Thanks for returning to this series on “Judge Judge Judge” and my feeble attempt to understand a believers responsibility and right to make judgments.
Another purpose of this series hopefully is to understand the believers restriction on judgement.
What can a Christian judge? How is he to judge? What is prohibited in the Christian life to judge. So many questions and concerns.
Our sixth greek word related to judging is…
διάκρισις – diakrisis – discerning, discern, disputation
This word is found only 3x in the New Testament.
Hebrews 5:14But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
What is the author trying to get at here? Is he saying that if the believer does not exercise obedience in the early part of their life, their will be an inability to accept solid food?
And what constitutes solid food?
The author addresses an example of solid food earlier – the topic of Melchizedek. The topic is only found 2 or 3 times in the Old Testament. Yet he pulls so much teaching out of the short snippets of information available. The author wants to teach them a truth of Christ, but they can’t receive it. They just can’t receive it!
Consider this.
All the Word speaks of the Christ. The Word is Christ centric. The author exhibits this understanding by expanding an Old Testament personality into teaching that elevates the Christ. But they can’t receive it!
Let me ask my dear readers – Are you a believer in a hobby horse? That is, have you settled into a teaching, defended it to the death, and refused to consider alternate views?
Are you in, what I call a Christian ghetto, where you only hang with those who think, talk and act like you? Group think permeates your existence, and if someone comes along with an alternate viewpoint, the term heresy is ever so light on your lips?
I find it to be the height of pride to think that as a believer, the first teaching you received is the only good teaching available. I lived this type of boastful arrogance for years!
But I think the author also has something more difficult to consider.
Christian maturity is not simply dependent on the knowledge of the Bible, the doctrines that are clearly taught in the Scripture. Knowledge is the first step. Don’t make it the last step. And don’t let it puff you up!
1 Corinthians 8:1
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
That is impossible. Teachers need classrooms in the church, and each classroom fits 10 -100(?). How can all believers be teachers, if each teacher requires an audience?Back to the topic of Discernment
Thanks for joining me in this study. Hope to visit with you in our next post as we look at the Greek term δικαιοκρισία.
Be Blessed.
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