I have to remind Mundabor that the non judgmentalism and lack of a spine when it comes to guidance is not a poisonous fruit of the Protestants. The Protestants are just as cross-grained and against this world as the Traditional Catholics: it is our duty. We have to guide, and to guide means we have to judge, beginning with ourselves. To switch to an old motto (and with apologies to better Latinists) Totius reformans, Semper reformans . We have to continually be repenting and confessing our sins, for we err before we wake.

But that does not mean we are feckless and credulous. We have to be shrewd when it comes to this world.

Non-judgmentalism is something for heathens, and the favourite food of reprobates. In many cases, it is the rancid fare of those who, rolling in mud themselves, think they are fine because they allow others to do the same.

Do not be deceived. If you are a Christian, you will have to judge all the time. Not only for yourself, as you compare Christian rules of behaviour with the facts happening around you; but for those entrusted to your care, to whom you are called to give a solid guidance – by example, yes; but also by instruction, exhortation and admonition; and yes, certainly by condemnation – as they themselves are confronted with the many challenges to a Christian soul.

To refuse to judge means to discard responsibility not only for one’s own spiritual wellbeing, but for the souls of those entrusted to one. Very soon, this refusal to judge according to known rules will become the discarding of those same rules, and their substitution for fluffy feelings and the acceptance of everything and everyone. In the meantime, the sons and daughters raised without guidance will start to go astray; and at this point, few parents will admit they have done all wrong. Most will talk of “bad choices”, of “phases”, or “heart in the right place”, and prefer to look the other side as their offspring march toward hell. But hey, who are they to judge?

Judge with right judgment, but judge all right.

The one who is most comfortable with you “not judging” is the Devil.

Now, there are some pretty weird branches of the faith. I was sitting in a service (look, I’m on holiday. I chose a new church, and I chose in error). The sermon was on prayer, by a woman (wrong) preaching that we are given authority to be prosperous and to be free of illness (doubly wrong) and that we needed to stand on the promises of God (correct). It did lead to a long conversation. So long that I ended up getting lost, all the way to a beach on the other side of Auckland, two hours away.

Look, I am on holiday.

But today we are reminded of what true prophecy is about, and how we need to continually return to the gospel. That the work of salvation has been done, and that there is a reason for teaching on this. For we are the kingdom of God, we are his people, and it is not our doing.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

(Revelation 1:1-8 ESV)

Now, the church is of Christ and belongs to Christ and we will all have our faults exposed but by the blood of Christ. Amen. But we are not promised a pain-free ride. And we have to test all teaching, because heresy can exist in any Kirk, at any time. The test of our faith is that we can obey, even in part, and that the lives of those we influence bear Godly fruit.

And this requires prayer and obedience to the spirit of God. It also requires knowledge and judgment. There is an opposition, and it knows that the time they have is limited. So expect persecution. It has been the experience of Christians, in all times and in all ages, that those of faith have had opposition. Within the church, but more often outside it.

We have the book of Revelation for a reason: part of it is the letters to the churches, for they outline the various ways churches decay. But the other part is to remind us that we are not here for ourselves, for our comfort and our pleasures. We are here to do the work of Christ: and any power or authority we have in this world is for that purpose.