(Photo : Darwin at the Wildman Lodge, 1/6/2012)1 Cor 4: 1-5 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.[a] In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
The verb and noun "judges" appeared slightly over 280 times in the bible from the OT to the NT. In fact, in history, one book of Judges was included among the 66 books in the bible.
In the beginning of Genesis 15:14, we start to see the Lord judge the nation of Egypt as Abraham obeyed to enter this land, suffering more than 400 years of slavery before being delivered out of Egypt. Here in the NIV, the word "judge' was replaced by "punish"
And in the last Rev 19: 11, John saw heaven opened.
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
Such is the main character of our Lord. He is Faithful. He is True. He is Just . He is Righteous. And He judges. He brings to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
Last week, the Singapore church went through a tsunami. The senoir pastor and 4 others of this large church CHC was charged with CBT. The case is now to be trial before the court. Come 27th July 2012, the charges will be met out in details and the court process will be underway. This storm has created a real buzz in town among both believers as well as non-believers. The coin has 2 sides of the face. We shall observe in time to come. Judge nothing before the time.
Reflection
Rom 8:28.
I believe this CHC saga that comes about is actually good for us living in this little red dot While is seems bad at this point but I believe in the greater good to come. 塞翁失马， 焉知非福。(when an old man in the frontier loss his mare, who would have thought it would be a blessing in disguise? The loss may turn out a gain)
Beautiful song that summarises it all in the light of the happenings and seeming mess in church history of our time.
“God writes straight with crooked lines
He takes the mess we make in life
Turns our groaning into perfect rhyme
Hidden by the veil of time
The wisdom of His love’s design
God writes straight with crooked lines”
– Title track Crooked Lines, Corrinne May. Singaporean
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