the book, “My Utmost for His Highest.”

If we say, I belong to Christ, and we condemn others who do not say the same, we are only condemning ourselves. We cannot just say that we are Christian, but we must also do that we are Christian. We do that by loving our neighbor as ourselves. Love and mercy are what the Christian life is about. It is by serving others that we serve God. My challenge to all, including myself, is that we should keep our eyes open for opportunities to give mercy to someone else, just as we have been shown mercy. And once we see that opportunity, we need to step outside of ourselves and do it. This is said at my church service every week, and I reiterate it now. Walk in love as Christ first loved us.



Sunday, September 4, 2011

I would like to try something new. I’m going to, instead of my same old ilk, do a study on Romans. As I do so, I will take what I have gleaned from my passage of the day and put it here on the blog. And then, dear reader, you can tell me whether you agree with what I have written or whether you think that I am full of everlasting crap. It is up to you, really. As I have said before, I am no biblical scholar. I am rather just someone trying to make my way in the world, but I am going to do so by faith.


The book of Romans, as the theory goes, was first a letter that was written to all the churches and passed around. The words, “in Rome,” contained in chapter 1, are not there in some early manuscripts. Likewise, chapters 15 and 16 were also not found in these same manuscripts. When Paul wished to send the letter to the church in Rome, he added the final two chapters and put the words, “in Rome,” into chapter one. When read all the way through, you could correctly say that Romans is an outline of Christian doctrine.

The very beginning of Romans deals with the guilt shared by everyone before God. It is a bring you down to size type of dissertation. No one wants to admit that they are guilty of everything. It is on the first of these passages that I start: that passage being 1:18-32. I decided to skip the greeting, thanksgivings, and theme, which make up the rest of chapter 1.

So, without further ado… In my time spent as a CNA, I worked with a miasma of different people. One of these people, who also happened to be a union steward, would always wear a crucifix pendant around her neck every day. The other daily thing she wore was a constant scowl. I don’t believe I ever once heard this particular person say anything nice about anyone else. Her favorite saying was, “mark my words.” That which followed was never good and also wrong at least ninety five percent of the time.

What came out of her was constant gossip, along with her friend, also a proclaimed Christian. They would talk together in the break room about who was doing what. They would come up with theories about people; whether they knew the entirety of the situation was always questionable. No one could do anything out of the goodness of their heart. There was always an ulterior motive. Conspiracy theories abound. They would slander, envy, gossip, and every word said by them was, according to them, gospel; even when proved wrong. These two were truly miserable people. It is true what they say, misery really does love company.

When we want to behave as such, God gives us up to these sinful desires. In fact, in this passage, Paul uses the phrase, “God gave them up to…” three times. We have the free will to obey God or to rebel. When we choose to rebel, God will give us up to the desire to rebel and do what is evil in his sight. But, behaving as such has another effect. When we rebel against God, we die, not a physical death, but a spiritual death.

This particular passage was talking to the Gentiles, and how they are guilty before God. During this time, the Jewish Christians would lord it over the Gentile Christians because they had the law. The Gentiles would lord over the Jews that they were saved while many Jews were not.

Paul starts by saying that even the Gentiles knew of the existence of God by everything around them. And this is ultimately true. Have you ever looked at a forest on a sunny afternoon in autumn? Or have you ever watched a spectacular sunset? How can a person look at these and not even acknowledge God, let alone give thanks for such splendor? Instead, they became fools and started carving animal figures to worship as gods. They served the creature instead of serving the creator. Can you see the problem?

This, Paul asserts in the passage, is where the believing Gentiles before they converted and where every unbeliever stands. Even today, this is where the unbeliever stands. We have, however, a decree to proclaim to the nations the gospel of Christ crucified.

The question is; how do we preach this message to people in a spot like this? To answer this question, let me turn to verse 32. “Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

What this says in terms of evangelism is simple; hellfire and brimstone will not work. Like the two people I mentioned earlier, they do things that make them miserable people. They are spiritually dead and they know it. Doing the kinds of things they do creates feelings of envy, of fear, of misery. These cannot feel good so, as Paul writes, they are already dead. The thing is, they do this stuff anyway. This means they don’t care that these sins result in death, so why would telling them convert or you will spend eternity in hell work? I cannot say it enough. THEY DO NOT CARE. If they do not care now, then why would spitting hellfire and brimstone convert them? I would say a different tactic would be in order. The question is what?