Don’t Let Your Biases Cloud Your Judgement; Follow The Guidance Of The Holy Spirit & God’s Word

Word-of-the-Day: ‘<Moses said to the Israelites in the wilderness>, “Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God.”’ (Deuteronomy 1:17a)

In my previous Word-of-the-Day, I emphasized the importance of voting Godly, or on a ‘Bible First, Spirit-led’ principle in terms of selecting the proper candidate or the proper response to referendums, amendments and policies that make it to our ballots.  Of course, such candidates or responses are not always so cut and dry. 

One example is the national debate on datacenters; I can make an argument on the pros and the cons on them, and make both sides of the argument be Godly.  While I am not necessarily against datacenters as a whole and realize the need for them as our information technology dependence and requirements grow, I don’t want to see our water and electrical resources be completely sucked up by them either, and cause shortages and rationing of these resources that are currently plentiful.  This is not a topic, however, that I can say with certainty is pinpointed with Biblical reference.

I can say, however, that through prayer and in leaning into the Holy Spirit’s guidance, that He will give me guidance on how I can determine the path forward on this and many other issues; those topics that are not necessarily easy to determine ‘good’ or ‘bad’. 

For some of us, it is judgement based on biases we gained in our lives, which come from who and where we were raised at as children, and the situations and experiences we had as we grew into adulthood, our work environments, and (for us older folks) into our retirement settings.

My background growing up in western Pennsylvania in the heyday of steel mills, followed by a stint in the Army and then a career as a government contractor in military communications and intelligence gives me a different set of experiences than someone who grew up in the Midwest and stayed home to mind the family farm, for example. 

Both sets of experiences have their strengths that build the mindset of biases, habits, and work ethics that we carry with us – the farmer’s ethic may differ from my own, but neither can be judged right or wrong, only that they are different.

There is a desire for things to be clear and defined, but in life most things are not.  In Matthew 22:15-22, the Pharisees believe that they can entrap Jesus in such a snare.  The Jews did not like the Roman occupation, and many attempted to avoid the taxes of the government. 

The Zealots of Jesus’ day (which one of His Apostles, Simon the Zealot, was a part of) were noted to be against Rome, in both word and action, similar to some of the more radical elements of our society today.  The Zealots were, in a description, on ‘the list’ by the Romans, and at minimum, kept watch on closely for any signs of activities that could be disrupted and create an uprising.

The Pharisees, who wanted Jesus removed from the scene, devised a question that could have brought the pressure of the Roman government down on Him.  They asked Him about the propriety of paying taxes to Rome. 

No one likes paying taxes, whether in Israel at that time or today in the United States to the Internal Revenue Service.  The biases we have today is that the IRS is bad, taxes are theft, and we would rather keep our money in our own pockets.  This is true especially when we believe our tax dollars go to things we may not agree with or approve of.

However, taxes are also necessary as they pay for government services we rely on; a common defense, our roads and air traffic controls, the setting of standards for commercial trade, and being the referee in some areas of resources, like airwaves used for broadcasts and communications.  This was true (except for the airwaves) in the prefect of Israel under Roman control as it is today.

Jesus, of course, understood their attempt, called them out on it, and asked them to produce a denarius, a Roman coin.  He had them look at the coin, which had the profile of Caesar on it (just like our coins have a President’s or prominent American profile) and declared we ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s’. 

In other words, taxation is not either good or evil, and being something requested by the government we should obey and pay our taxes.  We should give God the Glory and praise Him for His provisions that allow us to pay our taxes, and not spend the time avoiding the government’s demands, unless they violate God’s Word or place us in a position of disobeying God.

Our ideologies, based on our biases, should not override our need to be Righteous and obey God and His principles.  Part of being Righteous, in this example, is to pay our taxes – even if we may disagree with some of the uses our tax dollars go to.  This does not mean we hold in our biases, but we act upon them in a proper time and manner, in a Godly and Righteous way.  For us, it is at the voting booth, or (thankfully being in the US) speaking out (again, in a Righteous, Godly, and respectful manner) against those things we disagree with.

We are going to find in secular things disagreements will occur, even among our church fellowship.  In the context of Moses in Deuteronomy 1, when the Israelites left Horeb to eventually cross the Jordan River into Canaan, Moses understood that there were going to be disputes, and with the tribes seeking God’s discernment, selected men who would act as judges, with Moses acting as the ‘supreme judge’ or final arbitrator if carried that far, to settle such disputes.  The expectation was the judgements were to be objective and based on facts, and God’s Truth.  They were also expected to be respected by both parties, win or lose.

I, as the product of western Pennsylvania, may find some points I disagree with by the Midwestern farmer (though I doubt there are many).  However, if it is not a dispute of Godly principles, I need to be respectful and ‘agree to disagree’, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

If it is something that goes against God and His precepts, then I must be steadfast in my stance for God but I also must respond with great respect and in God’s love in my rejection of the ungodly position another may take.   I am not in fear of what others may think; my only desire is to be in alignment with God.