“Alright, group 2, let’s go.”
“Where is everyone?”
“I don’t know.”
It started out just like any other afternoon in Nepal—we separated into groups for the day of creative evangelism after a regular morning of worship, story sharing, a squadmate’s preaching and a lesson from the ministry contact. As usual we couldn’t get the entire group to leave at the same time because all 60 plus people were trying to get their group to put on their shoes, get to the gate, and start walking towards the buses.
Usually I left the community house with a smaller group and we’d pray right outside the gate to protect ourselves for the day from attacks of the enemy and any evil spirits with intent to harm us. This particular morning, however, our larger group was extra late and rushed out the gate towards the buses. Immediately I started to dislike my group and every action they were doing.
*It does NOT take this long to put on shoes*
*Oh my gosh. Stop talking and let’s GO*
*Our guide has asked us to leave like twenty times. They’re so inconsiderate*
*Can they talk about anything other than themselves?*
*Are we seriously stopping for donuts? We’re already late.*
*Our guide is obviously in a hurry and everyone took like ten minutes each to get a donut.*
*I am with the most selfish group of people*
*Can at least one person have a meaningful conversation? This is nonsense.*
*I feel so alone in this group. No one talks to me.*
Right then we reached the bus stop and were standing around waiting on the bus. I finally spoke out of my silence, “Hey guys, we need to stop and pray because I’ve been under attack the entire way here.”
“Sure!” They all agreed, stopped, circled up, held hands and prayed for our day. We prayed for protection against the attacks of the enemy, for unity amidst any spirits of separation, for grace and love for one another and everyone we encountered, for God’s eyes to see others as He sees us, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in every action we made.
In the midst of the prayer, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders, and after the prayer, I looked up and saw everyone in a different light. Some I saw skip with a childlike faith, some sparkled with joy, some carried leadership, some radiated peace, and each one was beautiful. Once we dismissed the lies, I saw my teammates the way God saw them and we could act in unity.
We all piled into a minibus and a girl on the team, Jenni, asked me, “Hey, I feel like I need to ask you how you were under attack earlier if you don’t mind telling me.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I told her. “From the time we became a team, I immediately started judging everything everyone was doing. Each lie I believed made me believe I was better than you guys and caused me to take a small step away from you. Each step added more and more distance to the point where I felt completely alone.”
I could see I wasn’t alone in this thinking in Jenni’s eyes and she exclaimed, “I’ve had that happen before!”
I nodded, “Yea, it’s really dangerous. We think we’re just applying God’s word to our daily living and Satan uses our own wording to make us believe we’re better than everyone else to separate us from one another.”
“I’m glad that you noticed they were lies,” she said. “I know I’ve done that before and it really does separate you from everyone else. I’m glad you said something because I’ve been struggling with that too.”
“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” James 4:12
God warns us not to judge one another in His word, but have you ever wondered why? Too often we think God gives us a bunch of “stupid rules” to follow, and we don’t really have to follow ALL of them. Wisdom comes with the understanding that God’s guidance through his rules actually protects us. When God tells us to not do something, it’s to “not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:27). Every time we go against God’s word, we give the devil a foothold in our lives to manipulate us for his gain.
In this particular case, God warned me not to judge others; I began to judge my teammates, which gave the devil a foothold to tell me more and more lies about each one to separate me from the rest of them and divide us. On top of separating me from my brothers and sisters, I also broke the first commandment of putting no other gods before the one true God (Exodus 20:3). In James, it calls God the “only one Lawgiver and Judge,” which means that if I make up my own rules or “laws” and judge others accordingly to how I think things should be, I am replacing God as the judge and putting myself in the place of lawgiver and judge. If we judge others, we are telling God that His judgment isn’t good enough and ours is better.
I want to make a challenge for myself and anyone who wants to join me. When you feel the temptation of judgment, instead of giving the devil a foothold, separating yourself from that person and calling yourself a better judge than God, compliment the person. Pray to God to bless their life, go to them, and compliment them on something they’re doing. This way, you will completely remove the devil’s foothold by loving another person, building them up with a compliment and recognizing God is the only Judge.
I pray this sinks into your spirit as you go throughout your day today, and you can implement this challenge on your life to bring God’s kingdom on earth.
