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Now, let's get into the show. Christians, you are the world's worst about judging people. You know, us here in the secular world, we would never stoop to such things. But did you know that's actually not the truth? Unpacking this and more coming up right now on the Clear Beat Today Show.
Christians, y'all are the most judgmental people ever. All you do is look down on others while thinking highly of yourselves. Christians, did you know that when you judge people, it's actually a perverse twisting of what the world does first? Understanding this and more coming up right now on the Clear Viza Day Show. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr.
Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Welcome here to the Clearview Today Show in our studio with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah.
If you're listening for the very first time today, Dr. Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. Dr. Shah, welcome. It's good to be here.
Good to see you. Good to see you. Got a great conversation. Yes, John, welcome back. Thank you, thank you.
David, not that I don't love you, but it's good to have you back on the couch. You know, I was listening to the show and I said, something's amiss.
Something's amiss on this episode, man. Oh, it's me. No, but I appreciate you guys stepping in. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And it was a great, great conversation.
Absolutely. And we're going to continue that conversation about judging people. You know, Dr. Shaw, on the show yesterday, we talked about what happens when we judge others. We actually become evil judges within ourselves.
We judge wrongly, and because we judge wrongly, you know, we misrepresent the God of justice, the one true God of the universe. That's right. And, you know, James gives us the example of a rich person coming in and then a poor person following. And again, we need to clarify. It does not mean that rich are bad and poor are good.
To the contrary, in Christianity, in the assembly, everybody was welcome. It's just how you treat people based on what they can do for you is what is being referred to here. And so James reminds them: you know, you become judges with evil thoughts. Judges are supposed to be impartial. Judges are supposed to be fair.
But you are judges with evil thoughts. And then he goes on to talk more about how now you're looking like the world. You're reflecting the world. And we're to challenge the world. We are to shine the light of truth and justice in the world, but now you are reflecting the world.
I remember on yesterday's episode, you talked about, you know, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that they were recognizing people who were wealthy that were coming in. That's not a bad thing to do to show them, you know, kindness, to extend a special welcome to them. But it is bad when you're looking down on the poor person who comes in. That's right. And the flip side is also true.
If you're showing preference to people who are, you know, not as wealthy, and then when a wealthy person comes in, you look down on them because of their wealth. That's a bad thing. That's right. Yeah. That's right.
There's a lot of people in today's day and age that do look down on the wealthy because they are successful.
So you start making up all sorts of stories, all sorts of narratives. Like, you know, it's physically impossible to get a billion dollars unless you steal it from someone, unless you exploit someone. And it's crazy how lies like that just catch on and they spread across the internet like wildfire. Yeah, that's very true. In our social Marxist world, where the rich are bad and the poor are poor because of the bad.
The rich, you know, that is something that we need to fight against. Yeah, absolutely. Because, yes, there are people who got rich because they took advantage of other people. And yeah, in the past generation, that happened. But that's not the case with all.
That's right. And we shouldn't do that. I mean, that's something we need to remember. Is God against the rich? Of course not.
In fact, in the Bible, you'll find many rich people who followed Christ.
So you had Joseph of Arimathea, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish council. He was the one who went to Pilate. It was not that easy. for just anybody to walk in and have an audience with Pilate, the Roman procurator, is because of his high position that Arimathea, Joseph of Arimathea, was able to do that. Then you also find Nicodemus, he was a prominent and wealthy member of the Sanhedrin.
And he brought Myrrh and aloes to bury the body of Jesus. Then you find Barnabas, a Levite of Cypria, who sold his. And his estate and gave the money to the apostles, Ethiopian eunuch. He was the court official and treasurer of the the queen Candace of Ethiopia. And then Lydia, you find you know, whether her name was Lydia or she was from Lydia, because I I've been to that place where they died you know, garments into purple.
And that's in Turkey.
So maybe she came from Turkey, moved to near Philippi, and that's where she had her business.
So, you know, we're not sure. But, anyways, she was a wealthy woman. Right. It seems like a lot of the people that God chose to work through were wealthy, affluent people. It's kind of funny, too, because I was reading.
You gave me, I think it's your copy I have, Dr. Shah, United States of Socialism, since you mentioned socialism, Denise's book. I was reading it on the way back from NRB, and he made a point in there. And I'm paraphrasing, of course, but he said that there are so many young, naive socialists, people who aren't even really socialists who tell themselves. I would never in a million years.
Become a billionaire. It's not my desire. But given the opportunity in a split second, they absolutely would. Oh, absolutely. They absolutely, if there's like, if I could become a billionaire overnight, absolutely, I would take it.
I would switch sides just like that because the money and the affluence of wealth is more appealing than my false, flimsy ideals. With socialist ideology, has that aversion to the rich always been there? Or is that something that's a more recent development? The fight against the rich has been there. I mean, it's always been there because there have been those who were tyrants and took advantage of the common people.
You know, those kind of things happened. A good king, of course, is the richest man in that land. But if he knew how to be a good king, or a king is the richest man in his land, to be a good king, you have to be benevolent, you have to care about the poor. You have to be compassionate. You have to be fair.
I mean, so you. That's how you make sure that even though you are the wealthiest person, you're still you still have the loyalty. Of your subjects. That's how you make sure. But when kings.
stop doing that, then they become tyrants and they become dictators and the populace turns against them and kills them or drives them away or or whatever, throws them in prison or dungeon.
So You know, throughout history, you see plenty of examples of when there is a rebellion or a revolution. Yeah. Like the French Revolution. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I remember us talking about the French Revolution being like this dark, twisted, perverse, like how something could go so horribly wrong.
And what happens, I think, what you're saying is when everybody agrees universally that the rich are bad, let's eat this phrase, eat the rich. It's like, didn't we see what happened in France when this was allowed to go uncontested? Innocent people are being put to death. Innocent people are being led out to execution. All in the name of virtue.
All in the name of equalizing the masses. You know what's funny that I never knew about until we actually started talking about it? After the French Revolution, they got rid of the king, had this big revolutionary. They put the king right back in. It was like all ridiculous.
It was all for nothing.
So sad.
So, so sad. Where does James take us from here, Dr. Shaw? When he talks about partiality, he's talked about being evil judges. Or judges with evil thoughts.
How do we move forward from here? How do we avoid it?
So James does that for us. Of course, he is not against the rich, but he wants them to understand that when you are judges with evil thoughts, you are being like the very people that you don't want to be like.
So then he gives a negative example of rich people who are not good.
Okay, so this is not a blanket statement about all people of affluence everywhere at all times. This is only about those who are evil.
So listen to verse five. Listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonoured The poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
Here, the reference is not just to all rich everywhere in all times. This is about the Roman nobility. The Roman nobility, I mean, think about. The best way I can describe it is probably Nazi Germany. Think about the upper echelons of those who were getting all this benefit and in their nice crisp uniform, walking around with arrogance and pride and total power.
How did the rest of the populace feel. Especially those who were like Jewish background people or Christians who were standing up against the Nazi takeover.
Well, they felt completely helpless, powerless.
So imagine that's how James is bringing this up. The Roman nobility often persecuted the early Christians.
So is he telling the Christians when you act like that, you're acting just like the Romans? Yeah, I would say for our context, well, maybe not even our context, because we're living almost coming up to 100 years since the Nazi takeover in Germany.
So But if I were to give an example, I would say something like that. Imagine Himmler and s some of those guys walking around You know, just with power and arrogance of their superiority, looking down their noses, and you cannot do anything about it. How do you feel? You feel. Just worthless.
Powerless. You feel. degraded, denigrated. you feel that your life It doesn't matter much. And if you try to set anything back, You may be taken away, or your family may be killed.
That's how you need to think. Of this passage. It's not just rich everywhere, it's about people in power at that time who were. loading their authority against Christians. and taking them to court and and And blaspheming that noble name by which you are called.
What was that noble name? I mean, I would assume they were called the people of the way. Yeah. Right? Or maybe Christians in Antioch they began to be called Christians.
Right. But that noble name that was given to them. You act the way that they this these evil rich act. You're blaspheming that name. You're denigrating.
Right. That has changed the way that you approach this passage because, I mean, like you've said, Dr. Sean, like we've said a couple of times on yesterday's episode and today's episode, the problem is not the fact that they had money. It's not bad to be wealthy. It's not bad to be rich.
That's not an evil thing. But when you lord that over people, when you come with the wrong attitude, And that can come with a lot of money in the bank account. That can come with a very small bank account. When you lord that authority and that kind of. Braggadocious nature over other people, then you start looking like the world and you're compromising that testimony.
Yeah. And I think you've said this before, Dr. Sha. I can't remember if we've said it on mic or off mic, but I think you've said that, you know, people, money does not corrupt people. Money just makes it to where you feel safe enough to reveal who you really are.
You know what I mean? It's like that, like that. What do you call it? Where it's like you are able to, like when you drink, the real you comes out. Right.
Sort of this thing where now you have some power and you start abusing it. It's like, oh, the power and the money corrupted him. No, he just feels safe enough now to show you what was always there. Yeah, that's great. Right.
It was always there below the surface. This is really who you are. You dropped the guard enough for us to see what's really inside of you. And what's really inside of you is quite ugly and it's anti-God. Right?
Because in the sight of God, we are to humble ourselves and treat each other kindly with love as we love ourselves. In fact, amazingly. He goes right into that. Listen to verse 8. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbour as yourself, You do well.
So now here, the royal law is the supreme law or the governing law, which is regarding our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with people. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.
So you claim that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Because if you truly love your neighbor as yourself, You wouldn't be treating and talking about people the way you just did. You know, that's such a great illustration. And I think a lot of people don't know that we actually have implemented that illustration in our.
You know, our pastoral care here at Clearview. We have vertical member care and then horizontal member care. Do you want to kind of just explain what that means? Yeah, absolutely. So, in our context, vertical member care refers to really care from Dr.
Shah to the general congregation. That takes the place of Dr. Shah interacting and checking on people. It takes the place of the messages and content from him on a regular basis, devotionals, things like that.
So, that vertical member care comes from the pastor and to the congregation. The horizontal member care is member-to-member care.
So, this takes the place of a Sunday school leader checking on you if you've been sick, or a ministry team leader, you know, walking through a difficult season of life with you. And those two overlap in our small group ministry because our small group leaders facilitate that horizontal member care. But, as a central, as a key component of our small groups, they have some teaching that's produced by Dr. Shah that connects them back to the overall mission of the church.
So, it's designed so that the small group is the complete picture of what it means to be a part of Clearview. But it was important, I think. It was important for us, and you maybe can speak to this too, Dr. Sha. It was important for us to have both because when that vertical member care is not there, you have just a bunch of horizontal member care.
It sort of gets into what James is talking about here: where the people who are at the top become separated. Yeah, now they are separate from you. You know, one of the things I think that strikes people is that even no matter how big our church has gotten, our church has gotten quite large in congregation size, you're still making it a point to be outside shaking people's hands as you leave, which is a quote-unquote small church behavior. But it's, and it's maybe that's an episode we can do later in the show: is how to make your church keep feeling small the bigger you get. But I guess what I'm saying is it brings it down to where people are like, I still have access to my pastor, I still feel that even though people are quote unquote at the top.
They're not above me, if that makes sense. Yeah, humility is something that is a must if we're going to continue to see growth. Because what happens is when there is growth, then there is a lot of um Accomplishments. Success and with success, people tend to start believing their praises. And when that happens, we start thinking, I'm special, I'm somebody, I am, I'm great.
We never want to do that. We go extra mile to make sure at Clearview and in the community, we're constantly out there serving people. The only way we can do that is. By serving. James says it right here so well.
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.
So, this is going back to Jesus' question by a lawyer. Testing him, saying, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment? And of course, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind. And this is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then the next question that came was, well, who is my neighbor?
And that's when you find that great parable of the Good Samaritan. And the good Samaritan is Yeah. You know, this man is going from Jerusalem to Jericho. and he falls among thieves, And they beat him, steal from him, and leave him naked And and just Left to die. And the priest comes by and he walks around him.
He's on his way to the temple, maybe in Jerusalem. Yeah, he's got some praying to do, he's got sacrificing to do. The Levite comes and he goes around the other way. And he's also got to get to the temple. And he does not want to get mugged by the same group of thieves that are probably still lurking in the shadows.
Mm-hmm. And then the Samaritan comes, who you know, who are sworn enemies of the Jewish people. And we see that in the Old Testament, that they were not good people. They constantly opposed the people of Israel or the Jewish people, especially when they came back from exile. But he stops.
And he Picks up that man, bandages him, cleans him, picks him up, and puts him on his donkey, takes him back. and and takes care of him, and then leaves him at that inn. and pays that man and says, Look, When I come back, I'll pay you the rest of whatever I owe you. Yeah. But take care of this man.
Yeah. I mean, that's. How we should be serving people, even if. they are, you know, quote unquote, our sworn enemies. Yeah.
That is true humility. The Samaritan could have said, Yeah, you don't like me anyways. Why should I care about you? Yeah, it would have been, it would be easy. And by many of our standards today, justifiable.
Like, there's a reason that Jesus picked a Samaritan to be the one to stop because he is the unlikeliest of people who would stop and help a Jewish man. The Jewish person, probably in that hierarchy of relationship, is probably the superior, right? Or at least would be seen as the superior.
So it's sort of, like you said, by today's standard, it's like, hey, he's probably rich. He's probably exploited someone. He's cheated someone because he's wealthy. You deserve what you get. He gets what he deserves.
Right. And it's just the opposite. And so You know, wherever you are right now, and if people have hurt your feelings or they have mistreated you, go back to thinking. Of yourself in that parable. When we did a series on the parable a couple of years ago, the bottom line.
interpretation was Do you see yourself in the story? Parables are like mirrors. You have to see yourself in the story. Can you see yourself in the story? Are you one of the thieves?
Or are you that Jewish man who was beat up and left to die? Or are you the good Samaritan who came by bandaged him or took care of him, took him to the inn, bandaged him, cleaned him. And then even give money ahead to take care of him. Are you that kind of a person? Are you willing to forgive?
Are you willing to love? the unlovable? Are you willing to serve them? Who may if Things will turn around may not serve you. That is humility.
Humility is not that I look I'm a nobody man. No, when somebody says that, When somebody says that, there's this sense of. Bitterness coming through that they're saying, I know I'm a nobody. I ain't got nothing. I've had a bad past, or I I don't have a good life like you did.
Well, that's what they're saying. Yeah, of course. It's coming from a place of resentment. And if you talk like that, that's not humility. Your resentment is just boiling over.
So much better not to talk like that. But truly humble yourself before God and say, By the grace of God I am what I am. And there are many, many times that I have to do a personal. Humility check. Where am I?
And If I find myself not where I need to be, then I repent. Repent is a very important thing to do. Asking, admitting to God that you have sinned. the sin of pride. asking God to Forgive you.
to cleanse you. to renew a right spirit inside of you. a spirit of humility, a spirit of service. A spirit like Our Savior and our King Jesus. Who came down to rescue us?
See, the Good Samaritan parable was not just about now, you go do that. It was really about Jesus. He is the one that everybody hated. And he's the one who stops and picks us up and takes us back to the inn and bandages us and cleans us and all the rest of the stuff and even pays on a head and says, When I come back, I'll pay some more, whatever's owed. Put it on my account.
That is Jesus.
So I have to ask myself: am I truly representing Jesus right now? Right. I don't care about your Bible knowledge. I don't care about your world knowledge. I don't care about your passion, your conviction, your your zeal, your your crusade of whatever it is.
Am I like Jesus? And let that be the test. That is the gut check, isn't it? That's the qualifier. As you look at yourself in the mirror, as you think about your actions, you think about the way that you're speaking to and about other people.
Am I looking like Jesus to other people? Am I being the physical manifestation of the gospel in their lives? And if not, what needs to change? I ask my students that often, like, hey, here's the expectation that God's word has laid out for us. If you're not, if you can't honestly say that you're meeting this, what needs to change?
What is the action step? What do you need to course correct? Where do you need to adjust things in your life?
Well, we definitely take those attributes of Jesus, right? And we want to embody them because we think that they're good attributes. But I think what a lot of the world, the secular world does is they say those attributes are good. I just think that those attributes stand on their own. And I think that's a great, great point, Dr.
Shaden. It's a great way to sort of ground and center this episode is that those attributes, love, humility, patience, all these things that we say, they're not just. good things because they exist. In a good state. It's because they're Jesus' attributes.
When you do those things, you are embodying the characteristics of the Son of God. There are a lot of things you may be doing right. Praise God for that. But if in this area, the area of compassion and mercy towards those who may be less deserving, If it's not where it needs to be, then it's The chain is only as strong as the weakest link. That's right.
And James says that here in verse 10. He says, But whoever shall keep the whole law. and yet stumble in one point he is guilty of all. For he who said, Do not commit murder, also said, Do not mur do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder.
Now, if you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
So if you say, I'm not doing adultery. But murder?
Okay. Yeah. Your chain is only as strong as the weakest link. That's right. Yeah.
Verse 12, so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. That's what we'll be judged by. And then finally, verse 13: for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So that should be our heart. Let mercy rule. in your life in your ministry, in your testimony, Over judging other people. Amen. Dr.
Shaw, we got about five minutes left, and I want to talk to the people who are listening to this. We have a primarily Christian audience, but let's just say there's someone listening to this, they've not accepted Jesus in their heart, and they say, you know, I feel like you're describing me. I am a merciful person. I do treat people well because I believe in the value of human life. But they haven't taken that step.
To Accept Jesus into their hearts, and they're thinking that I'm a good person. I treat people well without Jesus. What do you want to say to that? Oh, I have friends like that. They're great people.
They're sweet people, very caring people. But they feel like they're good enough that they do not need God's mercy. They feel like God's going to judge them based on their good deeds. He's going to sort of hold their negative things, their bad deeds in one side of the scale, and their positive things, their good deeds on the right side. And then on the day of judgment, it will sort of be weighed out that, yeah, they did more good than bad.
So overall, they canceled out their bad. and have a few extra to go with to be a good person. Do they really believe In heaven, do they really believe in a life eternal with Jesus forever? New heavens, new earth? I don't know.
I don't know if they even think that deeply about those things. But if you are that person who thinks that your good will outweigh your bad. You have a very warped concept of what is good in the sight of God. Your good works are nothing. You cannot trust your best five minutes.
In this life, to get you into heaven.
So it is so much better for you to fall on the mercy of God than on the judgment of God.
So much better to say, God, I don't deserve anything. I am nothing. I come to you with empty hands. And yes, I'm a good person, I try to do good things. But I'm a sinner.
That's right. Who is dead in trespasses and sins. And maybe you don't even understand that, and that's okay, but you're a sinner. It means you have a sinful heart. And what you need is a new heart.
And Jesus died on the cross for your sins so that you can have. A new heart, yeah. And it's as simple as saying, Jesus, I want you in my life. As simple as that. Don't think that you can force your System of Salvation.
Unto God on the day of judgment. You cannot do that. I can't do it. You can't do it. No one can do that.
You can only receive the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
So ask Him to come into your life and save you. Amen. Amen. Guys, make sure you join us tomorrow. Same time, same station.
And we're going to be diving into another great topic here on the Clearview Today show. Thanks again to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. If today's your first time joining the conversation, we love you. We're glad that you're here. I hope you join us again on tomorrow's episode.
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