COMMENTS
No, you didn’t read the title
wrong. It doesn’t say “Being Judged by
God”; it says “Judging God”. If that
seems backwards to you, GOOD! But it’s
still our subject today….
NOTES
Pardon my trip into the past, but I was
watching TV a few days ago; and Wagon Train came on. I remember watching it occasionally as a kid,
but I was usually too busy with other stuff to spend much time watching TV. Anyway, I sat down and watched this particular
episode, just expecting an entertaining trip into the past via a shallow
1950s-60s western. Imagine my shock when
Flint McCullough (played by Robert Horton)—the handsome, womanizing scout for
the wagon train—made a statement that still has me thinking!
Let me set the scene for you. Flint finds a man (Luke) in the desert, alone
and seemingly out of his mind, wanting to die.
As the show continues, we learn that he had been a minister in a small
town. His wife ran off with the
proverbial traveling salesman. His
church, instead of supporting and encouraging him, defrocked him because of the
scandal; and he had to leave town. As a
result of all this, he has now lost faith in God and in God’s people. Without hope, he no longer wants to live.
Flint listens closely as Luke tells his
story and bemoans the treatment he has received from the church back home. God must not be the good God Luke thought He
was. When he finishes, Flint says, “You
can’t judge God by the people who worship Him.”*
That’s the statement that got my mind
spinning: you can’t judge God by the
people who worship him. People are
flawed, but God is not. He is good,
kind, benevolent, caring, patient, forgiving, merciful, generous, loving, and
on and on…. You can’t look at flawed
humanity—even the Christians—and judge God by what you see because He is SO
MUCH MORE.
BUT:
People do it all the time. A Christian is judgmental, so they think that
God must be judgmental. A Christian is
unkind, so God must be unkind. A
Christian is selfish, so God must be selfish.
When the unbelieving world sees a Christian, they think they are seeing
what God is like and impart that believer’s characteristics to God Himself.
Jesus knew that would happen because He
knows human nature. Did your parents
ever tell you to be careful what you did because it would reflect back on them
(even if they didn’t approve of it)?
Were you ever embarrassed by something your child did because it made
you look bad? It’s the same thing with
God. We’re His children, and what we do
reflects back on Him (even if He doesn’t approve of it).
Thinking about Flint’s statement has
given me a new and deeper understanding of at least part of the purpose of Jesus’
commands to His followers. BECAUSE
people judge God by the people who worship Him (Christians), the people who
worship Him are called to a higher standard.
“So
in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matt. 7:12)
“You
have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I
tell you: Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.” (Matt. 5:43-44)
“If
someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt.
5:39b)
“Dear
children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
(1 John 3:18)
We must look and act like Him so that the
world gets an accurate picture of our God.
We can only do that when we are “filled up” with God (the Holy Spirit)
and leaning on the Spirit to guide us and give us the strength to do what He
commands.
Think about your day today. Would you want someone who watched you to
say, “That must be what God is like”?
What’s scary to me is that there’s probably someone who is thinking that
about me—someone I’m not even aware of.
In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said, “You are the
light of the world.” Then, he followed
that with a command:
“Let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16)
Let’s go out and behave in such a way
that we show the world what our God is truly like!
*Wagon
Train, Season 3 Episode 34, “The Luke Grant Story”
