What Does God Have to Say?

            God gave us His Word (The Bible) to guide us and give us His truth and directions.  Reading and studying the Bible is essential in our quest to know God and live this life within God’s will.  As we begin that process, there are several things that we must understand about the Bible.  We need to understand that the Bible is no ordinary book.  It is not a compilation of “isms” and wise-sayings.  It is not mystical ramblings by some ancient monk who spouted crazy ideas.  The Scriptures are the very words of God. They are God’s inerrant message.  We study the Bible because it provides the framework or guideline for living and thinking.  Also, we need to be careful how we investigate and interpret what the Bible says.  The Bible is an ancient document written in a culture that was radically different from today.  Having said that, the Bible was inspired by God so that it could be understood by people from all cultures and all times.

           It is not uncommon for people to say, “The Bible tells us that we must not pass judgment or make judgments.”  Perhaps the person who makes this statement is referring to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (NIV) Often in today’s culture, this verse is used to support the idea that no one can say that another person’s ideas are wrong or misguided.  Before we look at what the Bible is really teaching in this verse, let me explain what most folks who make this statement are attempting to accomplish.  We live in a culture that attempts to say there is no such thing as absolute truth.  By the way, such an assertion is an attempt at defining absolute truth.  However, the question remains: Is there such a thing as absolute truth?  Are there “rights” and “wrongs”?  The answer is yes.  The idea that there is an “absolute” goes contrary to today’s cultural relativism.  Cultural Relativism states that moral and ethical systems vary from culture to culture (which is true) and that each value system is equally valid (which is not true).  Cultural Relativism says that no one system is any better than another (which, again, is not true).  Cultural Relativism puts an emphasis on how one feels, whether a person is sincere or not.  Due to the limited space of this article, we cannot completely explain the flaws of Cultural Relativism.  However, a society that embraces the notion that there is no ultimate “right” or “wrong” loses the ability to make any judgments at all.

            Now let's consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 7.  Does the Bible not want us to make wise decisions or judgments?  Of course not.  The Bible repeatedly tells us to act, live, and think wisely.  Scripture warns us that decisions and actions have consequences.  God has given mankind the ability to think and reason.  Therefore, God wants us to have sound judgment and use that sound judgment.  Jesus' command in Matthew 7 is that we must not set ourselves up as the one who passes final judgment regarding the value of someone else.  Jesus is telling us not to condemn others and declare them as irretrievably guilty.  In other words, God is the final judge; we are not.  This was an incredibly important idea when you consider the culture and people that Jesus was dealing with.  The culture of Jesus' day operated with the concept that some people were redeemable, and others were not.  This was seen specifically in the way the Jews saw themselves as inherently better than the Gentiles (non-Jews).  By the way, the Romans were just as dismissive of the Jews.  Jesus warns His listeners that final Judgment lies in the hands of God.  Jesus went on to encourage people to love and forgive one another.  Our task is to be wise in following God’s guidelines and requirements.  We must trust in God to make the ultimate and final decisions.

To sum up, the warning of Jesus was for people (then and now) to make wise and gracious judgments.  Living life requires that we make judgments and choices.  The question is whether we will defer to God.  Will we trust that God is wise enough to determine what is right or wrong?  As God tells us His will in the Scriptures, we are mandated to live by His commands and share those instructions with the world around us.  That process is not always welcomed by a world that wants to “sing to its own tune.”  Will we have faith that the God who created this universe has the wisdom to tell us, His creation, how to live?  Keep looking up!