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.