You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)
Those who sit in judgment of others must be people of integrity, bound to administer justice in a lawful and unbiased manner. It is just as important to understand that the judgments they rendered were to be strictly adhered to by the people. In other words, God holds both sides accountable to do what is right, and so, it is appropriate to establish judges (there is an entire book of the Bible called Judges) and to expect that people are willing to abide by what is deemed to be just.
If this is appropriate for civil matters then the principle also applies to matters that arise within a congregation. Frankly, if there is no will to judge matters within the church according to righteousness, chaos will erupt — the Adversary will see to that. For instance, Paul addressed a situation within the congregation at Corinth involving sexual immorality that was “not even named among the Gentiles” — that’s pretty bad. What was worse, apparently, no one was doing anything about it. That’s why he, though not present, made a judgment and said, “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Yeshua” (1 Corinthians 5:5). No doubt, he expected the congregation to follow through and execute this judgment.
Let’s face it: not everyone who professes Messiah actually follows the Messiah. As John advised, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Therefore, Godly discernment and proper judgment — not condemnation — is necessary because it brings order to chaos and, as we know, chaos is not of God. Therefore it behooves us to be ready, in humble submission and cooperation with recognized authority, to receive and administer justice. In turn, this requires us to be well acquainted with the Word of God and to know the heart of God so that matters might be addressed in a way that pleases Him and brings no reproach upon His Church. Remember, we are being groomed to judge the nations in the future, and so we must be willing to judge ourselves according to righteousness, today.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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