This website is dedicated to the exposition of Biblical truth and to encouraging and edifying those seeking to understand the teaching of the Word of God. Consequently, I have studiously avoided getting into political issues confronting society today. However, there are current events that impact the Body of Christ, like Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality (CRT and CRTI), that need to be addressed. In this article, I will attempt to define CRT and CRTI according to what its proponents have written and said. Then I will comment on how this highly charged political issue contradicts biblical teaching and why Christians must reject it in part and in whole.

Many have addressed this issue better than I am able to in this short article. However, I believe I need to set down in writing what the Bible teaches and, perhaps shed some light on how CRT and CRTI are impacting our understanding of God’s Word.

To the question, “What is Critical Race Theory,” the Encyclopedia Britannica states:

“Critical race theory is an intellectual movement and a framework of legal analysis according to which (1) race is a culturally invented category used to oppress people of colour and (2) the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, political, and economic inequalities between white and nonwhite people.”[1]

Merriam-Webster appears to be the first to define Intersectionality:

Definition of intersectionality

:the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups

//[Kimberlé] Crenshaw introduced the theory of intersectionality, the idea that when it comes to thinking about how inequalities persist, categories like gender, race, and class are best understood as overlapping and mutually constitutive rather than isolated and distinct.— Adia Harvey Wingfield[2]

To underscore how rife these philosophies are and the turmoil surrounding them; at the recently concluded annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, this issue was debated extensively. The subject is now set to divide the convention delegates long after the convention ended.[3]

Rather than take the bait and become embroiled in this controversy as to the validity of CRT and CRTI, those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior should simply acknowledge that past history of the behavior of individuals and groups, including the church, demonstrates that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”[4] Hence, individuals and groups claiming to represent the church have practiced racism in its many forms. However, whenever and wherever racism existed, it did not represent the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ nor the writers of the Bible as it was given, i.e., Godbreathed Scripture.

Proponents of CRT and CRTI seek to ignore history and substitute their Postmodern theories of social constructs in place of any change in behavior that has taken place. They thereby substitute their own social construct as reality and reject any possibility that human nature can change.

Change in attitude and behavior is what the Judeo-Christian faith is all about. But this transformation is not from humanism, atheism, or any other -ism. CRTI is partially correct. Human nature is a product of cultural conditioning and cannot be changed. But we would add, it can not be changed without God’s intervention.

King David wrote:

I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, And will trust in the Lord.

How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count…[5]

Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart.” I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest. I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation; I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.[6] (italics mine)

Anyone who has truly been born from above[7] should have, at one point in their life, experienced this “AHA!” moment to which David was referring. That moment when he or she experienced real power over sin. Paul wrote:

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.[8] (italics mine)

Further on in his letter to the church in Rome, Paul wrote:

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.[9] (italics mine)

The context is of individuals committing themselves to live and work within the Body of Christ, the church. Paul continues to lay out how this is to work in the remainder of the chapter. Each believer is to recognize who they are in Christ and what their responsibilities are in the church.[10]

As the Body of Christ, we are obligated to live and act toward others around us as God would have us act, i.e., to love one another,[11] to love our neighbor as ourselves,[12] and even to love our enemies and those who spitefully use us.[13]

To accept the tenets of CRT and CRTI in any form is to deny the Lord who bought us.

At one point in Paul’s ministry, there were those who were seeking to undermine his teaching with a different gospel. His response was:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” [14]

Paul, in Colossians 2:6-12, instructed the churches in the Lycus Valley on how to respond to Gnostic heresy troubling the brethren when he wrote:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

To accept CRT and CRTI is to deny our faith in the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. CRT and CRTI has no place in the church, the Body of Christ today.

_______________________________________ 

[1] critical race theory | Definition, Principles, & Facts | Britannica

[2] Intersectionality | Definition of Intersectionality by Merriam-Webster

[3] Critical race theory sparks flurry of resolutions for SBC meeting | Church & Ministries News | The Christian Post

[4] Jer 17:9.

[5] Ps 40:1-5.

[6] Ps 40:7-10.

[7] Jn 3:16.

[8] Rom 6:14-18

[9] Rom 12:1-2.

[10] Rom 12:3ff.

[11] John 13:34; 15:12, 17; Rom 13:8; 1 Thess 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Jn 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 Jn 5.

[12] Lev 19:18; Matt 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mk 12:31; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14; Jas 2:8.

[13] Matt 5:44; Lk 6:27, 35.

[14] Gal 2:20-21.

Contents

Introduction

The Problem with Judgementalism

The nature of Judgementalism

The Timing in Judgmentalism

The Consequences of Judgementalism

Judgementalism Today

Introduction

The church at Corinth was a troubled fellowship. After Paul’s initial visit on his second missionary journey, the Corinthian Christians found it difficult to establish a ministry of their own without controversies and open sin among the brethren. Paul wrote letters to the Church regarding some of the issues. The letter called 1 Corinthians was preceded by at least one severe letter.[i] In chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians, he addressed the problem of judgementalism.

While he was teaching at Ephesus, news arrived that the problems had increased and were threatening the fabric of the church itself. The fellowship had not heeded his instructions in the earlier correspondence. Sharp divisions were taking place. Individuals were choosing sides. Some chose to follow Paul, the apostle. Some Apollos, the gifted orator. Some Peter, the strong-willed fisherman. Meanwhile, another group claimed to follow Christ. Sometimes the orthodox group can be the most cantankerous.

In his salutation, Paul describes his vision of what the church is about and how what was taking place at Corinth was contrary to that vision. The church was:

the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours[ii]

that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,[iii]

you are not lacking in any gift[iv] (charisma – see my article Let’s Talk About Spiritual Gifts)

As a church, they had all they needed for an effective ministry in that godless city. Instead, they were bickering. Their behavior was a poor testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They had become heretics in the biblical sense of the term.

The Greek term translated heretic in the KJV is hairetikos. It refers to “causing division by a party spirit, factious”[v] It is doing and saying even the truth in order to gain a following. W. E. Vine defines the cognate, heresy (hairesis):

(It) denotes (a) “a choosing, choice” (from haireomai, “to choose”); then, “that which is chosen,” and hence, “an opinion,” especially a self-willed opinion, which is substituted for submission to the power of truth, and leads to division and the formation of sects, Gal 5:20 (marg., “parties”); such erroneous opinions are frequently the outcome of personal preference or the prospect of advantage; see 2 Peter 2:1, where “destructive” (RV) signifies leading to ruin; some assign even this to (b); in the papyri the prevalent meaning is “choice” (Moulton and Milligan, Vocab.); (b) “a sect”; this secondary meaning, resulting from (a), is the dominating significance in the NT, Acts 5:17; 15:5; 24:5,14; 26:5; 28:22; “heresies” in 1 Cor 11:19.[vi]

In chapter 2, Paul describes his ministry among them on his first visit:

I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.[vii]

Paul’s teaching was the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of men. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that made the difference. This wisdom is not available to those who are soulish (psuchikos), thinking only from a human perspective. The soulish man does not have the wisdom of God and therefore, is not able to examine and determine the truth (anakrino). In other words, the Corinthian believers were not judging correctly.

In chapter 3, Paul continues to lay the foundation for what he will say in chapter 4. Even though they had “the mind of Christ,”[viii] they were thinking and acting “like mere men,”[ix] who did not have the Holy Spirit. How could they possibly judge the heart of those who taught them?

He concludes chapter 3:

“So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”[x]

The problem of Judgementalism

Christians tend to be judgmental. Anyone who has served as a pastor for any length of time knows this. In my fifty-plus years of pastoral ministry, I lost count of the number of times I was called before a board of the church I served or a jury of my peers to be judged by them. It is hard to forget the sting of lies, half-truths, and rebukes. Of being accused of things I did not do or say or attributing attitudes and actions to motives I never had. I can understand the anguish of the apostle as he was forced to defend himself over and over throughout 1 Corinthians.

Such behavior ruins the ministry of the gospel, shipwrecks younger believers, discourages God’s leaders, and drives countless trained and gifted individuals from the ministry. In 2020, in a post on my website, I provided a link to statics provided by The Fuller Institute, George Barna, Lifeway, Schaeffer Institute of Leadership Development, and Pastoral Care Inc. [see].

While statistics can be manipulated and differing conclusions are drawn, the statistics on that website are disheartening. How can the church be effective in a fallen world if it acts like the fallen world? The early church, particularly the church at Corinth, was rife with problems. The first, and most important, was judgementalism.

Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.[xi]

Unless they learned to come together and moved forward with one mind, they would not be able to bring glory to God the Father as the spiritual body of His Son, Jesus Christ. Believers are called by God to be discerning, not judgmental.

The nature of Judgementalism

Jesus warned His disciples regarding judging in the familiar verse, “Do not judge lest you be judged.”[xii] This is often quoted out of context as prohibiting making any judgments regarding others. In its context, it forbids judging incorrectly. The negative particle translated as “not” is conditional.

Jesus went on to explain:

For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.[xiii]

Judgementalism is using the wrong standard for judging, making judgments without the necessary information to judge accurately, judging when a judgment is not ours to make, or judging with wrong motives. In conflict resolution, this is called attribution. We attribute to others motives without substantiation.

In Postmodernism, Cancel Culture has become the norm. This is when an individual or group decides that they know what is true regardless of the facts. The validity of words and actions is determined by the one judging, not by the one who is being judged. In this way, the person being judged can be canceled. Freedom of thought and expression is eliminated. Cancel Culture is the ultimate judgementalism.

This was happening at Corinth. In order to support one individual over another, false charges were being leveled. Previous conclusions regarding Paul’s ministry were being set aside in support of one’s party affiliation.

Beginning in chapter 4 verse 1, Paul lays out the facts.

First:

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.[xiv]

Second:

In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.[xv]

In Paul’s day, a steward (oikonomos) was the overseer or manager of the household. He was a slave entrusted with all that his master owned including his family. To be untrustworthy was to receive harsh punishment, dismissal, and sometimes death. If Paul was a steward of the mysteries of God and the accusations lodged against him were true, then he was an untrustworthy steward and would be judged by God. To the Romans, Paul asks, “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls.”[xvi]

So when Paul states, “But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself;”[xvii] he was not dismissing all judgment of himself. He was making a comparison between human judgment and God’s judgment. Their judgment, and even his own, was minuscule by comparison. Even when he examined himself, he did not claim to be above criticism properly rendered. This included his own assessment.

The Timing in Judgementalism

Next, Paul addresses the timing of judgment. If God’s judgment is infinitely more important than human judgment, when will God’s judgment take place? In one simple statement, Paul draws the obvious conclusion:

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.[xviii]

At any point in our lifetime, the last chapter has not been written. What we know or think we know might be incorrect, only part of the story, or as in modern parlance, spin. To draw conclusions based upon false or misleading facts is judgementalism. To draw conclusions when it is not our place to do so or before the time is also judgementalism.

The Consequences of Judgementalism

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul addressed the problem of eating food sacrificed to idols. This was a major problem in that day because almost everything bought and sold in the marketplace was leftovers from heathen sacrifices. It was a major sticking point for the judgmental Christians at Corinth. Paul wrote:

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.[xix]

Simply stated, judgementalism is arrogance. The Corinthian church was rife with arrogant people who placed themselves above others, great men like Paul, Apollos, and Peter.

James in his epistle to the early church wrote, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”[xx] Peter expresses the same in his first epistle. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”[xxi] So we have many Christians today who want God to exalt them by making themselves humble through their own efforts. Both texts are mistranslated suggesting that humility is an action taken by the one seeking to be exalted. It is mistranslated because the grammar of the verb is Aorist Passive Imperative. The Passive Voice means that the subject of the verb is being acted upon, not doing the action.[xxii] The Imperative is permissive rather than causative. A better translation would be, “Allow yourselves to be humble,” or “recognize yourselves as humble.”

The arrogant, judgmental person is often humble in his own eyes as he looks down his nose at the one he is judging. Recall the parable of the publican and the sinner.

And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”[xxiii]

A similar clarification is needed here. The grammatical construction of “everyone who exalts himself” is Active Voice, meaning that the subject is doing the action. The grammatical construction of “he who humbles himself” is Passive Voice, meaning that the subject is being acted upon. Hence the better translation would be, every one who exalts himself…he who is humbled by his circumstances.”

The judgmental person is not only arrogant because of what he thinks he knows; he is arrogant because he places his judgment of himself above the judgment of God. Paul wrote,

“For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.”[xxiv]

Paul adds an additional dimension to the judgmental person in 4:6-8. A judgmental person considers himself to be superior to those he is judging. Consequently, it is his right to judge.

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.[xxv]

An individual who genuinely has the right to judge another has power over that other person. It may be merely the power of influence, but it is power nonetheless.

Judgementalism Today

“To the Nth Degree” is a metaphor used to describe the upper limits of a sequence. It describes exponential amplification or the amount of the final multiplicated number.[xxvi] This is a good description of what is taking place in this Postmodern era of “wokeism,” Critical Race Theory, and Cancel Culture. Judgementalism, hiding under the guise of critical thinking, is the tool of choice for gaining influence and power in the world. It is destructive wherever it is employed.

In an article on thechristianpost.com website titled, Wokeism is far more dangerous than secularism, Hedieh Mirahmadi writes:

Wokeism, which some call the “new” religion of our day, is entirely incompatible with Christian values and, left unchecked, will undermine the foundation of American society. If that sounds hyperbolic, we fail to acknowledge that its very purpose is to do just that.

Originating from Critical Theory, wokeism challenges existing power structures and seeks to dismantle what we see as universal truths. The U.S. is a nation shaped by the principle that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.  Since the founding fathers were Christians, “the inalienable rights from the Creator” can be further expanded to include God’s vision for man and society as told in the Bible:

I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality and to do nothing out of favoritism. 1 Timothy 5:21

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. James 2:8-9[xxvii]

It is no hyperbole to see what is taking place today in society in light of what was occurring at Corinth in Paul’s day. The flesh, whether of unregenerate man or regenerated man, seems to thrive on gaining power and influence. In its infancy, it appears to be innocent and harmless. But it has never been innocent and harmless. It has always been destructive. I have observed churches struggle and die from judgementalism. I have even seen individuals whose faith was destroyed and in at least one instance, the person died a premature death because of false judgments being made.

Judgementalism has no place among God’s people. We need to recognize it for what it is. It is an evil poison that kills life rather than promotes it.

_______________

[i] 1 Cor 5:9-11.

[ii] 1 Cor 1:2.

[iii] 1 Cor 1:5-6.

[iv] 1 Cor 1:7.

[v] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] 1 Cor 2:1-5.

[viii] 1 Cor 2:16.

[ix] 1 Cor 3:3-4.

[x] 1 Cor 3:21-23.

[xi] 1 Cor 1:10.

[xii] Matt 7:1.

[xiii] Matt 7:2-5.

[xiv] 1 Cor 4:1.

[xv] 1 Cor 4:2.

[xvi] Rom 14:4.

[xvii] 1 Cor 4:3.

[xviii] 1 Cor 4:5.

[xix] 1 Cor 8:1.

[xx] Jas 4:10.

[xxi] 1 Pe 5:6

[xxii] Cf. D. B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, (Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 440-441, 489-491.

[xxiii] Lk 18:9-14.

[xxiv] 1 Cor 4:4.

[xxv] 1 Cor 4:6-8.

[xxvi] The Nth Degree – Wikipedia

[xxvii] Cf. Wokeism is far more dangerous than secularism | Opinion News | The Christian Post

We live in a judgmental world. Postmodernism, with its rejection of absolute truth, its emphasis on groupthink, its cancel culture, and the prevalence of Critical Race Theory, is the driving force in judgmentalism. Lines have been drawn between opposing opinions so fixed that it is difficult and, at times, impossible to communicate regarding some of the most important aspects of life. How are we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ going to avoid being dragged down with the rest of society? How do we keep judgmentalism out of our local churches?  How do we judge biblically so that the church can grow into a healthy body of believers?

The apostle Paul wrote extensively to one church, the church at Corinth, that had become embroiled in controversies regarding a number of issues threatening its existence. In 1 Corinthians chapters 4, 5, and 6, he writes concerning issues regarding judging.

In a trilogy of articles,  I will examine Paul’s instructions concerning three different problems in the church regarding judging. In chapter 4 he writes concerning judgementalism. In chapter 5, failing to judge. Chapter 6, resorting to secular courts.

1 Corinthians chapter 4: Let’s Talk About Judgementalism

1 Corinthians chapter 5: Let’s Talk About Failing to Judge

1 Corinthians chapter 6: Let’s Talk About Resorting to Secular Courts to Judge

Over the last two weeks, as Afghanistan fell, I’ve received near miraculous healthcare. On August 9, I met with my Cardiologist. The appointment began with retrieving data from my pacemaker that has been keeping me alive for the past nine and a half years. The battery was reaching the end. I knew that I would be needing a new pacemaker sometime later this year. The next day, August 10, I received a phone call telling me that I was scheduled for surgery to replace my pacemaker on August 17. Pacemaker batteries are not replaceable, only the entire pacemaker. Because I am in total AV block, that is the upper part of the heart no longer beats on its own, I have been kept alive for the past nineteen years by pacemakers. This is my third. My new pacemaker now gives me nine-plus years of life.

Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment to check how my new pacemaker is doing. It is doing great and with a little tweaking, may even give me additional energy to live and do the things I want to do. I cannot express enough my gratitude to all the healthcare providers who literally saved my life when I went into a coma in 2015, my accident in 2019 when I broke my neck, to the present when my pacemaker was replaced.

This brings me to the point of this blog. I am conflicted about the world in which I live. I can, must, and do praise God for my good fortune. Yet I expressed to every healthcare professional yesterday, that I almost feel guilty receiving such wonderful healthcare while so many millions are caught in the vice of heathen false religions, corrupt governments, and barbaric fanatics who see no value in human life and are willing to destroy themselves to destroy others to gain martyrdom. What a contrast to life under the sun.

I have done nothing to earn the peace and safety I enjoy right now. Most of those who are literally under the guns of brutal fanatics have done nothing to warrant the persecution and certain death they are facing.

This was the perspective of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes. Note Solomon’s description of life under the sun:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven —
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace. (Eccl 3:1-8 NASB)

In the present Postmodern Woke culture, the reaction is to play the victim and blame everyone else for the chaos around the world and here at home. This absolves the victim of any responsibility.

Solomon anticipated this response as he continued:

What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. (Eccl 3:9-10 NASB)

The Postmodern answer to this question is there is no profit in toiling because, as a victim, someone else will take it away. We should join cultural constructs, i.e., groups of other victims, and take what we want from those who are toiling and succeeding. This is nothing less than Marxist Communism.

Why is this happening? Solomon gives us a clue:

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. (Eccl 3:11 NASB).

In other words, God has had a plan and a purpose all along. Homo sapiens are the only creatures who have eternity in their hearts. But the ability to sense eternity does not guarantee wisdom nor an understanding of events taking place in our lives much less how to change circumstances and prevent human tragedies.

The Postmodernist Woke culture seeking to find objects to blame is now turning on anyone who will not accept their victimization perspective. This includes anyone who might believe in a creative and sustaining power outside of creation. This includes Christians. This is why I continue to write about and call upon Christians to get back into God’s Word. It is only a matter of time before we feel the wrath of this Cancel Culture.

I happen to be in the camp of those who believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come back to set up His kingdom on earth. It will be preceded by a seven-year tribulation. I believe the church will not participate in the tribulation having been taken out of the world before it starts. To be sure, some will be saved during the tribulation. Many of those who will be saved will forfeit their lives because of their faith.

A key term popular in Existentialism since Soren Kierkegaard and is now rife in Postmodernism is angst, also known as Cognitive Dissonance. It is the tool being used to drive the movement called Critical Race Theory as well as other popular movements. It reeks of racism and feeds on creating angst, even where no angst exists.

As a believer in a great and loving God who has planned from the beginning salvation through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, I refuse to lose hope. My hope is in Christ. My hope is certain to come to pass regardless of how cruel men become.

This blog is to call all of those who have this hope to join me in praising our God for His goodness to mankind, and to all who will call upon Him. Yes, there is a season to mourn. I just lowered my flag to half-mast. I am not waiting for the president or the governor to order it. I am weeping with those who weep. I am mourning with those who mourn. I will continue to love as God instructs us in His Word. And I am speaking out because it is a time to speak.

Solomon continued his evaluation of life under the sun:

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor —  it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by. (Eccl 3:12-15 NASB)

Those of us who believe in the salvation of our God and His love for mankind must join in giving Him our praise and glorifying His name. If we have been given a life of pleasure and prosperity, we need to speak up and confess Him to a world that is so horribly messed up. He will bring peace to us even in the midst of hardship.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:4-7 NASB)

Praise the Lord.

The controversy regarding Critical Race Theory (CRT) continues and is intensifying. What is the biblical response to this blight that is being promoted at every level of society today?

Those of us who oppose CRT are accused of being uninformed and therefore ignorant of what CRT is. In this article, I am challenging you, the reader to make this a lie by becoming informed as to what CRT is and how it is being used to destroy western culture all around us. I posted an article to this site regarding what CRT is and why we should refute it. (see my article: Let’s Talk about Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality) 

However, knowing about CRT does not satisfy a biblical response. We are to be “shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.”[i] On the other hand, Paul exhorts:

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.[ii]

A Christian has dual citizenship and therefore must not sit on the sidelines and cheer for the team. Every believer has responsibilities as citizens of the United States and as citizens of heaven. But not all have the same talents and abilities. I praise the Lord for Christians who are active in the political arena and those who are effective apologists. Each believer needs to seek God’s will as to how involved he/she should be in the affairs of this life.

Another approach used to counter those of us who oppose CRT is to play word games. This has become the trick of the trade in this Postmodern, Woke culture. By changing the meaning of words, confusion is instilled in the argument so that CRT is described in the best light. Yet CRT is darkness, not light. We who are of the light need to be cautious when venturing into this dark arena to resist and battle against this evil spirit of this age.

One of the most insidious tools used to counter any opposition to CRT is Gaslighting.[iii] In this way, those who are uninformed or nominally informed are silenced and/or caused to question their own position. As believers, the best defense is a strong offense, not confrontation, but knowing the truth of God’s Word and how to apply it to matters of this life.

So what is the Biblical Approach?

First, know God’s Word. This cannot be accomplished sitting in a pew on Sunday listening to a sermon no matter how good the sermon might be. Every believer needs to study the Scriptures as intensely as if seeking a degree at a university or preparing for employment. Remember, degrees and employment are only temporal under the sun.

Second, we must study to develop the mind of Christ.[iv] We achieve the mind of Christ by studying God’s Word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and gifted individuals who teach sound[v] doctrine.[vi] We need to be spiritually healthy if we are to withstand the negative influences of those who wish to destroy us and our way of life.

Third, it is the task of church leaders to ensure that every church member, not only hears sound doctrine but knows how to study so as to acquire it for themselves. This is perhaps the greatest deficiency in the average local church today. Instead, we find the opposite. We are in a time to which Paul referred when he wrote:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths[vii].

We live in difficult and confusing times. Conflicts abound. Information is coming from all sides; some are false, some unimportant, and some are meant to confuse. Couple this with the Cancel Culture intent on depriving us of the truth. This demonstrates how important knowing God’s Word is. It is no accident that Paul focused so much of the pastoral epistles on what and how to teach. This is the first and most important task of pastor-teachers. Paul wrote:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.[viii]

Paul’s exhortation regarding putting on the full armor of God is directed at churches as much as individuals.

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.[ix]

Note that Paul introduces the above subject with the illustration of a wrestling match. A wrestling match is one individual wrestling another. The battle we face today is not one individual against another. It is the Body of Christ against the darkness of Satan.

The purpose of the armor is to equip each individual believer and local church so we are able to stand our ground. In other words, it is defensive rather than offensive. Careful observation of each weapon mentioned shows that these are defensive weapons rather than offensive.

The picture is of Roman soldiers on the battlefield under attack. For one soldier to be facing the onslaught by himself would mean instant death. He needs others all around him to protect him. He would not want to be without any one of the weapons. But also the soldier does not want to be alone on the battlefield. He wants well-trained soldiers around him to protect him from the enemy.

Finally, notice what the enemy is launching at the church, “flaming missiles of the evil one.”[x] CRT clearly fits the definition of flaming missiles.

Here is some documentation regarding CRT:  Culturally Responsive Teaching:

Rhode Island CRT Teacher Training September 2021 | Judicial Watch

Critical Race Training in Education

Note how the acronym, CRT, has been changed from Critical Race Theory to Culturally Responsive Teaching. However, careful observation will demonstrate that it is one and the same.

Rife throughout this document are big words and terms that are meant to appear scholarly and/or to confuse, words such as “Systemic Inequity,” “Sustaining Pedagogy,” “elements of the Awareness domain,” and “nurture a sense of community.” By page 10, the essence of this document is finally stated openly with the question, “How does systemic racism manifest itself in the education experience for students?” Through innuendo, false assumptions, and downright lies, CRT is presented as the answer to all of life’s ills, especially for those for whom society has apparently failed.

One resource which we might overlook is Bettina Love. She is quoted on page 15:

“Antiracist teaching is not just about acknowledging that racism exists, but consciously committing to the struggle of fighting for racial justice“

Love is the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at the University of Georgia. She would probably be unknown except for her book, We Want to Do More Than Survive. Concerning her, Stanley Kurtz writes:

If you care about the battle over critical race theory (CRT) in the schools, you need to know about Bettina Love. The Biden administration recently got caught promoting a guidebook from her group, the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN). The booklet asks teachers to “disrupt Whiteness and other forms of oppression.” Following that revelation, the administration disavowed ATN and claimed that touting its program had been an “error.” Almost certainly, however, Biden’s support for Bettina Love’s ATN was no slip-up. Bettina Love is all the rage among progressive educators (i.e., the entire education establishment), including leading members of Biden’s Education Department. Love may be less well known to critics of CRT than Ibram X. Kendi, Nikole Hannah-Jones, or Robin DiAngelo, but that is our mistake.[xi]

Paul exhorted young Timothy to preach the Word. The best defense against CRT and other manifestations of Postmodernism is not to become experts in the philosophies of men but to become experts in God’s Word. This is the biblical approach to countering CRT.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.[xii]

_________________________________

[i] Matt 10:16.

[ii] 2 Tim 2:4.

[iii] For an excellent resource regarding Gaslighting see: 8 Warning Signs of Gaslighting and Why it is so Harmful (thesimplyperfectlife.com)

[iv] 1 Cor 2:16.

[v] Hugiaino, (Eng., “hygiene”).

[vi] Cf. 1 Tim 1:10; 6:3; 2 Tim 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:1, 2.

[vii] 2 Tim 4:3-4.

[viii] Eph 4:11-16.

[ix] Eph 6:10-17.

[x] Eph 6:16.

[xi] Abolitionist Teaching Network — Joe Biden, Bettina Love, and Critical Race Theory | National Review

[xii] 2 Tim 3:16-17.

Social media and the power of the oligarchs who control and censor what is published on their platforms have become a topic of debate and controversy at home and abroad. On the one hand, social media is touted as a great tool for communication, the life’s blood of societal intercourse. On the other, it is denounced as a corruptor of youth and a purveyor of lies. It is used by the Cancel Culture to cancel anyone who does not follow the official line. It has become the backdoor approach to annulling the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

This should not surprise us. Ivan Pavlov, in the late 1800s, taught his dog to salivate when offered food and, at the same time, ringing a bell. Then he taught it to salivate at the ringing of the bell without the food. For more than a century and a half, psychologists have studied how this can be achieved in humans. They have become very good at it.

Take the advertising industry. How are they able to convince us that we need their product even though we never knew we needed it? Why are certain colors, backgrounds, and logos utilized to catch the eye and produce the desired reaction, i.e., to buy their product? Why do politicians seek the right photo op, use the same phrases, etc.? Like Thorndike’s Puzzle Box, we are merely cats seeking a way out of the box to get the prize.

In my book published over twenty years ago, I warned of the power of Behaviorism and its destructiveness to human relationships. The book is published in toto on my website (see). Here is a sampling:

HOW WE VIEW BEHAVIOR DIVIDES US

THE GAME: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT

Perhaps the most baffling question lingering from the shooting at Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado, is why these boys chose to do what they did, killing and maiming so many people. Some blame the Internet, some the entertainment industry, some the video games, some the National Rifle Association, some the parents of the shooters, and on and on. Under the surface of the blame game is the basic philosophy that the shooters were products of their environment. If we could somehow change the environment, we would do away with these acts of violence.

I call this game “The Devil made me do it,” not because people believe in a real devil and blame him, but because they are simply seeking a scapegoat. Another name for this game is Behaviorism. It is a belief system that places much of the blame for the destructive behavior today on the environment or on genetic makeup.

Behaviorism as a philosophy divides us because it teaches that individuals are not morally responsible for their behavior. Yet accepting responsibility for one’s actions is the very thing needed for healthy relationships in society.

Behaviorism is “a movement in psychology that advocates the use of strict experimental procedures to study observable behavior (or responses) in relation to the environment (or stimuli).”[i] Behaviorism seeks to discover why people behave the way they do. In its simplest form, it seeks to examine through observation the cause and effect of behavior and then draw conclusions that can be used to alter that behavior.

I call it a game because, on the one hand, behaviorists have become adept at controlling human behavior. To see how effective Behaviorism is, we need to consider the advertising industry today and its ability to sell almost anything. This ability comes from conclusions drawn by behaviorists who study human behavior. On the other hand, behaviorists are quick to deny that they are to blame for the destructive behavior stemming from the products sold using methods devised by the techniques they have developed. Behaviorism is more than the mere scientific study of human behavior. It has become a philosophy because it is based upon some basic presuppositions that do not belong in the field of scientific investigation, presuppositions such as morality that cannot be put into a test tube and measured.

Also, consider the recent revelations regarding how Facebook has been using algorithms on its platforms. According to a whistleblower, Facebook has been utilizing algorithms to manipulate teens and pre-teens, all the while knowing the damage it was doing.[ii] Behaviorism is a reality and has become the warp and woof of modern culture. In fact, given the power of the internet, Behaviorism has stepped out of the closet as a driving force both for good and for evil. Couple this now with the way messaging can be manipulated behind the scenes through algorithms without the end user knowing. Large groups of individuals can be induced to perform in certain ways without their knowing they are being manipulated.

How is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ able to withstand the manipulation?

First, we must recognize that this manipulation is taking place. It may be as innocuous as what brand of breakfast cereal to buy. Or as serious as what political ideology to follow. The apostle John, at the end of the first century, wrote:

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.[iii]

The Greek term for the world in this context is kosmos. It refers to the arrangement and governance of life under the sun, i.e., physical existence. While we must live in this world, we are not to be of this world.

While the manipulation of human behavior, i.e., Behaviorism, is a relatively new philosophy in history, it is not a new phenomenon. By the time John wrote his account of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his epistles, Gnosticism had inundated the church. This can be seen in the number of times John refers to kosmos in his writings. Of the one hundred and eighty-six times the term is used in the New Testament, it occurs seventy-eight times in his gospel account and twenty-five times in his epistles. While Satan is the god of this world, he uses men to manipulate this world for evil.

Second, we must recognize our own susceptibility to manipulation and use the spiritual tools God has given us to avoid its pitfalls. Paul wrote:

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.[iv]

Careful consideration of the context will show that what is in view here is individual behavior in the context of the local church. Our Lord Jesus Christ has assigned to His Body, the local church, the task of rescuing, guiding, and guarding individual believers against the manipulating influences of the world. Many today are moving away from local affiliation with other believers of like faith and doctrine. This leaves the untutored vulnerable to the clutches of Satan and Behaviorism. We must not allow Behaviorism to control our thoughts and actions. We need one another.

Third, we need to be students of God’s Word. The transformative process of renewing our minds takes time, effort, and due diligence. As a pastor and educator for over fifty years, I am amazed at how little the average professing Christian knows regarding the Bible, how to study it, and how to apply it to their lives. Christianity is the only religion that has such an instrument to ward off the evils of Behaviorism.

This was true in the Old Testament. Speaking to Israel through Moses, God commanded:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.[v]

This exhortation was repeated again so that Israel would take heed:

You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.[vi]

If the study and assimilation of God’s Word were so important in the desert of Palestine, how much more important today?

Fourth, we need to understand how to use the Bible to guide us through the pitfalls of Behaviorism. James called this soul salvation.

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.[vii]

But how do we know if the choices we make stem from God’s leading us or from the manipulations of the world?

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.[viii]

The only way to know if we are being manipulated by the world or responding to the spiritually-apprised things of God is by knowing His Word.

Fifth, we need to learn how to walk in the Spirit every day and every moment of every day. Paul wrote:

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.[ix]

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the gift of God’s presence within us individually given the moment we are born of God. We need to learn to walk in the Spirit as individuals.[x] We also need to learn to live by the Spirit corporately within the framework of a local church.[xi]

Paul concluded his epistle regarding the church with this admonition:

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.[xii]

Resisting Behaviorism is a constant battle. It is a battle in which we as individual believers need to be engaged. But we must not see it as a battle we can win without a gathering of fellow believers, and a local church, to help us. It is also where we use our spiritual gifts to help others in the church stand against the evils of Behaviorism.

[i] “Behaviorism,” Microsoft^® Encarta^® 97.

[ii] Facebook hit by a barrage of reports from consortium of news outlets (cnbc.com)

[iii] 1 John 2:15-17.

[iv] Rom 12:1-2.

[v] Deut 6:4-9.

[vi] Deut 11:18-21.

[vii] Jas 1:21.

[viii] Heb 4:12.

[ix] 1 Cor 2:12-16.

[x] Gal 5:16-23.

[xi] Gal 5:24-6:10.

[xii] Eph 6:10-17.

A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple,
the voice of the Lord Who is rendering recompense to His enemies. [i]

The above quote from the prophecy of Isaiah is a good description of our day with regard to God’s Word. As this revelation through Isaiah draws to a close, the message was clear to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear. God was confirming the validity of all of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to David, and to His chosen people. Regardless of what the immediate circumstances appeared to show, God was their faithful and loving God.

The exact interpretation of Isaiah 66:6 is complicated and would require reams of paper to faithfully exegete. That is not the purpose of this quote in this article. Instead, I want to focus on three phrases: “A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord.”

The picture presented in its immediate context for Israel was not unlike the picture of the world in our day. There is a voice of confusion coming from the world around us as individuals with leaders clamoring to present their view of circumstances and what is taking place. Then there is the voice of religion, even within the church, often muffled, conflicting, and distorted. Finally, there is the voice of God who speaks through His Word.

We are confronted with a hodgepodge of errors and half-truths. Many are left frustrated and confused. Some have chosen to shut out the noise and remain ignorant. Others bury their heads in the sand, not wanting to make the effort to distinguish truth from error. Still, others claim they cannot understand and give various reasons to support their claim.

In God’s family, at this time in history, we do not have the luxury of failing to understand God’s will and purpose for our lives. If we are to accomplish His purpose for our existence, [ii] we must become students of the Bible. We must learn how to rightly divide the Word of Truth. [iii]

Early in my walk with the Lord, a wonderful woman, Mrs. Elsie Blaser, took me into her home to assist me to begin work toward a college degree. She cooked for me, washed and ironed my clothes, and encouraged her sons, dairy farmers, to hire me so I could earn my tuition. I lived in the hired men’s shack next to her house and spent hours with her in her home.

She and I became close friends. She was like a mother to me. She was born in Switzerland so we became partners playing pinochle and won many games at Swiss wrestling matches and dances. The brave would wrestle while Mrs. Blaser and I would challenge all comers to pinochle. I loved her dearly.

At that time, I was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, but was ignorant of the truths in God’s Word. I was still not living for the Lord. Having been saved through the ministry of the Navigators while in the navy, I had memorized several verses of Scripture, but had little understanding of what they meant.

One evening while just the two of us were playing pinochle, we were talking about religion. She said she was taught that only the priests could read the Bible and all she should read was the Catholic Missal. I teased her for not knowing the Bible—as if I did simply because I had memorized a few verses. She began to cry and exclaimed, “If you believe it so much, why don’t you live it.” This rebuke stung. From that moment on, I endeavored to learn what the Bible teaches.

Today, we have tools available to study the Bible as never before in the history of God’s redemptive program. We have numerous translations, paraphrases, concordances, grammar, commentaries, and dictionaries. One can purchase Bible programs, often expensive, to do much of the research for us. Or we can choose to use the many free apps for our computers and smartphones. The only thing we need to add is our personal will to blot out the voices from the city and man-made temples.

Doctors often tell us to drink more water. There are many substitutes for those who do not like to drink water. However, for those who are thirsty, there is no substitute. Pure clear water is essential to healthy living. If we don’t like to drink water, we should forgo the substitutes and drink water until we love to drink it. The same is true for studying the Bible.

Can one watch someone else drink water and benefit from this? What about all of the ads that tell us to buy this drink or that drink or put this into the water so it tastes better? Are those chemicals good for our bodies? Wouldn’t just simply drinking water be better? If our kidneys were given to us by God to flush out unhealthy chemicals, why do we add more unhealthy chemicals?

This is true of Bible study. God has given us His revelation to bring us to Himself, to clean and purify us, and to enable us to live in this evil world under the sun in a way that pleases Him.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. [iv]

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [v]

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. [vi]

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. [vii]

These are not just words on a page. This is the Voice of God. Israel was commanded to consume God’s Word. To pass it on to their children. To treasure it more than anything under the sun:

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. [viii]

But Israel repeatedly ignored this admonition and chose to listen to the voices of the city. Even the voices from the temple became garbled, contradictory, and eventually evil. It wasn’t that the Word of God was unavailable to study and to know. It was that they rejected it as a nation and turned to falsehood leading to godless and corrupt behavior. In the midst of a lengthy condemnation of Israel through the prophet Isaiah, God pronounced woe after woe because they “…despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” [ix]

These were God’s chosen people. Could these woes be pronounced against His chosen flock today? If we do not take the time, make the effort, and add our due diligence to study His Word knowing that, as our kidneys need clear pure water, so our spirits need the thirst-quenching Word of Truth, then I submit, we are worthy of the same harsh condemnation. We are despising God’s Holy Word.

One does not have to go to Bible school or seminary or learn a new language to know the Bible. Others have done the grunt work for us. To be sure, to gain the blessing of discovery and to receive the liberating light of the gospel for ourselves, we do need to follow principles of Bible study that will lead us to abiding truth and guard us against those who, having gone astray, will lead us astray. We must choose our tools carefully. We must be methodical. We must be as diligent as is necessary to learn anything worthwhile. And we must have a basic understanding of the principles of Bible interpretation.

Isaiah was given a singular privilege in his day to see around him the great need of God’s people. His vision became clear when he saw the Lord in the temple in all of His glory. His response was:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” [x]

Over seven hundred years after Isaiah lived, Paul wrote:

How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Note the answers to the above questions:

Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, ” Lord, who has believed our report?”

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.”

But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? At the first Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who sought Me not, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

But as for Israel He says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” [xi]

This website, drjerryback.com, is dedicated to being a tool to show the way into the truth of God’s Word. I dedicated my life over half a century ago to this very purpose. I praise God for His answers to my prayers and the privilege of living at such a time as this. I ask God to use me to open many eyes to the glory of His Word. I pray Paul’s prayer:

…that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might… [xii]

(That you) “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge… [xiii]

God has given us the internet and applications to help us in our studies. There are many good websites to assist in our efforts. But knowing how to pick and choose can be daunting. It is also dangerous. For centuries the Roman church kept the Word of God out of the hands of the common man and kept it for only the leaders.

I am asking God to use me to show many how to unlock the Scriptures. We have within our grasp tools that will build us up into the kind of people that glorify God and accomplish His purpose for our lives. There is nothing more rewarding in life than this.

Here are some tools. I invite you, if you have not already learned how to study God’s word or need a refresher course, to contact me at the email address given on this website. I have a Zoom account and am willing to set up a time to meet personally with you to help you learn how to use these tools. You do not have to have a Zoom account in order to do this. Simply email me.

Tools For In-Depth Bible Study

[There are many from which to choose. These are my recommendations.]

Greek Grammar:

You will need a good, up-to-date Grammar. I use D. B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics constantly. I have worn out my first copy.

Bible Study Methods:

I put this on my Christmas list and was able to add it to my hardcopy library only to learn later that you can obtain all of its content for free. I have been using my notes since graduating from Western Seminary in 1970. Along the line because of constant moving and the changes to computing, I lost much of my notes. I praise the Lord Norman E. Carlson’s notes are now available in a much better form than mine ever were:

Exegetical Homiletics – What Was It That God Said?

Principles for Accurate Bible Interpretation

Complete Bible Study Tools for FREE:

ParallelPlus

Downloadable for iPhone, Android, Computer

Bible.org/Net Bible

The entire Bible.org website is a veritable feast of solid information for anyone seeking to know God and hear His voice today. The Net Bible on Bible.org has really matured and become a user-friendly tool for Bible study.

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[i] Isa 66:6.

[ii] Acts 13:36.

[iii] 2 Tim 2:15.

[iv] 2 Tim 3:16-17.

[v] Heb 4:12.

[vi] Jas 1:21.

[vii] Jas 1:25.

[viii] Ps 19:7-14.

[ix] Isa 5:24.

[x] Isa 6:8.

[xi] Rom 10:14-21.

[xii] Eph 1:18-19.

[xiii] Eph 3:18-19.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Russia has a population of 146 million people[i] while Ukraine, before the invasion, had a population of forty-three million people.[ii] Putin, a former KGB foreign intelligence officer, has demonstrated a form of leadership that has existed since before and after the flood recorded in the book of Genesis. Ukraine, on the other hand, is led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a forty-four-year-old former actor, comedian, and now President of Ukraine. He, along with the people of Ukraine, have successfully fought back in the face of overwhelming force. This is the best example of the current meaning of hegemony since Hitler attacked his weaker neighbors in World War II.

There is much that has and is being written regarding hegemony on the Internet. I encourage you to do a quick search of hegemony. There is not enough space in this article to fully explain all of its ramifications from the world’s perspective. However, with the rise of authoritarian leadership around the world, this subject is going to become increasingly important.

Hegemonic Theory is now being applied to Christianity in a negative way. In your overview of internet articles, note Christian Hegemony. This is the charge that Christianity seeks to impose its values on the world. This is a dangerous charge. One that must be taken seriously.

Before going any further, let’s posit a basic definition of hegemony as the world see it. Dictionary.com gives three definitions:

1. leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation.
2. leadership; predominance.
3. (especially among smaller nations) aggression or expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination.[iii]

I leave it to you, the reader, to explore the significance of these definitions as they relate to all of human history since the fall and especially in our chaotic world today. Simply state, the world since the fall of Adam and Eve, has been repeatedly rocked by tyrants who seek to dominate. God’s condemnation of this was the ultimate cause of the flood. But even the flood did not stop this kind of hegemony. In Genesis 10 we read, “Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.”[iv] Following this genealogy in the Old Testament,[v] we find that leaders resorted to this form of hegemony time after time. The leadership of fallen man is characterized by this hegemony. There may have been times when men experienced freedom from tyranny, but history records that eventually, as with Jesus’ disciples in the upper room, the question, who is the greatest? is raised.

Current events demonstrate that those of us who believe that the Bible is God’s voice speaking to us today need to understand what was taking place at the time of the writing of the New Testament and compare it to today in order to understand the importance and use of this term in the New Testament.

Hegemony is a transliteration of the Greek term hegeomai used to describe leadership. Luke, a Gentile, writing to Theophilus, a Gentile government official, quotes Jesus speaking to His disciples in the upper room. He told them that one of them would betray Him. This led to Jesus’ teaching regarding leadership among them.

As the Holy Spirit guided Luke, we find two surprising responses to the disclosure of His impending death by Jesus. First, they discussed which of them was the betrayer.[vi] Then they began to argue over who was regarded to be greatest.[vii] This juxtaposition of their responses and what Jesus said next is the heart and soul of the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Verses 25, 26, and 27 provide us with the What, the Who, the Why, and the How of the gospel.

Notice Jesus’ response to the disciples’ quarrel.

And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ “But not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader (hegoumenos) as the servant. “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.[viii]

Jesus described Gentile leaders as kings who lord it over their subjects. Those in authority are called benefactors. The term for benefactors is euergetai. This is the only occurrence of this term in the New Testament so we must rely on how the term was used in Luke’s day for its definition. There are a few occurrences of its cognates. These are uniformly translated good works. Therefore, the basic meaning of euergetai is good worker. Would Luke or Paul view Nero as a benefactor? Was he recognized as doing good? That depends on one’s presuppositions.

Jesus continues on to say, “But not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant.”[ix] The term translated as leader is hegemony. The leader is to serve. Clearly, this is the opposite of how the term is interpreted today.

Hegemony occurs twenty-eight times in the New Testament.[x] An overview of every occurrence shows it is always used positively. Matthew records that the chief priests and scribes told the magi that the Christ who was to be born would be a Ruler (hegeomai):

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.” And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders (hegeomai) of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler (hegeomai), Who will shepherd My people Israel.‘”[xi]

This Ruler would be One who serves. He would not be like the kings and rulers of the world who gain notoriety and power by force but would serve His subjects.

This meaning of New Testament hegemony is seen clearly in Paul’s admonition:

If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard (hegeomai) one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard (hegeomai) equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[xii]

First and foremost, godly leadership is servant leadership. It is demonstrated by both attitude and action. Earlier I said that hegeomai is the heart and soul of the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. It is the opposite of tyrannical destruction and death by worldly leadership. Can it be accomplished without the fulfillment of the gospel? In isolated circumstances, possibly. The world praises human efforts in times of crises like an earthquake or floods or geopolitical turmoil. But over time, these efforts subside and the world goes back to the push and shove of the powerful dominating the weak.

In order for a leader to lead with genuine hegeomai, God’s Word reveals that certain characteristics must be present. Here are a few:

1. The leader must be humble.
2. The leader must be able to see things from God’s perspective.
3. The leader must have the mind of Christ.
4. The leader must be transformed by the renewing of his mind.
5. The leader must esteem others more highly than himself.
6. The leader must be willing to serve rather than be served.

This type of leadership also requires the right attitude on the part of those who are led.

1. Those who are led must recognize that, ultimately, all leadership points to God, our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus our Lord and Savior.
2. Those who are led must be humble under the mighty hand of God and put their trust in Him.
3. Those who are led must be willing to submit to their leaders and to one another.
4. Those who are led must esteem one another and their leaders.

The leadership that Christ intends for His church is the opposite of the definition of hegemony, today. The world is calling Putin an evil tyrant. He is slaughtering innocent people for no good reason. How can such a leader be called good?

Our study of the term, hegemony, must not end here. Jesus is not expressing a paradox. Comparing all the occurrences of the term and its cognates in the New Testament, we find the biblical concept of leadership is exemplified by our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins so that we will not have to pay the penalty of eternal separation for God for our sins.

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[i] Russia Population (2022) – Worldometer (worldometers.info)

[ii] population of ukraine 2022 – Search (bing.com)

[iii] Hegemony Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

[iv] Gen 10:1.

[v] 1 Chron 1:1ff.

[vi] Lk 22:23.

[vii] Lk 22:24.

[viii] Lk 22:25-27.

[ix] Luke 22:26.

[x] See my complete word study of hegeomai.  

[xi] Matt 2:1-6.

[xii] Phil 2:1-11.