Bishop, “Common Judge in Israel”

Bishop, “Common Judge in Israel”


We cannot address this subject without looking to and pondering some Key scriptures.

Matthew 7:1


JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED .

When a man is called to be a bishop a judge in Israel, Does it mean

Is a leader immune to this commandment?

While the man is bishop is he immune to this commandment?

Is he somehow temporarily not under obligation to this scripture?

I would submit to you that no leader is immune to this commandment.

A leader is a fallible man and thus he is subject to the same temptations of the devil as any other man to the degree upon which he has overcome his vices and brought his life into balance with all of the Lords commandments.

In leadership, especially church leadership, we are always at a constant battle with ourselves on the issues of Pride, Arrogance and being a Judge of others.

Let no man think he is a ruler

D&C 58:20

20 Let no man think he is ruler; but let God rule him that judgeth, according to the counsel of his own will, or, in other words, him that counseleth or sitteth upon the judgment seat.

As soon as they get a little authority ( SEE D&C 121: 33-46)


There are 2 forms of judgment

1. The Judgments of the Natural man

2. The Righteous Judgments of the Holy Ghost/GOD & Jesus

Handling Criticism In our Callings FEB 2012 Ensign

An interesting blessing and challenge about a lay church is that we have to be patient with each other and ourselves as we learn and grow in our callings. When a difficult and sensitive situation—one that involved several ward members—came up in my calling,

I handled it the best I knew how and moved on, believing the difficult experience was behind me.

I was wrong. Not everyone in our ward agreed about how the incident should have been handled, and it became a point of great discussion. Some agreed with what I had done. Others thought I’d made a significant blunder. I felt bad, but since I had done my best, I tried not to worry too much about it.

When I was released a short time later, however, it came as a tremen¬dous blow. I knew that callings in the Church are only temporary, of course, but because of the timing, I felt as though my leaders were blam¬ing or punishing me for what had happened.

The scrutiny seemed more intense than ever, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to face anyone in the ward right away. So the week following my release, I stayed home from church. I did so again the next week—and the next. The longer I stayed away, the more difficult it seemed to return.

After some time, I started thinking about what had happened. I realized that even though this was a painful situation, it wasn’t worth putting my covenants on the line. Was the Church true or wasn’t it?

Maybe I had handled the situation in my calling appropriately; maybe I hadn’t. The truth is all of us are learn¬ing, and all of us make mistakes.

As painful as it was to admit, maybe who was right or wrong didn’t really matter in the grand scheme. What would matter, though, was whether I kept my covenants. It would matter—both to my family and me—if I was attending church, renewing my covenants in sacrament meeting, and continuing to serve. And it would matter how I responded to priesthood authority.

I returned to church. A short time later I received another calling. That calling—and callings since—required that I serve with some of the people who had criticized my actions. That has been difficult. But I am glad I haven’t let their comments stop me from enjoying the blessings of Church activity.

When I read this article, my heart went out to this good man.

But I did notice a flaw.

He did not inquire of the Lord to make a decision.

“He handled it the best way he knew how”

My mind was called up to this scripture.

D&C 1:19-21

19 The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh—
20 But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;

21 That faith also might increase in the earth;

What a fundamental error to which hindsight tells the story of so many leaders of the church.

By nature we put our trust in the arm of the flesh by managing the affairs of the church as a business man in our respective occupations.

When we do this we take no thought to inquire of the Lord as to the path we should take.


How do we overcome the natural man and become a righteous Judge?


How do we make sure all of our judgments of the people are righteous?

A bishop or any leader may struggle with the natural man at first.

But the issue is very simple.

A bishop is the father of the ward and as such WITH EVERY ISSUE he should treat each member of his ward with the same loving Christ like heart which he would treat his own Daughter or Son if they were the one sitting in the chair across the desk.

Even treating them as you think you would like to be treated if you were in the chair is even not as effective as looking at them as your own child sitting in the chair.

The reason this is so fundamental is a loving Heavenly father has instilled divine virtues within us which leads a true parent to always have their child’s best interest at heart even at the expense of their own life.

When you begin to see each person as your son or daughter In this you will begin to see each member as Christ sees them and you will be truly qualified to be their judge.

These feelings are essential because the Bishop is the Common Judge in Israel.

All leaders should seek out this Christ Like perspective,

There is a warning attached to this JUDGESHIP.

There is a warning that should be issued to any judgeship.

A Judge is only authorized to interpret the Law.

Not write legislation from the bench.

If he legislates he will be held accountable for his actions.

In the Church Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,

God and Christ Write the Laws

The Holy Ghost interprets these laws on a case by case basis.

Protection is afforded to any Judge in Israel as he passes and applies judgment to a person as long as the spirit dictates the judgments handed down by the bishop or other church authority.

But any priesthood authority should be ever vigilant to seek the spirit, because If a decision is made with the prejudices of the man, the bishop or other authority will find himself in error when he begins to pass his own judgments as a man and not the servant of God. In this his judgments are his and not Gods and for this he will be held accountable for his actions.
When a Leader Bishop or otherwise, Acts in the name of God there is Protection Found

Matthew 7:1

JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED.

When a bishop acts in the name of God and seeks for his will to match the Lords, he will obtain the spirit to confirm his actions, in this he speaks for the Lord and the Lord Bears the burden of his judgment.
Thus the protection is found when a bishop seeks to look at each ward member as if they were truly his children because then in this moment he will catch the vision of what a true bishop should be. In this the bishop begins to truly enter the Lords service to accomplish all things the Lord Jesus Christ would do if he were sitting in his seat.
As you ponder these things

You will realize these mistakes are easily made for many reasons but one prevalent reason is this. In the church, often professional men are called into leadership positions and they begin to error with the governance of the church because they tend to treat the affairs of the church as they would treat the affairs of their respective occupations.

Physically Leading v/s Spiritually leading


In this they begin to carry out the affairs of the church and physically lead the people rather than spiritually leading the People.

I have noticed in my life when I am really upset with someone over something they have done, It is usually because I do not understand.

Almost every time when I find out the Rest of the Story as Paul Harvey says,

An element of true understanding comes to me and I am able to see why the person did what they did and I can see myself making the same mistake.

Or it brings understanding that I had never saw or even contemplated and in this I realize they did not make a mistake, it was just the way I saw the story play out.

I only have 1 perspective.

On a daily basis each of our lives is intersected with many people all of which add to the perspective of my life and they take home their own perspective.

Many of their decisions affect me my family my callings in church my Job and basically alter my life in some small way with each interaction.

When we Judge as a man

When we Judge as a man we are only seeing through our one camera lens.

The Holy Ghost and the Angels among us (who are silent note taking) “as the hymn teaches”) See and hear all of our thoughts and have a Bird’s eye view; and the perspective of director of a movie. The Director sees how each scene of our life is played out and thus this makes him the perfect interpreter and executor of every commandment of God.

Enjoy the Journey

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WASTE ON GRUDGES
LAUGH WHEN YOU CAN 
AND CRY IF YOU NEED TO
APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU SHOULD
AND LET GO OF THE THINGS  YOU CANT CHANGE

“The Vision of Sir Launfal,”

In “The Vision of Sir Launfal,” an interesting story is told of a young knight who rode out into the world in search of the Holy Grail (the cup which the Master supposedly drank from at the Last Supper). He had dedicated his life to the quest. He was young, handsome, and strong, clothed in bright and shining armor, mounted on a gallant white charger. As he crossed the drawbridge riding out into the world, a beggar (who was a leper) put up his hand to him, begging alms. The young knight reached into his pouch, took out a gold coin and flung it to the beggar as he rode on, but he really did not give the beggar very much because no one would accept even a gold coin from a leper.

The young man searched for the cup; of course he didn’t find it, although he spent his life in the quest. He did, however, learn a lot, and at the close of his life he was returning to his castle, no longer young. He is now shrunken with age. His armor is no longer bright; his mount is no longer a charger but just a tired old gray horse. As he was about to cross the drawbridge into the castle, once again a beggar put up his hand begging for alms. This time Sir Launfal stopped, got down from his horse, reached into his knapsack and took out the only thing he had—a crust of bread. He then dipped his cup into the stream and gave the crust of bread and one cup of cold water to the beggar.

The wooden cup from which the beggar drank turned into the Holy Grail for which he had searched, and the beggar turned into a Christ and said a very interesting thing. He said:

“Not what we give, but what we share.

For the gift without the giver is bare;

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,

Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.”

(“The Vision of Sir Launfal,” James R. Lowell.)

Through My trials I have learned

Through my trials I have learned we are judged for every dealing we have with anyone we cross paths with in this life. The world calls it karma; what goes around comes around.

Karma is even something spiritually numb people can see.

I have learned if you judge someone all you are doing is setting up the next trial the Lord will send your way.

We are admonished to be like Christ

He judged no one when he walked the earth.

Through this i have learned our trials test us and those around us who are involved

The bible teaches Judge not that ye be not judged

Each person on earth is being tested on their individual Christ like attributes, and angels are silent note taking as the hymn teaches.



As a Christian you are to do what Christ would do if he were in your shoes every waking moment of every day. That is to bridle your thoughts words and speech and actions so that you can become like him

The 12 apostles are living examples it can be done not only to be an example , but also to leave no room for us to say perfection is an impossible task.

Without the 12 there are many who would say at the judgment bar of God

Your son Jesus had an unfair advantage because he was 1/2 God when he walked the earth.

But the 12 are mortals who grew in perfection one trial at a time.

The eternal truth to be gained is this

The only difference between you and the 12 ( besides the calling) is they have learned to be perfectly obedient to all of Gods commandments.



I have learned things are not always as they seem.

I have learned to never assume.

I have learned it is impossible to point a finger at someone

and not have 3 more pointing at you,

I even tried pointing my thumb and looked and I had

4 fingers this time staring me down.

I have learned the Lord has a way of humbling people.

I have learned you can choose to be humble or you can be humbled.

I have learned the Lord humbles a person in a way that will help,

lift and inspire some while trying others at the same time in the same process.

I have learned an eternal true principle

The Fanatic is one who has lost sight of his goal

and has redoubled his efforts to get there.

I have learned, True commitment is a consistent dedication through a lifetime,

not short frenzied outburst of emotion.

True commitment is 100% of the time. Not an occasional 120% fanatic effort.

I have learned Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind;

But the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Know God

How can a man know a god to whom he does not serve?
Yet how can a man serve a God to whom he does not know?
Knowing about him is far different than knowing him.
It is easy to spout forth facts for words come smooth off of the lips
But it is quite another matter to live the words you speak.
To know him is to do what he would do if he were the one in your shoes.
To know is to do.
To do is to know.

Dk Newburn