Recently I had the opportunity to observe a two different
circumstances in which the persons involved used the old "you can't judge me, only God can judge me" defense as a
scapegoat to hide what they knew was the TRUTH. They did not direct this copout
at me...I was just watching this from afar.
Anyhow, through these situations, God gave me pause to consider the
words of Christ in John 5:22, in which He says "the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son". He then goes on to elaborate on the litmus test
whereby the judgment of the Son comes to bear. That being whether or not the
life a person lives honors the Son. After considering this for a time, I
believe I've gotten a better grasp on the
rules of the House. Below are some of the thoughts that resulted from my
ponderings…do with them what you like…here goes…
THE HOUSE RULES
1. Man can't judge
me.
This is true because you are in the same broken condition as me. Now, because you
are also broken, you are well acquainted with the characteristics of brokenness.
In other words, you can spot a messed up person from across the room as easily
as I can. My machine may not malfunction in the same areas that yours does…but
broken is broken. So, I should not be surprised if you can correctly identify
my brokenness, in a way you are simply identifying yourself in me. That being
said, this “identification” isn't really “judgment”, it is simply empathy. And
it goes without saying that the reason I don’t like being correctly identified
as broken, and rail against it, is likely because you are correct in your
assessment of my machine. However, in order to pass a moral judgment, one party
must have moral authority over the other party. We are both broken. Neither of
us has a leg to stand on when it comes to morality. In other words, the day you
are able to fix my machine is the day you can pass true judgment on me. Until
then, the best you can do is say, “Hey you just proved you’re as messed up as I
am…welcome to the club!”
2. God doesn't
have to judge me. This is true because He has set up the rules of the House to work otherwise. It's His game...and if He
desires to create an automated machine, well, that's His business. Just because
His rules don't fit our game, doesn't mean we have the ability to change the
rules. The House always wins.
3. The Son has the right to judge me. This is true
because He, acting in love and grace on our behalf, made a way that no person
HAS TO receive judgment at all. When God the Father flipped the switch and
empower His game, He turned over the rights of judgment to the Son. The Son
then responded by taking the Judge’s gavel and beating Himself to death with
it. In effect, this turned the tables on who has the responsibility of judging
me completely upside down…because the only One (the Son) with the right to
judge me chose instead to self-inflict the sentence of my judgment upon Himself.
4. Only one
remains from whom my judgment can come. The House (God the Father) has
decided...I will judge myself. This self-judgment comes with two options…and
two possible outcomes.
1. If my life honors the Son, then all the benefits of son-ship
become mine.
2. If my life denies the Son, then I have condemned myself.
These are the rules of the House. This is how He has ordained the
game will be played. At the end of the day, God will receive all the glory
because whether we choose condemn ourselves or honor the Son with our
lives...God still owns all the chips. And let us not forget that He has already
declared that all the players will bow at the feet of the Son eventually. We
simply get to choose whether we do it the easy way or the hard way. Some will
bow on their own accord...the rest will be forced to their knees. In the words
of CS Lewis... Either we will choose to look at God and say "Your will be
done" or He will look at us and say "very well then, your will be
done".
Either way we choose, Christ will be honored. After all, either way,
He has already won the game.
