Just about everything in our experience is a mixture of good and evil. Even in the natural world, which is God's own creation, we see animals being cruel. Chickens and ducks are often bullies.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now.
Rom 8:20-22
The bible tells us to respect and honour rulers and leaders, but we must also discern corruption and cruelty in authority, and we must not submit unconditionally.
For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. 2. Cor 11:20
Nevertheless, all human leadership and management is imperfect, so to honour those in authority, we must be able to discern virtue in the midst of imperfection and human frailty.
Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Ps 146:3
We cannot put unconditional faith in human leadership of any kind, even chosen and anointed preachers.
When King David sinned by ordering a census, Joab, the military commander, protested but then obeyed, but he only partly obeyed. He was not punished by David or condemned by God.
(1 Chron 21)
Nevertheless, in spite of his sin in this case, his adultery and murder and his failure as a family man, God called David a man after His own heart. David’s enemies had reasons to oppose him but God forgave David’s sins and promoted him.
Discernment means we must perceive errors and sins but even more importantly, we must look for the gold in the dirt, the goodness in a flawed human character.
There are two aspects of godly discernment, fault-finding and good finding. If fault-finding is our primary focus, we are in serious error.
You can be deceived by not perceiving error but you can also be deceived by focusing on error and not perceiving the gold in the dirt.
There are Christians who put certain preachers or political leaders on a pedestal and uncritically defend and praise everything their favourite leaders say or do. This is dangerous.
There are also Christians who see only evil in the government of their country.
Some Christians also devote a great deal of time and energy to analysing the errors in preachers.
They say a lot about supposed spiritual poison on the internet, but they provide very little spiritual nourishment themselves. They say a lot about supposedly bad teaching, but they don’t say much about good ministry.
If we look at the New Testament, we see how Jesus and the Apostles had very harsh words to say about flawed religious leaders, but the heart of the message was the Good News, not the bad news.
If our primary focus is not on Good News, we are deceived, and we lead others astray. In our zeal for truth, we can become obsessed with errors. That is bad news.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Heb 5:14
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now.
Rom 8:20-22
The bible tells us to respect and honour rulers and leaders, but we must also discern corruption and cruelty in authority, and we must not submit unconditionally.
For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. 2. Cor 11:20
Nevertheless, all human leadership and management is imperfect, so to honour those in authority, we must be able to discern virtue in the midst of imperfection and human frailty.
Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Ps 146:3
We cannot put unconditional faith in human leadership of any kind, even chosen and anointed preachers.
When King David sinned by ordering a census, Joab, the military commander, protested but then obeyed, but he only partly obeyed. He was not punished by David or condemned by God.
(1 Chron 21)
Nevertheless, in spite of his sin in this case, his adultery and murder and his failure as a family man, God called David a man after His own heart. David’s enemies had reasons to oppose him but God forgave David’s sins and promoted him.
Discernment means we must perceive errors and sins but even more importantly, we must look for the gold in the dirt, the goodness in a flawed human character.
There are two aspects of godly discernment, fault-finding and good finding. If fault-finding is our primary focus, we are in serious error.
You can be deceived by not perceiving error but you can also be deceived by focusing on error and not perceiving the gold in the dirt.
There are Christians who put certain preachers or political leaders on a pedestal and uncritically defend and praise everything their favourite leaders say or do. This is dangerous.
There are also Christians who see only evil in the government of their country.
Some Christians also devote a great deal of time and energy to analysing the errors in preachers.
They say a lot about supposed spiritual poison on the internet, but they provide very little spiritual nourishment themselves. They say a lot about supposedly bad teaching, but they don’t say much about good ministry.
If we look at the New Testament, we see how Jesus and the Apostles had very harsh words to say about flawed religious leaders, but the heart of the message was the Good News, not the bad news.
If our primary focus is not on Good News, we are deceived, and we lead others astray. In our zeal for truth, we can become obsessed with errors. That is bad news.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Heb 5:14
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