Anointed or self-appointed?

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” ~ Francis Schaeffer

"We are dealing with God's thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly." ~ D.A. Carson

We live in a critical culture and we all tend to go on the defensive when someone criticizes our preferences, lifestyle or personal choices. Both Christians and non-Christians are quick to make statements like “Who are you to judge?” or “What gives you the right?” This is a frequent rebuttal raised when someone offers a point of view or opinion contrary to one we might hold. What is interesting though is that this reply is not truly a response to the questioner’s original statement. It is in fact a clever way to avoid considering the alternate point of view all together, and is in fact an ad hominem or personal attack on the questioner. It is a subtle way of telling the other individual that their opinion is worthless, not worthy of entertaining, or that they are stupid for even bringing it up.

Within the Christian subculture this happens frequently in two forms; we either quote Matthew 7:1; “Judge not, that you be not judged.” or I Chronicles 16:22; “"Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!" The problem is that we take these verses totally out of context when we use them in this manner.

First, the "judge not" verse seems to be taken out of context with the same frequency of "all things work together for good" in Romans 8:28. The rest of the verse reads "for those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose" So using it in this context it implies that if you don't love God and if you aren't called, then there is absolutely no guarantee things will work for good in your life.

In the same vein, Matthew 7:1 is taken out of context when we quote the “judge not” to protect our interests. It might be better to consider it in light of John 7:24, "Judge not according to appearance, but due to righteous judgment.” In other words, don’t base your judgment strictly on externals but on the motives and heart attitude of the individual. The challenge being is that we have limited knowledge and discernment and therefore judgment should be reserved for God.

This verse needs to be considered in the context of hypocrisy. Consider Romans 2:3-1 which says "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things". For example, if as the Bible teaches that sinning in thought is the same as the actual deed we have no business judging our peers or the non-believer because we ourselves are sinners. Don’t misinterpret what I am saying; if we recognize sin as God defines it in His Word we can call it wrong, but we need to be quick to remember that we need to point the person to God’s Word and let Him convict. It’s His job, not ours.

The other verse I have heard some Pastors, televangelists and so-called Christian leaders misquote is not to judge “God’s anointed”. This implies that the person in question is not accountable to anyone or that their pronouncements are ex cathedra or infallible. There are a number of problems with misapplying this verse to any Christian no matter their rank or station; the only perfect and infallible judge is God and His Word. The phrase “Lord’s anointed” in the Old Testament was typically used to refer to God’s appointed prophets (like Abraham), Levitical priests and the kings of Israel. The other key point is that it relates to the idea of bodily or physical harm and not simply questioning the scriptural accuracy or opinion expressed by any believer. How would you even know who is God’s anointed? Do we just have to take their word for it because they say they are? I am not advocating disrespect for church or Christian leadership, however we are called to be biblically discerning and we all should be willing to entertain a question no matter its source.

A prime example of this is when someone claiming to “speak for God” does or says something that is completely out of context or an affront to what God’s Word states, and the problems it causes for other Christians trying to live out their faith. Rather then list off the many pronouncements of various televangelists or para-church organizations I would like to specifically address the activities of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. This is the group that pickets the funerals of soldiers that have died in the service of their country, and blames it on the morality of America and certain groups. While God’s Word is clear on how God views and feels about specific sins, no where does it give license to “believers” to hate or act in a hateful manner. This is a blight on the Gospel and on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for all sinners and all sin.

When someone claims to speak for God and does not allow for his or her point of view to be challenged or questioned this is an unbiblical position. The bottom line is that when anyone launches a who-are-you-to-say salvo against a Christian we need to be willing to get to the heart of the attack. Are they pointing out that our position is unscriptural or taken out of context, or that they are attacking the argument itself? Our opinions are simply that; our opinion. But if we state or comment on something based on God’s Word we better be sure we have taken great pains to know what His Word says. We are not the authority and we should not expect people to believe us based on our own authority. We need to approach both the believer and non-believer with humility and encourage them to consider the evidence and search the Scripture themselves to see if our views have merit because God says it.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:15-16


Note: I am taking a short sabbatical from writing my blog. I hope to be back in a couple of weeks. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts.