Posted on 02/26/2019 5:16:48 AM PST by Gamecock
I’ve been working my way through a series entitled “The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity.” It’s an examination of 10 core tenets of progressive (or liberal) Christianity offered by Richard Rohr, but really based on the book by Philip Gulley.
Now we come to the third commandment: “The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.”
Gulley is concerned here with broken or estranged human relationships. The church should do more to repair/restore these relationships, but is too busy condemning people’s behavior. Christians need to stop judging and start helping.
Now, we can begin by acknowledging that the goal here is commendable. Bringing reconciliation to broken human relationships is a fundamental biblical value. The Bible has much to say on topics like forgiving one another (Luke 17:4Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)) , being reconciled to one another (Matt 5:24Open in Logos Bible Software (if available); Acts 7:26Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)), husbands and wives reconciling (1 Cor 7:11Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)), and the removal of hostility between groups (Eph 2:16Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)).
So, Gulley is correct that horizontal reconciliation between humans is an important aspect of Christianity.
The problem, though, is how Gulley thinks that reconciliation is best achieved. And it is here that Gulley takes a biblical value and puts a decidedly progressive/liberal spin on it. Reconciliation between humans is best achieved, he argues, when the church is less concerned with “making judgments.”
If only the church would get rid of its “culture of judgment” (54), stop offering “judgment and blame” (57), and “surrender its fondness for black-and-white, either-or thinking” (61), then it could better help people reconcile with one another.
Now, again, it depends again what one means by such statements. If the concern here is merely with a church’s overall tone or attitude, then point made. Churches need to careful, even in the midst of dealing with sin, to be gracious, patient, and charitable.
But, if these statements mean that the church should not be in the business of calling out people’s behavior as sinful or wrong, then that is something very different. Indeed, that sort of approach has a number of problems:
1. To say we can never declare a behavior to be wrong is profoundly unbiblical.
The Scriptures are packed with examples of God’s people calling out certain behaviors as wrong. Jesus did this. Paul did this. And even we are called to do this: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault” (Matt 18:15).
At this point a person might object, “But who am I to tell someone they are wrong? I am a sinner too.” But, the Bible never requires a person to be sinless before they speak out against sin. Personal perfection is not a prerequisite to standing up for what is right (otherwise no one would ever be able to condemn sin, including those who want to condemn those who judge!).
The proper basis for calling something sinful is not personal perfection, but simply whether God calls it sinful.
2. To say we can never declare a behavior to be wrong is ultimately self-defeating.
The rich irony for those people who say we shouldn’t judge is that they themselves are judging. They are declaring a behavior to be “wrong” (in this case, the behavior of judging), while at the same time insisting we shouldn’t declare that behaviors are wrong!
Thus, this approach proves to be profoundly inconsistent. It is equivalent to sawing off the branch you’re sitting on.
3. To say we can never declare a behavior to be wrong is ultimately selective.
One curiosity of the progressive insistence that we should not be people who “judge” is that it is selectively applied. When it comes to sexual ethics, for example, we are told we should not judge others. But when it comes to racism, environmentalism, abuse, or other similar issues, then apparently judging the behavior of others is allowable–indeed it is required!
4. To say we can never declare a behavior to be wrong undercuts the process of reconciliation.
The fundamental problem with the progressive approach to judging is that it undercuts the very goal it is trying to achieve, namely human reconciliation. Such reconciliation can only happen when wrongs are acknowledged, owned, and repented of. And in order for that to happen, judgments must be made about people’s behavior. And that behavior must really be wrong–not just wrong in someone’s opinion. Otherwise, reconciliation is just a mirage.
In the end, we can affirm that human reconciliation is an important biblical value. And we can also affirm that churches should not have a judgmental tone or attitude–they should always operate with grace, patience, and a spirit of love. But, none of that requires us to abandon God’s clear teaching that some things should be declared right and other things declared wrong.
That is the proper form of judging. And it is not something to avoid, but something we are called to do. As the prophet Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isa 5:20Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)).
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“Progressive Christianity” (oxymoron) long ago fired God and hired Karl Marx! Its root in the Serpent lies of Genesis 3! #RustyIrony... they are the most judgmental people on God’s Earth! Especially against Bible based Christians! Their “morality” is a constantly shifting target, totally captive to the social trends of the day and divorced from (and hostile to) Scriptural Truth.
Starting with Old Serpents fave “right” to murder babies. If you oppose the wholesale slaughter of the unborn, you hate women. If you think men and women are different (Misnamed) “Progressives” arrogantly judge you as “judgmental”! Any who even question, much less oppose them... are judged and condemned as “bigots”. Theirs is a bitter fruit, discontent and death its final “reward”. In a word counterfeit “Christianity”.
Devil’s best lies are 90% truth!
I know what God wants. I’ll just make it up and everything will be wonderful. Over and over again.
Yes, playing God and with His Word!!!
EVERY SINGLE one of us makes multiple ‘judgements’ each & every day.
The line between a decision & a judgement is all but non-existent.
We decide when to get up—what to wear—what to eat for breakfast—the route to work—what for lunch—what for dinner—what kind of car to buy—how much to pay for rent or a house—what career we wanted—who we mingle with—whom we decide to pair up with — who we will donate to & who we will NOT donate to—change lanes in traffic or do not change lanes?
The list is endless, and every one of those decisions is what builds our character.. Who we learn from & who we spend time with can build or destroy our future & our success or lack of success. How we behave in school & how much trouble we cause sticks with us forever.
There is NO SUCH THING as Too Judgemental.
When you have no capacity to make decisions, you truly will end up a total loser.
The real question should be, why is everyone so afraid of having some Christian appear to judge them?
And isn't the statement, "Christians are too judgmental" a judgmental statement?
True reconciliation was accomplished on the Cross and is received when we acknowledge our sin and agree with God that we need to be reconciled. Human reconciliation (horizontally) will never occur as long as people fail to recognize their sins.
And as far as I can tell, the actual bedrock of liberal thought is that they are right, and that everyone needs to agree with them to be reconciled. Sounds like a Messiah complex to me.
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