The
prophetic book of Zechariah opens with God telling His people in Judah
that, The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. (Zechariah
1: 2)
Judah
had violated His covenant and God had used the armies of surrounding pagan
nations to punish them for their sins, but when God talked about the pagan
instruments of His judgment, the Lord said: I am exceedingly angry with
the nations at ease; For I was a little angry, And they helped—but with evil
intent.” (Zechariah 1: 15)
The
NLV paraphrase puts it more plainly.
I am very angry with the other nations that are now
enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the
nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions
It
was God's will for the nations to to check Judah for their sins, but then they
took it too far.
In
the book of Isaiah, God used Assyria to punish Israel-Samaria, but then Assyria
began to say“By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom,
for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, And have
robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
My hand has found like a nest the riches of the
people, And as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing, Nor opened his mouth with even a
peep.”
Sometimes it is our legitimate, God-given role to deliver a chin-checking
message. But that role is only for God's time, for God's purpose, and
within the limits that God has set. When we start punishing, avenging,
and making people pay or our own reasons, or because we think we’re so much
better than they are, then we, like Assyria and the other nations, have taken
our role too far.
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has
performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I
will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the
glory of his haughty looks.” (Isaiah 10: 12)
We’re
supposed to Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Timothy
4:2)
We
are supposed to encourage Biblical standards of behavior. There are even
specific conditions in which after repeated attempts to reconcile relationships
and deliver a brother/ sister from sin, the church can and should remove
someone from fellowship.
But,
we can take it too far.
When
we use our authority to punish for the sake of punishment rather than as part
of a plan for reconciliation, we take it too far.
This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient
for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to
forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with
too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to
him (2
Corinthians 2:6-8)
When
we speak or act as if we have the authority to assign someone’s eternal status,
we reach into God’s personal jurisdiction. We’ve taken it too far.
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own
master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to
make him stand. (Romans 14:4)
When
we require certain styles and preferences (or changes in style and preference)
as conditions of fellowship, we take it too far.
Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat,
and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. …One
person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each
be fully convinced in his own mind. (Romans 14: 3,5)
We
should be wise and well-versed in the times, but when we change the Truth of
God’s Word to impress people and increase popularity, we take it too far.
For when they speak great swelling words of
emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the
ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they
promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a
person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (2 Peter 2: 18, 19)
When
we go beyond calling out sin and decide it’s our job to hurt sinners, to make
them pay, to force Christ or the appearance of Christianity on others, we have
gone beyond evangelizing. We’ve taken it too far.
And as Jesus and the disciples went, they entered a
village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Jesus. But they did not receive
Him…and when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You
want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as
Elijah did?”
But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do
not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to
destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke 9: 52-56)
My
job and yours as disciples of Jesus is to deliver the Word, not to deliver
final judgment.
Our
job is to speak the truth into many ears, not to cut off the ears of those who
won’t listen (John 18: 10-11).
We
cannot speak the truth without offending some people, hurting somebody’s feelings, and
flat out pissing off a bunch of folks---- outside of Christianity and in the church.
Offenses
must come. They were offended at Jesus. We have to speak the
Truth, but we must never set out to hurt people. At the same time, we have to accept that people will set out to hurt us because we speak, live, and represent the Truth. We must not do the same back to them.
The Bible clearly states that it is better for us to accept suffering
than to cause it.
But
even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And
do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” Sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who
asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a
good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your
good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
For it is better, if it is the will of God, to
suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14-17)
People
will stumble at the name of Jesus, but we have not been commanded to beat them
down in His name.
When
you take punishment, judgment, and vengeance into your own hands, many
Christians will applaud you, you will feel powerful and justified, you will
experience a kind of primal satisfaction at fighting back. And when that
happens, you have just taken it too far.
When
we take it too far, we stop being God’s servants and we present ourselves as
rivals for His status as Judge of all men. That's over-reaching with the
whole child of God, live and reign with Jesus thing. I'm telling you,
you don’t want to relate to God on that level. God has thrown down archangels
and Babylonian
emperors for doing that.
When God's servants take it too far, God then has to check His servants.
Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with
it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who
saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who
lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were
not wood! (Isaiah 10: 15)
By the grace of God, I will never back off from defending God's Word. I
pray that I will have the strength to answer plainly in those times when
the answer is plain and say, "Yes. That's wrong." When my
choices are (a) give in to the cultural and legal pressure to endorse what God
has condemned or (b) suffer for standing on the Word to which I was called,
I pray that God will have His way so mightily that I can rejoice in
my suffering.
And, I pray that when I am angry (and I get like that sometimes), when I know
that I'm saying is accurately what God said, and I have the sword in my hand,
that instead of cutting of the sinner's ear, I will sheath it and stand with
Jesus, and trust that if it needs to go any farther, Jesus will take it there.
I will stay in my lane.
