Is Judgmentalism Idolatrous?
By: Colleen Taylor Martin

I believe the answer is unequivocally a "yes."  I believe it is one of the worst forms of idolatry because of its nature of mean-mindedness, tight control, narrow definitions and slander both insidious and outright.

Need I tell anyone that to judge others is to place oneself above God?   The act of hurling accusations has caused more heartache, dissension, disease and destruction within, not only our denomination, but in many local churches and countless individuals as well.

Personal Perspective

I can tell you from a personal point of view just how much this hurts.  My husband, Dan Martin and Al Shackleford, were fired from Baptist Press nearly a decade ago. 

You see, all my life, I thought I was a fundamentalist.  I was brought up in a Baptist church in a small town in North Central Texas C a real grassroots church.  I was taught to believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God and I have never doubted it in all these years.

 After Dan was fired, we went into the mountains of western North Carolina where he pastored a small church for several years.  We were deeply hurt and wounded beyond belief.  Worse was yet in store for us.

Pastors in neighboring churches prejudged us.  They said hurtful things about us, our church members and other ministers who were our friends.  Those pastors and others decided they knew all about us C about our salvation and our beliefs even though they never bothered to ask.

We walked in pain and slander, but at the same time, God heaped countless blessings upon us.  We literally walked through the 23rd Psalm.  God truly spread a banquet before us in the presence of those who wanted do evil to us. 

 Pastors supposedly called to minister in the binding of wounds and the healing of the brokenhearted instead were instruments of hurt in our lives.

None were interested in our testimony.  They did not want to know just how fundamental we are in our beliefs C that we are not "wild‑eyed liberals."  But, do not pity us because, through it all, we have experienced God's goodness and His awesome Presence.

We refused to allow others to define who we were, or to control us. The Lord taught us much during those days of trial.  God blessed us and helped us grow.  He turned an ending into a new beginning.

If Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save it, then we have no authority or right to judge.  I think God hurts when people misuse His Word to try to prove it is okay to dominate others and dictate their own petty points of view.  Those who exclude others because of real or imagined differences in theology or practice, or draw lines, are divisive.

I do not think it is any different today than it was in Ezekiel's day.  The prophet had some words to say to God's own shepherds who did not feed the flocks and caused the flocks to scatter.  The shepherds of Ezekiel's time failed to strengthen the sick,  bind up wounds and heal the diseased (Ezekiel 34).  Have we not seen that same thing across these years of trouble in the SBC?

Many churches have been torn up and many people have been hurt.    We cannot show forth God's boundless love when we isolate and condemn others.  The Lord's Prayer teaches that our Father in Heaven will forgive us when we forgive others (Matt.6).

One of the saddest stories in the Bible is about David and Absalom.  I cry every time I think about it.  Here were two beautiful men, both right about much, but also so wrong in their false pride and stubbornness to wholly forgive one another.  We all know the end of that story, how Absalom met his untimely death hanging from a tree.  We grieve with his father falling down on his face in anguish, beating the earth and crying out to God for forgiveness.

I think this example fits so many today.  I know pastors on both sides of the fence who are truly godly men C loving and forgiving.  They grow healthy churches. I know others, also on both sides, who, like Absalom, are too unbending to give up their pettiness and hard attitudes toward anyone who disagrees with them.

The Problem of the Pharisees

Like the Pharisees, their legalism has led them into pits of destruction.  Law and tradition become bondage.  When we refuse to forgive and we pass judgment on others, we bring God's wrath and condemnation upon our own heads.  Jesus pointed out that we will be judged by our own standard of measure (Matt 7:2). 

Judgmentalism is a spiritual plague that has infected our churches and denomination far too long.  It is the highest form of idolatry.  Only God can heal us of this sickness.  Like David in his anguish, we must cry out to God for His forgiveness.  We must count on His leadership to cleanse our hearts and help us learn to wholly forgive as Jesus forgave from the cross.

Far too many people continue to be hurt.  Too many churches have been torn up.  The flock has been divided.  I entreat your prayers for all those who have stood up, or, out of their integrity, have been forced to resign their places of service.  It is very hard to rebuild a wrecked life. 

Some criticize TBC and compare it with the fundamentalists.  It is an unfair comparison because no lives have ever been wrecked by TBC.  Pray for the wounded and their families.  Support them and encourage them.  Let us not fail in our calling to bind wounds and heal the brokenhearted.

(Colleen Taylor Martin is a chaplain, retreat speaker and copy editor for TBC.  Her husband, Dan Martin, is a staff writer for the BGCT).

April 1999