Unpardonable ...

And speaking of criticism … today it seems all the world is a critic.  We freely dole out “advice” to others about how they could have done a better job.  We feel it our duty, our responsibility, after all we are only trying to make the world better.  And the recipients of our advice clearly need it.  None of us are too receptive to the advice of others, but it would seem all of us are inclined to share criticism, often without being asked.  And what happens in the secular arena, being a reflection of character, is dragged right through the doors of the church into the ministry where it least belongs.  Yet our critique is freely shared inside the church with nearly every ministry offered, and every leader or participant who dares to stand in front of us long enough to listen.  We explain that our motive is only to “help”, to make the ministry “better”, or to avoid the pitfalls of the world.  But the net effect is that criticism flows freely, and our own participation flows slowly by comparison, if at all.

Knowing the condition of man, and the struggle of men against sin in all its form, you might just write this off as an “oops” of our characters that will one day get straightened out by the Lord.  This is true if we let it, rather than in true human form, keep attempting to fix it ourselves.  But there is a danger here in this area that is like none other.  As it turns out there is a much MORE dangerous sin, than homosexuality (which most modern Christians believe is by far the worst).  There is much more permanent sin than even murder.  Hard to imagine that, as life once lost sure looks permanent from a “this world” perspective.  And perhaps worst of all, the sin looks so innocuous that most of us don’t even consider it a sin.  We regularly participate without a second thought, and venture in to unpardonable zones with glee.

The first response to this is to recoil.  Perhaps this is only the opinions of the author of this Blog, nothing more.  I wish that it were so, for I am as guilty as any of my brothers and sisters in the faith.  But unfortunately for me, I am unable to argue with the words of my Lord.  Matthew picks up in his gospel in the twelfth chapter in verse 31, not his own words, but the quoting of the words of Jesus Himself as it reads … “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”  Ouch.  There is something that sits on the “shall not be forgiven” unto men list.  Blasphemy against Holy Spirit.  So what is Blasphemy then?

For us to claim something is from the Holy Spirit which is truly not would constitute blasphemy.  Not many of us claim to be prophets of God, so the danger here is low for most.  Not many of us claim to have direct communication from the Holy Spirit on any matter, we are nearly all too timid for that.  But for those who do, they better be right, or into this list they march.  But a false claim of authentication is not the only definition or use of this term.  The converse is also true.  To attribute something to Satan that is truly from the Holy Spirit, is also a blasphemy against God.  This is the one church goers are so quick to offer opinions about, particularly the conservative branch of our body.  How many times have you heard the opinion offered … “that music is of Satan”.  Or, bringing drama into the church in the form of Christian plays, or short skits, is of the devil?  It could be an instrument, a method of ministry, a manner of dress, or the message offered.

We have all done it.  We do it still.  We think it our Christian responsibility to “call out” things that we believe are of the world, so as to keep the sacred free from worldly influence.  But the key part of that sentence is “we believe”.  It is our belief, stemming from our opinion and interpretation of scripture, that something is of the world or not.  And those opinions and interpretations are often heavily influenced by our own preferences and traditions.  In these instances, we approach scriptures with the conclusions already made, looking only for texts which will support them, leaving no room to be led, or to find we are wrong.  Yet still we present ourselves with such a level of certainty in our criticism you would think we were ready to wrest the role of Judge from our God and carry it on our shoulders without a care in the world.

Perhaps blasphemy is strong enough as a word in its imagery to give you comfort that you “never” go that far with your critiques.  Perhaps because you associate the word blasphemy with such a level of sin, you believe yourself to be incapable of this, making it something you do not need to worry about.  So Jesus continues as if reading the notions of your heart 2,000+ years later.  He continues in verse 32 saying … “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”  The problem extends beyond blasphemy.  The problem extends to merely “a word against” category.  Now even the slightest slight falls into the same unpardonable zone as does full blown blasphemy.

Jesus makes the distinction that all of these same sins against Himself are forgivable.  But NONE of them are forgivable when offered against the Holy Spirit, to be clear, not in this world, or in the world to come.  The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Godhead.  It is an independent entity of God, that we understand little about.  The Bible is about Jesus, and His creation of us.  It is about our fall from trust, embrace of sin, and the redemption of man due to the love and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  Jesus is the main character, and the lens through which we see God the Father.  The Holy Spirit however, while equally active in the redemption of mankind is not what scriptures are written about.  He like a silent partner who does not want the spotlight, seemingly content to work in the background, noticed only when His power moves upon us and we reflect the impossible because of Him.  But He is there.  Some of us hypothesize that the Holy Spirit might be the mom character in the Godhead, but we are as clueless as ants trying to describe the scientific properties of stars.  Perhaps we are only trying to make the Holy Spirit more human, to be more understandable, and in this we mean no criticism.  Stupidity perhaps, but not criticism.

On the other hand, we are quick to judge things, and even results, where the methods are not of our liking.  How many Christian musical artists have been verbally associated with the devil, because we do not like their brand of music?  The phenomenon is not new, organ music was given this attribution 100 years ago.  Now it is having electric guitars, and drums in the sanctuary that gets some folks all riled up.  For some it is worship music that is so repetitive and simplistic it strikes more of inane meditations than music that truly expresses our praise to God.  The point is not what we like or do not like.  The point is the results.  When music points the heart to God, when through our experience of music, we find ourselves coming to Jesus, longing to submit our lives to Him.  The Holy Spirit is in that.  For the Kingdom of heaven is bent on bringing people to Jesus, the method of that journey far less important, than the destination of it.

Our tastes evolve over time.  What we may like as a child expands as an adult.  What we once thought so important, becomes less so as we age.  And Jesus, if we have submitted even our desires to, is the Author behind those changes we do not even understand.  So many Christians are so quick to judge methods, ministers, and messages they feel are inadequate; but whose results are leading of people to Jesus, as being “of the devil”.  This attribution is unfortunately a venture into the unpardonable zone which even after the end of all things is still remembered by the Holy Spirit and not forgiven us.  And why should it be?  We are saying our opinions matter more than the ministry of God to lead people to Jesus.  Better we should say nothing and let the Holy Spirit do as the Holy Spirit wishes.

And do not think this issue is confined only to criticism of music and its various genre’s and methods in the church.  It extends to issues or topics like women’s ordination as well.  This topic is not a debate over doctrine or tradition.  It is a recognition of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or a rejection of them based on the opinions we hold.  When the Holy Spirit gives the gift of ministry to a woman pastor, and we as the body of Christ reject her because she is a woman, or treat her less because of her sex, we are effectively saying “no” to the Holy Spirit deciding who does what within the body of Christ.  Who are we to make that call, particularly against the wisdom and plan of God?  It holds true to the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to young child who we reject because of his/her age.  We reject the word of the Lord, because it comes from a mouth far too young to really understand what they are saying.  And in so doing, we speak more than just a mere word against the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting His gifts, intentions, and plans entirely; based on what, “adult” thinking?

All of these issues boil down to the ego we did not know we held so dearly.  It is the lens of self we apply to things of a spiritual nature, judging what is good and what is not.  But our judgment was never what was needed, our love was.  Leave judging to our God, who alone is qualified.  It becomes then an extremely dangerous thing to offer criticism, which in the end, may well be criticism against the Holy Spirit.  Better we should quell our tongue, and keep our helpful “advice” to ourselves.  Better to uplift, than to offer critical insights.  Better to come from a motivation of pure love, than from a heart who has yet to experience that kind of motivation.  When we seek out the positive, instead of constantly focusing our eyes on the negative, our world suddenly changes around us.  It is this focus on positivity that begins to reflect what Jesus is doing inside of us.  It is a reflection of being someone different than we were before, of allowing the Holy Spirit to decide what we say, and even what we think and believe, and trusting in Him, in God, to not see us follow error to our doom.

Jesus then makes an analogy to help us understand this change phenomenon in our lives picking up in verse 33 saying … “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”  Those Christians you know, who never seem to run out of love, who always have something uplifting to say; they are trees of good fruit.  You can just tell they are connected with Jesus, or how else could they say those things, and be that loving no matter what circumstances they are in. or they encounter personally.  On the other hand, those Christians you know who always seems to have a critical word on their tongue, and who appear to love themselves very much, perhaps their families, and very few others; they are Christians of corrupt fruit, for they have yet to surrender who they are, and let Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit begin to truly transform how their hearts love. 

Jesus gets more to the point picking up in verse 34 saying … “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. [verse 35] A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”  This is about words people, your words.  This is not about how well the pastor did last Sabbath, or how well the missionary was able to convey what is going on in the fields.  This is about what you say throughout the week, and how you say it.  Those critiques you have to offer come from a heart that does not yet truly understand love.  Because when it does, it has no time for words that do not bring comfort and joy.  Those words that tear down, are not found in the halls of heaven, for the hearts behind voice never feel that way in the first place.  And so many continue to write this off as unimportant.

Jesus has other views continuing in verse 36 saying … “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. [verse 37] For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  It is the words we utter when we give our lives to Jesus that see us justified.  It is our words of surrender that see us transformed.  It is the idle words we think are still not important that see us condemned, as they continue to reflect the fact that we have not yet surrendered, and have not yet seen our hearts truly transformed into His image.  Our words then are a reflection of who we are.  Our words, how we say them, what we say, are a reflection of the hearts that lie under them.  And so many of us, spend so much time, in words of critique; fully ignorant of our sins mounting against the Holy Spirit all because we have opinions we equate to doctrine, and certainty that surpasses the will of God.  All of it a venture into the unpardonable.

But love is stronger than that.  At least the love of God is stronger than that.  That love is strong enough, not to leave us as we are, but to transform us to what He intends for us to be.  Not just what Jesus intends, but what the Holy Spirit intends, and what God the Father intends.  There are three parts to our united God, not just one, or two.  The third part, the Holy Spirit, has a work and mission, and a personality as well; independent of the others, as I am independent of my wife, yet bound to her as one flesh.  The Holy Spirit is united in purpose with the Godhead, and gives man gifts, and power that reflect the will of God.  When we argue against that will, we venture in unpardonable zones we dare not go.  For we will not soon forget our own actions that delayed, or dismayed the ministry of God to redeem man, even though we ourselves are safely in the Kingdom of heaven.  That criticism we offered that disheartened the soul of a potential believer who was so close to accepting Jesus, but saw in us a discouragement they could not overcome will weigh on us forever, a judgment we will not escape, the judgment of our memories.  The treasure of souls who would have otherwise come to Jesus, is a treasure we should never risk, by clumsy words, and “helpful” advice.  If it does not reflect the passion of God’s love through a heart that has been transformed, our silence would be better preferred, coupled only with actions of love in demonstration.