“Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

James 2:13-13 (CSB)

The last line in these two verses really struck me. “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” This has not always been my experience in dealing with other Christians.

First, I have to admit that I can be like the Pharisee loudly proclaiming in the Temple how much better he is than the tax collector next to him (see Luke 18:9-14). While I may not say it out loud, there are times when I feel way more judgemental than merciful to the people around me. The irony in Jesus’ parable is that while reading the Pharisee’s declaration “Thank God I’m not like this tax collector” I can think, “Thank God I’m not like that Pharisee.”

Every day I need to seek God to do a new work in my heart to make me ready to be an agent of mercy and grace; it does not come naturally to me. And in my experience, it does not appear to come naturally to others.

I have been the victim of church situations where a person or group has taken a hard line on things in which Scripture is not clear. The stand can be on really silly things; the controversy over long hair on men in the ’60s and ’70s comes to mind.

The hard stand can be on minor points of doctrine that bring more division than comfort. I’m thinking now of a denomination with which I was involved that has a very narrow view of end times events based on a particular understanding of a few verses in the Bible. This belief became the test of orthodoxy among that group and anyone who didn’t have the “correct” understanding was looked at as suspect. Their sense of superiority was rooted in how smart they were to figure out all the clues like spiritual Hercule Poirots.

Never mind that Scripture is not clear on these things. Never mind that good, solid, Bible scholars have had other interpretations. Never mind that Jesus himself gave us hints about what the end would look like but then told us that no man knows when He is returning and we shouldn’t spend a lot of time worrying about it.

My whole point in this is that every believer needs to submit his inner Pharisee to the scrutiny and guidance of the Holy Spirit and daily ask for the grace to offer mercy instead of judgment to the people around us. Even now, I have to struggle with feeling superior to those in that denomination who got stuck on basing their identity on such a silly thing as understanding the end times.

We all fail to live up to the standard we have set for ourselves. We are all inconsistent in having our actions match what we claim to believe.

We need to offer grace and mercy to ourselves and to others.

We are forgiven by God and need to readily forgive those around us.

I recently read or listened my way through Psalm 119 and found many of the verses particularly encouraging. As a result, I thought it would be good to slow down and meditate on this psalm. There is a richness in it that I never quite realized before. For example, look at the first verse.

How happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk according to the Lord’s instruction!

Psalm 119:1 (CSB)

But wait a minute. My inner Pharisee screams in my ear to remind me that my way is not blameless, I have sinned just like everyone else, and as much as everyone else. I have fallen short of absolute moral perfection.

Am I disqualified from the blessing?

Fortunately, I find that the word that is translated blameless doesn’t carry the connotation of absolute moral perfection. It carries the idea of integrity, of living life without hypocrisy. The Faithlife Study Bible says this:

The Hebrew word used here, tamim, emphasizes a high degree of integrity and honesty rather than absolute perfection.

The second phrase of this verse is another clue. The ones that are happy are those who walk according to God’s instruction. The Psalmist indicates that those who seek to understand and apply Scripture to their lives are blessed.

Let’s summarize. Those who seek to follow God’s instruction in Scripture and do so with integrity and honesty are blessed. Wow, that doesn’t seem so daunting when expressed that way.

Growing up in a legalistic environment where it was all about rule-keeping and making people think you are better than you are, I was always confused by the failures of the Hebrew Patriarchs.

Abraham lied about his wife. Moses murdered an Egyptian and then had to flee for his life. David committed adultery and then committed murder in an attempt to cover up the affair. Jacob tricked his dad to get a blessing. Joseph seemed a bit proud about being the favorite and needed to be taken down a peg. All of the heroes of the Bible display some serious flaws with the possible exception of Daniel who seems to have gotten it right every time.

But I have not gotten it right every time.

It was not until I was pretty far into adulthood that I really began to understand that perfect obedience is not the standard. Jesus came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. That is the gospel, that is the good news. We can’t measure up and we don’t have to, Jesus did it for us.

So, you and I can be blessed because we seek God for the strength and wisdom to follow his commands and do it with honesty and integrity.

That is indeed good news.

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“When we read scripture, we have to think about whether the people who wrote it might actually have meant something by it. They did! They are talking about the reality of the kingdom of the heavens—the stone that was cut out without hands and is going to wipe out all the nations of the earth (Dan. 2:45) is already here! It is the stone that is the rock of offense and stumbling. It’s Jesus Christ himself, the Chief Cornerstone, and he is here. And if we’re not in touch with that, then we’re just going to be whistling in the dark like everyone else, scrambling around to make a good appearance of things, but not having a reality that gives us peace and strength. So we need to deal with that if we haven’t reached that place in our lives. We need help in making that our context. Now, once it’s made, then we’re going to be so different that people are going to look and say, “What’s going on there? How can you live like that?”

-Dallas Willard

I don’t know about you, but I need a “reality that gives us peace and strength.” Without understanding and appropriating that reality, I find myself off balance and confused by the different voices around me offering advice on the path forward.

But then I am reminded that Jesus promised that he will overcome the world. Jesus promised that He will be with me always, even when life is painful and confusing. As Larry Norman said long ago, “He’s the rock that doesn’t roll.”

In America, we like leaders who are bold, outspoken, and visionary (whatever that means). Come election time, we love to see candidates who can hold their own in debates even if they are brash and/or abrasive. It seems that we elect leaders who are ready to charge forward; we don’t need or want any hesitation or thoughtful deliberation. If you doubt this assessment, just look at who we have elected President in the last several elections.

It seems that the people of Corinth had similar taste in leaders. In his first letter to the people of Corinth, the Apostle Paul addresses multiple ways the surrounding culture was having a negative effect on the church. One of those effects was how they went about choosing leaders.

Rather than being dependent upon God and looking to Him for how the church should be run, they relied on competition and debate to be the basis on which leaders were chosen.

Paul addressed this by describing himself as a leader:

“And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstrati on of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

1 Corinthians 2:3–5, ESV

I wonder if any pastor in America has used these verses in his resume. They don’t speak of personal vision; they don’t speek of personal drive; they don’t speak of skills in oratory.

They do speak about a sense of complete trust in God and they do speak about an acknowledgement of complete dependence upon God for a good outcome.

Church people, are we looking for leaders that trust God and are looking to Him for guidance? Are we looking for leaders who acknowledge their dependence upon God? Are we looking for leaders who will demonstrate what it looks like to walk in complete dependence? Are we looking for leaders who have the attitude of Paul in the verses quoted above? Are we looking for leaders who can honestly pray this prayer of the Psalmist?

“As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!”

Psalm 40:17, ESV

There is nothing wrong with the preacher being skilled in crafting and delivering a sermon. There is nothing wrong with a leader who can articulate a vision for what God is leading a congregation to do.

But his preaching must be focused on communicating God’s truth while acknowledging that it is Jesus who promised to build his church.

It is not the responsibility of the leaders to grow the church. When we take that on, we are usurping God’s power and it will not end well. It never does.

But, we need to apply this to our personal lives also. Do I walk every day acknowledging that I am completely dependent upon God? Do I have a sense of desperation to hear from God through his word so that I might be guided by Him on a minute-by-minute basis? Am I more likely to debate rather than pray about an issue?

When we look at it from Paul’s point of view, weakness and fear become strengths because they drive us to seek God for guidance and power to live out what He calls us to do.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to make a comment, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.