Some Christians speak mighty things.
They seem to have the power to read and judge the heart of another Christian. They tend to speak for God about whether the other person is really saved or not; whether the person is a true believer or not; and whether, in fact, the person is worshipping Him - that is: the God Almighty, in spirit and in truth.
Some of these Christians, obviously with all honesty in their heart, do not seem to see any possibility that someone who is not a full member of their denomination, or someone who disagrees with them in any way or someone with whom they disagree (even if the person is a member of their church), could be a true Heaven-bound born-again child of God. These Christians also seem to be more gifted than others in knowing who is a hypocrite and who is a true believer.
They spend a lot of time observing and pointing out the discrepancies in the beliefs and/or lives of other professed Christians.
In the days Christ was here physically, He decried the attitude of the Jews and the Pharisees in particular, who prided themselves with the fact God had revealed the light unto them. As the "chosen nation" they looked down upon other nations who were still in darkness. They despised and dismissed those nations as Gentiles -- heathens.
Today, we understand that God chose the Jews as a means to bring the ultimate light of His salvation unto the world through Jesus Christ. We cherish the marvelous light and grace we have freely received through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The problem is that many Christians seem to see themselves as having received more light than others, and they may have taken some kind of pride in it. The tendency is to feel or act holier or doing better than others in the Christian race.
Yet, no Christian ever openly admits that he or she probably has a "holier than thou" or "I know better than you" attitude towards another person or group of persons - Christian or non-Christian. Nor is it easy to find a Christian who readily admits that that he or she feels that he or she is better than other Christians - or professed Christians.
But that's exactly what many of their words and actions portray.
Their words exude a certain level of conceit with their supposedly sound Christian standing -- and with the amount "grace" they have received. Some pray to God to help the other so-called Christians or sinners to come to believe the truth as they see it, i.e., what they themselves believe in. They might pray to God to move mightily on the other people's heart to start acting or worshipping the way they think the other people should act and worship as Christians.
In point of fact, most Christians in many churches do not believe that they could have any doctrinal error at all. Rather, they see other professed Christians (even sometimes people of the same denomination with the slightest differences from their faith) as not being true Christians or as being counterfeit Christians who are spreading or living the lies of false religion.
They abhor such people.
They regard them as the enemies of the true Gospel of Christ and avoid them like plague (wondering what light should have to do with darkness). For them to show any form of tolerance or kindness to such people becomes a great Christian accomplishment on their part -- a saintly action they think they have performed -- and action that may warrant testifying to, at a Church gathering. Normally, they would only be willing to accept the "fake Christians" when they - that is, the "false worshippers" are ready for "the truth."
Many Christians even have more tolerance for non-Christians than they do for those they perceive as fake Christians who have clung to erroneous beliefs or systems of worship.
Some enjoy; are eager to; take pride in; or are quick to point out the false teachings of other churches. In fact, they earnestly search for those false teachings in order to attack (or most likely in their minds, in order to seek to correct) the erroneous teachings or beliefs of the other groups. When they are engaged in a discussion (that usually becomes an argument - or sometimes a vicious, fierce contest), they present very good cases like a good lawyer presents in a courtroom as to why the other people are wrong; why the other people are not true Christians -- and why they cannot enter the kingdom of God unless they turn from their false beliefs. Eager to prove their point, or to win the contest in a more decisive way next time, they read the Bible hard and look for, or wait for opportunities for more debates where they'll show they are right. They may call it witnessing.
Let no one get the wrong message here. I am not suggesting that everybody is right about God and the Bible no matter the belief the person holds. Not at all. Christianity is not an anything-goes affair. Therefore, we should never approach God's Word with a liberal attitude.
What I am decrying here is spiritual pride, which is still a challenge for me, along with my other sins. I'll continue to pray to God for help in this matter, and will cherish the prayers of those who understand our battle with our inherent sinfulness.
God has led out His ways in the Bible. And, every single soul is precious in His sight. We are so precious to Him that Jesus Christ left His divinity in heaven, and came down here to assume our sinful position. He eventually laid down His life for us in the most excruciating and humiliating manner. He did that to pay the price of our sin, to remove the shackles of sin from us and to make it possible for us to live in eternal bliss with Him. The salvation of a single soul was that serious for God. Now that he is gone to prepare that heavenly place for us, the Holy Sprit abides with us, as we seek Him. He leads us through our tumultuous passage through this evil world. And, He teaches us all things.
For us, the gospel is a matter of life and death -- eternal life and eternal death for that matter. Our relationship with God is the most serious thing about our entire being both today and in the next ten trillion years. As such, it is right, and indeed, it is commanded, that we study the teachings of the Bible closely so as to know what we believe, to live a Christ-like life and to be able to defend what we believe. We are commanded to search into "the deep things of God" so far as they are revealed in Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:10).
It is right to reach out to others with the knowledge that we have received and to seek to correct others when they err. To do this is to be a true apostle and a witness for Christ. That's the great commission. But it must be done with Godly humility. The sole goal should be to win a soul for Christ. Our purpose should never be to deride anyone or to impress others by representing ourselves as Bible experts.
To appear to be the definitive authority on the Word of God ought to be a scary role for anyone to assume. Wherein, there exists an unfortunate problem in the Christian community, whereby a certain pride is mingled with the consideration of Bible truth. As such, many people feel defeated and humiliated if they cannot present themselves capable of explaining every portion of Scripture to others. It's too degrading to them not to prove that they understand all the inspired Words of God. Consequently, when they present strong arguments about a doctrine, they feel it's ungodly or hardening of the heart for the hearers or readers not to totally trust and accept their analyses - being that the other people ought to know and respect them as powerful and well-learned men and women of God.
As ministers, pastors, elders, good, baptized church members, who have been in the faith for decades and probably labored and won many souls for Christ, some Christians feel a great sense of accomplishment and expect a certain level of respect and recognition when they speak or write about the Word of God. Truly, these brothers and sisters may have deeply studied the Word of God and their books may be top-sellers. As a result, they may be unwilling to seek and wait patiently until God shall see it fit to reveal to them, any possible truth which they might have missed and may have probably preached to others over the years. Worse, many of these powerful Christians cannot fathom being in a position to learn from others, especially those they may consider as weak in the faith. When they hear a sermon, they're more interested in assessing how well the preacher performs, and not what they can learn from that preacher's discourse - except maybe, a new, powerful preaching style.
Although they may call themselves students of the Bible to appear humble to others, they may actually consider themselves teachers of the Bible.
The Bible warns he that thinks he stands to be careful, lest he falls. It's better to surrender to God in honest humility, so that He will lead.
Some Conclusions
Anything that is close to spiritual pride is really dangerous.
While Christian teaching, rebuke and correction, borne out of true Christ-like love and humility, are essential tasks of the great commission, some ordinary Christians have wondered why there seems to be many in the fold, who seem to have assumed the role of ultimate arbiters of Christian truth, assessors of piousness and judges for Christ.
They develop and publicize yardsticks and checkmarks for others to use in determining who should be declared a Christian and who should not.
The utterance of some these Christians appear to be, sometimes, too overreaching and exude an authority that is easy to be seen as more of conceit than heavenly assurance.
The following Web sites might directly or indirectly address or illustrate the matter of some Christians judging other Christians (or professed Christians) with mannerisms which might be highly disturbing to some ordinary Christians:
Counterfeit Christianity "a Christian outreach to those trapped in cult groups" by Lorri MacGregoreb. This Web site declares the Seventh-day Adventist Church, along with Islam, Buddhism, Eckankar, the Rosicrusian Order (Armoc), Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons as false Christianity or outright cults.
The isms of Legalism by J. James Albert - shows how some Christians view (or treat) other Christians that differ from them.
Is Obedience Legalism? by Amazing Facts Prophecy Seminar - addresses the issue of some Christians declaring that any attempt to obey God's law amounts to legalism.
Obedience vs. Legalism by Simon Schrock - shows how some Christians might condemn other Christians, who are following Gods commandments as they believe.
The Cult Awareness Information Center - "switching the light since 1995" and lists "both cults & isms."
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