How to overcome a judgemental Spirit

After several years of suffering from a business failure and a chronical illness I started listening to sermons the on this site and woke up from my spiritual slumber. I developed a growing love for Christ and his truth. I have now a more enriched prayer life and I started street evangelism with a number of like minded fellows from another church 10 miles away.

My increased appetite for the truth helped me to discern some of the major errors in contemporary western mainstream Christianity. When exposed to these errors in my fellowship I often react quite strong and vocal. The issues I raised where mainly about Toronto Blessing, seeker friendly soft gospel, emergent church influence, entertainment, WOF and the like.

For example, I recently sent a letter to our elders about my misgivings about a series of Toronto Blessing style evening services in our church.

I feel increasingly isolated with my newly developed theological views. While I believe that it is right to expose and confront error I cannot quite dismiss the possibility that I may have a judgemental or critical spirit. Perhaps it is a mixture of true discernment and a critical spirit. This is mainly the case when I make statements about people that associate themselves with certain questionable doctrines, movements, groups and individuals. May be I go to far at times. I had to take several rebukes from Christian brothers and sisters already. I am well aware that the Lord uses brothers and sisters to rebuke us and I take them serious. Of course, there is also the possibility that I am attacked by Christians do not want to give up there delusions, similar to Jesus being attacked by the Pharisees. I believe that true discernment is not only about the truth but also about the Spirit. I am convinced that there is a lot of Babylon around me, but there are also sincere followers of Christ in my church.

I am under a lot of tension because of this. There are very few services where I feel I receive something from the Lord. On the contrary, I find a lot of edification in the teaching of Zac Poonen, Art Katz, David Wilkerson, Keith Daniel, C.H. Spurgeon and many others here on this site. All these preachers are outspoken prophets and known for refuting errors. I wonder if I should seek to speak into our fellowship or better withdraw myself and find a new fellowship.

I am asking the Lord to clear me of a judgemental spirit and also help me to neither accuse nor give in to accusations by others. I have checked a number of discernment ministries that helped me to see the errors in certain doctrines. On the other side I feel some of them have a tendency to fall victim to a judgemental and mean spirit. They see the error but often lack the grace to help people out their error.
Sometimes I feel like Elijah when he thought he was the only one on the Lords side. Yet the Lord had to tell him that there were 7000 who had not bowed their knee before Baal.

It would be a pity to have God’s discernment and have a judgemental spirit. How can I avoid this trap? I do not want to give Satan and my flesh an inch!

Your comments, encouragements and rebukes are welcome.

Philip

Well, Narrowpath, I'm in exactly the same boat, but I have no advice for you. We do need to continue to exhort and admonish our brothers and sisters and trust that if we are honest about the attitude that we do it in, God will help us overcome our shortcomings.

I do also think that whether or not you are actually judging others, you will be seen as self righteous. Your life will convict others of their sin and they will resent you for it. I'm coming to realize that the only way for others to stop seeing me as being self righteous is to compromise what I have found and now know to be true.

Narrowpath, continue to examine yourself in this area and God will be faithful. Chris

Phillip:
What an excellent, honest plea.
As long as you remain in that heart of humility you will not be judgemental with pride, but one who pursues to warn and speak up from a heart that knows the Mind of Christ.
Let me encourage you that there are many of us in the same situation...The Spirit of God has revealed much to us. Yet, who will listen?

I posted a few months back about a CD that a pastor handed me. It was "Marinating" a.k.a. "Pickeling in God's Presence"...On this CD soft music is playing in the background and a man is speaking scripture.
That doesn't sound so bad, right?
welllllll....
I listened to it for less than a minute and my spirit was troubled; it got on my nerves for some reason.

I had a devoted prayer warrior and worshipper listen to this CD too.. I had done no "influencing"...just merely said, "Hey, Pastor so and so gave this to me, wanna hear?"
Within a minute or two she said, "The words are good, they are scripture, but this is annoying, can we turn it off?"

I went to this Pastor's prayer service. It was wonderful...You could so easily sense God's Presence in the room...I immediately entered worship...the people all around me were in a beautiful state of reverence and worship.
Then,
he put on this CD...and suddenly without a moments hesitation, the Spirit of God just LIFTED out of that room...the people were quiet but disinterested; boredom and restlessness was evident.

I have known since then that I am to bring up this concern to the pastor that gave this CD to me...I have been prayerful and quiet before the Lord, as to the timing of the confrontation.
Once I went to the church to do so...but was not led by the Lord to speak it, so I left.

I am still waiting on the Lord...and I think that is my point to you in this post...

Yes, God will reveal Truth and His Heart in matters....
We must "wait on Him" for the "go ahead" or else we will go in our might and strength, and we will not be effective.

When we go at His Leading, then His Spirit will cover the situation...
and whether they "hear" us or not, we were obedient and Went....

Waiting on God keeps us from a judgemental spirit, because it keeps us from pride, when we realize "it is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. 4:6

Bonnie

Philip,

Very interesting, insightful thread, brother.

The most troubling idea I wrestle with is how much do I want to have the gift of discernment? Right off you think "YES!" I would love to know who, what is right or wrong. OK, now you know, so what are you going to do with that knowledge? If you share your insight, you will be criticisized, called judgemental. If you stay silent, you will become more troubled. Either way, I have decided to have this insight will place one in a very lonely position and while there it will require a lot of patience on your part. Perhaps this is what one needs more then anything when this insight is gained: to wait, to allow the LORD to reveal even this 'fact' to others: "And be sure your sin will find you out." Num. 32: 23. A friend of mine who has this gift told me how people will keep their distance from her so she has become more discreet in sharing the ifo shown to her spirit. On the other hand, it does help one in decision making.

Brother,.....I have more questions then answers. :-o

ginnyrose

Thanks for all your comments.

I believe the gift of discernment can be in form of a gift of the Spirit or in form of an ability to know God in word and character so that you know what is of Him and what not. It is not given for yourself only, but for the body of Christ. I personally have been helped by people with discernment and it helped me out of my blindness.
I hope to be able to bless others with this gift. Just as the preachers I mentioned on my first post suffered a lot of opposition, so do I expect to suffer it. I can say that I have been able to bless at least some people with it, though most seem to be irritated by me.
Satan hates people with discernment, because they remove his sheepskin and expose his true character.

Oftentimes we think it is easy to classify churches and movements into bride of Christ or whore of Babylon. I do not think that this is so easy. There are gradients of true and false in every church and movement. In every church you have wheat and tares and God designed it this way.

It says in Jude
17But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18They[f] said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." 19It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22And have mercy on those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[g] stained by the flesh.

I believe that there will be a time of judgement in the house of God that will make many of God's sleeping people wake up and forsake their pet doctrines and become his useful servants. I hope they will then remember the warnings we have given them.

I truly feel encouraged by you all to get on with it and allow God to deal with any judgemental attitudes in me.

Philip