Back to Previous Page

Back to Previous Page

Announcer (00:00:00): Think about the Bible like you never have before. You are listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos,and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Our topic is, "Is My Christian Judgment Tainted by Bias? (Part II)." Everyone's biased. It's common. Just look around at social media as each side of an issue firmly states that their brand of truth is complete and those who don't agree are foolish and ignorant. The fact is, we all can easily bend truth to fit our preconceived ideas. So how do we fix it? Can we fix it? Here's Rick and Julie.

Rick (00:00:40): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor. Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Julie (00:00:48): James 1:19-20: "This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."

Rick (00:01:01): In our last episode, we laid a foundation for understanding and managing harmful biases. One primary lesson we learned was that we all, no matter who we are and what our background is, we all are biased. While this is an uncomfortable truth, it's a necessary realization, for a true Christian is to strive to overcome any and all fleshly inclinations. We also learned that this overcoming is no easy task. Just because we may be able to point out a personal bias doesn't mean we're on a path to dismantle it. On the contrary, oftentimes recognizing our biases can make us very self-protective. In this episode, we will continue to uncover specific ways that our biases show themselves and specific scriptural principles to deal with them. This is no easy task, so hold on. Here we go, Julie. Here we go!

Julie (00:02:03): Well, let's quickly recap what we learned in Part I and then we can move on. Our working definition of "bias" is "an inclination or outlook that prevents an unprejudiced consideration of a matter." We talked about bias in action, what bias does or doesn't do, and we saw how bias bows to no one. It is proud and self-protective.

Rick (00:02:24): Each time we introduced a bias, we introduced a Bias Warning, and the Bias Warning here is bias brings, feeds and manifests self-protective narrow-mindedness and bitterness.

Julie (00:02:39): As an example, we talked about the Pharisees. They were more concerned with keeping the status quo of their position in the context of the Roman government than in open-heartedly examining the evidence of Jesus as the Messiah they had been waiting for.

Rick (00:02:54): That kind of example helps us see the effects of how bias bows to no one in the narrow-mindedness and then the bitterness. When we look at things like this, we want to define it, we want to understand it, the Baseless Basis of Bias. In this case, bias can be forcefully driven by a powerful need to protect ourselves. This need can be manifested by the poorest of the poor, and just as easily by those who have great power and authority. This self-protection can be a shield that repels the truths that truly can protect it. What we want to understand with this is our self-protection actually oftentimes shields us from the things that are ultimately the most protective.

Julie (00:03:40): We asked how can we calm and correct our self-protecting bias?

Rick (00:03:45): In this case, instead of our own bias bowing to no one like you introduced as our first example, let us bow instead in humility before our God who is ever just and ever impartial. The humility that says "I will bow before something greater than me" is a great way to begin to dismantle bias. As we went through that, we went and said, okay, how do we break it in pieces? What's our Christian Bias Buster here?

Julie (00:04:17): Our buster was, our first and highest loyalty is to God through Christ. Self-protection implies that we're driving our own preservation. Let us instead give that preservation work over to our heavenly Father and His providence, for He will surely do a better job than we could ever do.

Rick (00:04:35): That's such an interesting point because He'll do a better job than we can do. Why do I spend time trying to protect myself when God promised He'd protect me? I mean, hello. Let's think higher.

Julie (00:04:47): Our next bias and action point was bias blocks our ability to listen.

Rick (00:04:54): Listening is one of the most important parts of our lives, so a Bias Warning here is, personal status can easily develop a bias that shuts down any instruction from those we perceive as beneath us. What ends up happening here is listening becomes insulting. That's never a good place to be.

Julie (00:05:13): Yeah, the listening itself is beneath us. What a great example we saw in Naaman. He was described as a "valiant warrior" or a "mighty man of valor." The prophet Elisha prescribed washing in the Jordan River to cure his terrible disease of leprosy. But the fact that Elisha sent a messenger instead of telling Naaman himself was a complete insult, so much so that if his servants hadn't convinced him to just try it, he never would've been cured. He would've stomped right past the miracle.

Rick (00:05:43): You have this lack of listening. The Baseless Basis of this Bias is pretty, pretty straightforward. Bias creates expectations and expectations bring anticipation. When we are met with a perceived inferior solution to our circumstance, what do we do? We shut down our ability to receive it. We categorically reject that solution, and thereby may be rejecting exactly what we might need.

Julie (00:06:11): All we need to do is think of politics and how stupid "those people" are who don't think like me. Social media trains us to judge and sentence people instantly by swiping them off our screens and out of our lives.

Rick (00:06:26): Ouch. Ouch. We don't listen. That bias keeps us from listening. We need to calm and correct our blocked listening biases. How do we do that? Well, instead of allowing our bias to block our ability to hear let's reframe our expectations towards truth rather than towards our own preconceived expectations. It's a matter of framing. What do I really want from this? Do I want to know truth or would I just rather pat myself on the back? I mean, really what it comes down to. The Christian Bias Buster here in terms of not listening is this; to stay focused on God's will as first in our lives, we must apply the discipline needed to take a breath and reassess our expectations. We cannot hear God's words and directions when our personal expectations are shouting them down.

Julie (00:07:20): To wrap up our recap, we talked about a third thing bias does--it builds walls. Now this was a tricky one, especially when our bias is bounded in truth and our motivation can be to do the right thing. The Bias Warning here is that bias can be founded in solid truth, and if unchecked it grows and dominates over time. As our example, we talked about the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15. The debate was, would new Christian converts first be required to become Jewish with all of its rituals under the Law? Because this could have completely derailed the fledgling movement of Christianity.

Rick (00:07:57): It could have. That was a huge, huge, huge event. We look at this idea of bias building walls and here's the Baseless Basis of such bias. These walls that bias can build are especially thick and strong when our rationalization for them has a basis in biblical truth. These walls can and will undermine tolerance and mutual respect. Left unchallenged, they cut off the necessary life-giving support we as followers of Christ absolutely need from one another.

Julie (00:08:32): This bias became super real-life for us this week because we were emailing with someone who held such a deep-seated doctrinal bias that when we proposed a scripture that unequivocally proved the belief is incorrect, rather than consider the evidence, they categorically decided the entire book of the Bible where that scripture was located was heresy.

Rick (00:08:55): Wow. You think about that, and that is a very dramatic example. But take the principle of that and the principle of "I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. I'm not listening. I believe it. I'm not listening. You're wrong. I believe it. You're wrong. You're wrong. I'm not listening." When you build this wall and it's just, you can't get through it. Even if there is basic truth, we ought to be so careful with things like that.

Julie (00:09:19): Yeah. So how can we calm and correct this "building walls instead of bridges" bias?

Rick (00:09:26): Got to listen to Part I is the answer to that.

Julie (00:09:28): That's true.

Rick (00:09:29): But really just to sum up, the apostles and elders in this Acts 15 conference modeled a process to dismantle the walls and the bridges. They modeled a process of dismantling, and that process consisted of all sides being allowed to engage. It consisted of creating a provocative conflict, provocative in a positive way. Speak, listen, consider and follow the evidence that verifies...my opinion? No, that verifies truth, biblical truth. The Christian Bias Buster here, Julie, what is it?

Julie (00:10:06): While building walls based on our adhering to what we believe to have been true can be appropriate, we must be sure that we're seeing the whole godly truth of the matter. Let's be sure our interpretation is always subject to the test of biblical truth.

Rick (00:10:22): If we're not subjecting ourselves to the test of biblical truth, then we are wasting our time as Christians. I mean, it really, really comes down to that. That's the recap. Those are the things we talked about in Part I. Now let's introduce other ways that our biases operate and influence our lives.

Julie (00:10:40): Remember our working definition of "bias" here is "an inclination or outlook that prevents an unprejudiced consideration of a matter." Let's look at our next bias in action. What does bias do? Bias breaks trust.

Rick (00:10:54): This is huge, and you know I'm going to say that about everyone.

Julie (00:10:57): Yeah, everything, all of it's huge. Yeah. Because all of it's so relevant to us.

Rick (00:10:59): Yeah, and it's so easy to fall into any one of these things. Bias breaks trust. Because trust is the foundation for any and every relationship, our biases in this area are really, really serious. Trust can be broken in many ways. It can be broken through thoughts, through actions, through observations and faulty conclusions and through words. Jesus laid out a very basic warning for all of these things, for his followers. He laid that out in Matthew 5:21-24.

Julie (00:11:33): This is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, teaching them that they're accountable for their words. In the New Living translation, it says this: "You have heard that our ancestors were told, You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment! But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell (Gehenna). So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God." This line that struck me here is "if you're angry with someone, you are subject to judgment." There's different levels of anger and even anger with a legitimate cause can be dangerous. Here, this Greek word for "angry," "orgizo," means "to provoke or enrage, become exasperated."

Rick (00:12:33): That's a pretty serious anger. To provoke or enrage. When you're exasperated, just like you throw your hands up and what are the words that follow? "I give up. Give up."

Julie (00:12:43): Walk away.

Rick (00:12:44): Yeah, yeah. "I'm done. I'm done. I'm done." This is something that Jesus is saying, don't go there. Don't go there. Don't go there. Here's our Bias Warning, okay, in terms of bias breaking trust. Our choice to lose trust in our brother or sister, and it is a choice. Our choice to lose trust in our brother or sister should not be taken lightly. Jesus warns that our imperfect human emotions and reactions toward them will only bring us judgment because we're not seeing the whole picture.

Julie (00:13:16): Very few of us like confrontation, and a lot of times it's easier just to be angry. You just avoid that person. The anger festers and it leads to evil speaking. Don't you think of all that you wish you could have said at the time, and then you replay it in your mind over and over? It's awful. It's difficult. But we are supposed to try to honestly and humbly resolve our differences.

Rick (00:13:41): We are, but you're right. That's what happens. We replay it in our mind, and we provoke our own anger. We provoke our own frustration, our own exasperation, and we build a case in our own mind without checking anything else but what's planted in our head. This is what breaks trust.

Julie (00:13:59): It's self-perpetuating. That's what anger is. Because you can just keep rolling and rolling.

Rick (00:14:03): Right. We can be really, really good at that. Let's look at a scripture that helps us to put this in order. James 1:19-20:

Julie (00:14:12): "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." The word "wrath" here is from the Greek root word for "angry" that we just talked about, the one that's subject to judgment. My anger doesn't produce God's righteousness. But Rick, what about when we are actually right? When you and I were preparing for this study, I asked, well, what about righteous indignation? You challenged the phrase and said that's usually personal indignation sprinkled with a little bit of righteous for flavoring. I love that.

Rick (00:14:50): Well, and we have to be careful because if we're coming at something with anger first, that's a red flag. That's a detour that we need to take and say, wait, wait, wait. Can't go down that road! If we're looking at something saying, this is wrong, this is wrong, and then the anger comes, perhaps we're in a better position. So, the emotion is what we have to look at and be very, very, very careful of. The Baseless Basis of Bias here in terms of breaking trust is this: bias does break trust. Trust is broken when suspicion arises. Suspicion rises when we see, hear or conclude something about someone else. While there can be a legitimate grounds for our suspicion, it is very likely, and this is what we were just talking about, that our suspicion has provoked anger, which blinds us to reason. Therefore, bias is a tool of breaking trust. Many times that's trust that doesn't have to be broken. This is serious. We trust God and we trust Jesus. We should be trusting each other as Christians, and yet there are all kinds of pitfalls in the way.

Julie (00:16:01): What should we do when we're losing trust because we see evidence that seems to justify that action?

Rick (00:16:08): There are many things that we can do. However, the one thing we need to absolutely avoid is to blindly feed our anger and end up taking and verbalizing a position that is only founded on a partial consideration of the whole matter. A position that's only founded on a partial consideration of the whole matter, not a good place to be. To put such a dilemma in order, it's critical that we remind ourselves of who we are, of who we follow, and of what we stand for.

Julie (00:16:46): All right, our definition of "bias" that we're working with today is "an inclination or outlook that prevents an unprejudiced consideration of a matter." But what if someone, all kidding aside, does legitimately break our trust? Let's say they go behind our back or they do something, or they say something to betray us or insult us, or we thought we could depend on them and they prove untrustworthy.

Rick (00:17:09): Well, and that's a good question. That kind of thing happens, unfortunately, regularly. You have this thing where, okay, trust has a basis on which it can actually be broken. The question is, is it something to actually break the trust? Or is it something that has just shaken the trust? You have to understand that there's different levels to this. Look, sometimes our trust should be broken by what we see, unquestionably. But how do I handle it? Do I handle it as Rick, or do I handle it as Brother Rick, the follower of Jesus Christ, a disciple of our Lord? That's really the question at hand. How do I handle it? We need to calm and correct our breaking of trust biases. Let's look at an example. The Apostle Paul, he was blunt in his teaching when it comes to potential for trust-breaking within the brotherhood. He essentially makes the issue into a simple right or wrong comparison. I like that - right or wrong is easy. This comparison is focused on me, not the person that I might have a problem with. We're told to break the barrier of bias instead of breaking trust with bias. Let me repeat that. The apostle is teaching us here in this next scripture break the barrier of bias instead of breaking trust with bias. Let's look at Ephesians 4:25-27:

Julie (00:18:31): "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." But wait, this is confusing because here's that same Greek word for "angry," "orgizo," that in Matthew 5 Jesus said leads to judgment. But here we can be "orgizo" and not sin, so presumably no judgment. How does that work?

Rick (00:18:58): That works because follow the scripture, be angry and do not sin. In other words, the emotion is there. It's something that it just, it happens. Jesus understands it. The apostle understands it. But what do I do with the emotion? Does it drive me, or do I choose to manage it? That's the difference. Anger happens. What comes next? See, that's the key. Be angry and do not sin. That's what this scripture is saying. The Apostle Paul's point is clear. If we don't get ourselves under control, what are we doing? We're leaving the door open for Satan to enter.

Julie (00:19:36): We're allowed to have the emotions, but we're challenging the responses to our emotions.

Rick (00:19:42): Absolutely. Absolutely. The apostle then continues with the practicality of the issue of managing anger and putting things in order. We're back to Ephesians 4:28-32:

Julie (00:19:54): "He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." I'm going to stop for a second. Can you imagine how crystallized our character is when even our worst, angry and frustrated moments, our words are still uplifting and helpful instead of sarcastic and bitter and snarky? This is difficult. Okay, continuing at verse 30. "Do not grieve the holy spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."

Rick (00:20:52): Now, there's a lot in those verses. We could spend an entire podcast on these verses, but he's giving us recipes for saying, don't let your bias just continue unfettered and breaking trust. Put these things - don't grieve God's spirit. Let bitterness and wrath and anger, put these things away from you. Be kind, be tenderhearted. Look, if somebody did wrong, it needs to be dealt with, but you don't do it with spite and anger. This scripture's actually quoted from the, the "be angry and do not sin," it's quoted from Psalm 4:4-5:

Julie (00:21:26): "Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord. I read "tremble, and do not sin." "Tremble" here means "to be agitated, to shake with violent emotion like anger or fear." You've heard people say, "He was so angry he was shaking." I know that when I'm angry or upset, I'm not sleeping much because again, my brain keeps replaying what I should've said. I coulda, shoulda, woulda coulda do it all over again. How do you just stay on your bed sleeping?

Rick (00:22:00): Well, and that's why it says, "meditate in your heart upon your bed." This is a choice. We naturally replay the tape again and again and again, and it gets bigger and it gets worse. We can actually say to ourselves, "Okay, I'm going to bring my Bible into my bed. I'm going to read the Psalms, I'm going to say them out loud, I'm going to pray about them. I'm going to meditate on them. This is what I'm going to think about." You work at it and then your mind drifts again, and you say, "Wait, wait, wait. Stop. Stop. That's not what I'm here to do." It is a conscious changing of the basis of where we're going. That's what the Apostle Paul is telling us in dealing with these things and quoting from the Psalms. He's helping us see, make the choice to change the end result. Now on another level, we also need to realize that our liberty in Christ is not to be at the command of our emotions; rather, it is to command our emotions. This is a big thing because trust gets broken when our emotions become overwhelming dictators in our decision-making. We need to understand that liberty in Christ doesn't justify that. Let's look at Galatians 5:13-15:

Julie (00:23:14): "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!" This tells me that Christian liberty doesn't mean we get to just do anything we want. I've found myself using the word "irrelevant" a lot lately with myself in relation to others. I say, "But so-and-so did this or said this to me. Irrelevant. It doesn't give me permission to retaliate in any way, even if it's in my own thoughts. And it certainly doesn't give me justification to act in a similar way if that person really did do something. "But so-and-so isn't getting the lesson that they should!" Irrelevant. Of course we want to help them, but someone behaving poorly isn't going to be my example. It's irrelevant.

Rick (00:24:11): That's pretty big. To be able to take it and put it into a category that says, "It's irrelevant, therefore I should spend no emotional energy on it." That's the point. That's the idea of changing, of meditating in your heart upon your bed. So, Julie, sleep well, okay? Because that's really what you just described. The Christian Bias Buster here in terms of trust is this: Trust is an incredibly important part of our Christian relationships, but it also needs to be understood as very fragile as well. Let us first and foremost seek to protect trust by seeking for and relying on the complete truth of a matter, instead of reacting to pieces of information and then responding with anger. Our biases can break our trust. We've already talked about that. But the other part of this is our biases can not only break our trust, they can break our Christianity. They can actually splinter it and shatter it because we allow that broken trust to overwhelm us and we forget God's promises. Be careful about trust and our biases.

Julie (00:25:26): Well, let's move on to the next bias in action: Bias belittles others. Now, to "belittle" someone is "to make them seem unimportant or less than." It's synonymous with "diminish," "minimize," "condescending" and "trash talk."

Rick (00:25:44): Great.

Julie (00:25:45): This is an ugly one.

Rick (00:25:46): Yeah, it is. It is. This is an especially ugly one. This brand of bias is big. It's, and like you said, it's ugly. We have seen far too much in our modern world of this. With all that we've now experienced in history, you would think that we would be wiser when it comes to this kind of thing. But you know what, we simply are not.

Julie (00:26:10): This is all about who we classify as being the "other." Single words carry a lot of emotion with this. They've led to hatred and even murder and genocide. It's words like race, politics, gender, nationality, religion. How many news reports am I seeing where people have committed suicide, provoked and egged on, encouraged by anonymous faces on social media? Any sign of weakness and you become the "other" to be easily swiped away, disregarded, or much worse.

Rick (00:26:48): The idea of belittling others, what you're saying, in our world has become a life and death potential situation. I mean, folks, please understand the depth and the power of the bias behind these things. We'd say, "Well, I'd never do that." Let's think about where I am. Let's think about what I'm open to before I say I'd never do that. Let's look at how to handle this. In his epistle, James plainly targets this kind of bias. This kind of bias is not new. James, way back then, targets this very, very, very plainly. James 2:1-4:

Julie (00:27:25): "My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism (or as we would say today, with a bias). For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, You sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?"

Rick (00:27:58): James just lays it out. Do not allow appearance, do not allow a perception to change what's real. That's what he's saying. He's being very, very clear and very specific. Julie, what's the Bias Warning here?

Julie (00:28:15): The belittling of others is often an unfortunate end result of conditioned thinking that's left unchallenged. With this thinking in this unchallenged state, we can easily become tools in the hand of Satan to attack and do harm to those for whom Christ died. Of course, Christ died for all, so we need to be careful. We certainly don't want to advance Satan's goals.

Rick (00:28:39): No, we don't. Here's the thing. I really appreciated what you said; "It could be an unfortunate end result of conditioned thinking that is left unchallenged." Folks, we all have some conditioned thinking in our minds that we just maybe haven't ever gotten around to challenging it. We should. We should. If we leave it unchallenged, you know what happens? Satan knows us well enough to say, "Oh good, there's an in with Rick over here and I can get him to do this because he's not going to think twice about it." I need to think twice about it. I need to put things in a better, stronger, higher, more spiritually-guided, more biblical perspective. Let's look at, to help with this, Proverbs 16:19-23:

Julie (00:29:23): "It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who gives attention to the word will find good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. The wise in heart will be called understanding, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, but the discipline of fools is folly. The heart of the wise instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips."

Rick (00:29:51): There's wisdom and there's goodness and there's fools. Too often we, because of our unchallenged conditioned thinking, we fall into the condition of being fools. We have to be careful with this. This is, like you said, it's ugly and it's big. The Baseless Basis of Bias here - the fact that a belittling bias can be the simple result of our natural state of mind doesn't make it any less destructive. On the contrary, this is the kind of bias that easily flies under the radar. It can be rationalized, it can be dismissed, and yet it's just as wrong as any other bias that might be more easily seen. Don't allow familiarity with such a thing to take away the intensity with which we fight it. We need to be careful. Having this kind of bias is a direct affront to everything we are to stand for as Christians. This should be just plain scary.

Julie (00:30:55): We have a natural bias challenge we might not even be aware of. How do we become aware and break its grip?

Rick (00:31:03): Becoming aware will only happen by having the humility to examine ourselves. Our intention must be to challenge our fleshly mind and reach for the mind of Christ as its replacement. While this is no easy task, it is a necessary task. As Jesus' disciples, our lives cannot be pleasing to God if we dwell in what feels safe and what feels natural.

Julie (00:31:32): As a reminder, our working definition of "bias" is "an inclination or outlook that prevents an unprejudiced consideration of a matter." We're trying to put common biases here on the table so we can introspectively look to see if one or more of these is gripping us. We're talking about belittling others, being condescending in our secret thoughts, words, attitude, tone of voice. How can we calm and correct our belittling bias? Because it's everywhere and unfortunately comes naturally to most of us.

Rick (00:32:03): Yeah, it does. It does. It seems like an oversimplification, but the answer is, the humility needed to break such a destructive bias begins with one word. One word. That word is "listen." Now going back to James, now that James has made this belittling bias visible, he's put it out in front of us. He plainly shows us the necessity of overhauling our approach to those we may look down upon. Let's go back to James 2. Let's pick up with verses 5-8:

Julie (00:32:35): "Listen, my beloved brethren..." Oh, hey! Listen! Okay, so Rick and James, we're listening! "Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture: you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well." The critique here is that I'm deciding who gets more focus, respect and honor. In this case, I'm respecting the one who's dressed better and has money. This makes me think of how people idolize celebrities and influencers today. But it could easily be me honoring someone who looks like me or talks like me or thinks the way I do in any given topic. I mean, Rick, who doesn't like someone who agrees with them all the time?

Rick (00:33:36): That's the challenge here. What ends up happening is we create our circle, and outside of our circle are those that we belittle. I mean, think about how important it is to face this and to take care of it. James, so far in James 2, he has demonstrated the exact opposite of a belittling bias here toward those who had one. He is modeling the corrective process. First, so let me just sum up a little bit. First, those whom you look down upon are God's chosen. That's a big deal. Am I going to be, am I going to stand before my Heavenly Father and when He asks me, "Hey, why did you treat those that way? Why did you look down on them?" "Well, because they deserved it." Then God says, "Well, I chose them." Really? I mean, do you want to have that conversation? I don't want to have that conversation. We have to understand not to do that. Second, we're violating a fundamental and unchanging biblical principle: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." That biblical principle was at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. It never changes. We're not loving our neighbor as ourselves if we belittle them. James continues in James 2:9-13 now:

Julie (00:34:52): "But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not commit murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment." I want to repeat that; mercy triumphs over judgment. In other words, stop with the partiality and bias that this person's better than that one. In Galatians 2:11-13, even the Apostle Peter needed reproof from the Apostle Paul in that Peter was favoring the Christian Jews over the Christian Gentiles. It's insidious, it's there all the time, and you never know when it's going to creep out. We need to stop.

Rick (00:35:52): The thing that we need to really focus on is yes, it's insidious you never know what it's going to creep out. Then let's finish that sentence with "creep out of me." Not creeping out of you or the other person; never know when it's going to creep out of me. I need to be looking at ME with something like this. That's what James is really, really, really telling us. Partiality and belittling, he said, are sins. We had first, God's chosen are the ones that we're belittling. Secondly, you're violating this unchangeable, biblical principle of loving your neighbor as yourself. Third, James is imploring us to recognize our sins - not somebody else's - our sins, even if we think the rest of our lives are fine. Well look, if this is the only thing that I'm really having a problem with, I must be okay. No you're not! No you're not. Because bias, like you said, is insidious. Sins that go unchecked will be judged, as this is another universal truth of God's plan. Judgment is there for a reason, it's a corrective action. We want to be able to self-correct by God's grace in this area. Let's continue with James 2:14-18:

Julie (00:37:02): "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I'll show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well; but the demons also believe and shudder."

Rick (00:37:40): James' message is very straightforward. You need to act. James is telling us to act based on our faith in higher things, rather than react based on our fleshly comfort levels. Act. It's not enough to believe. We have to live that which we believe. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul says exactly the same thing in different words in Philippians 2:1-4. You can see that the Bible is, it's all on the same page about attacking and destroying these things. Philippians 2:1-4:

Julie (00:38:14): "Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose." Boy, there's no room for bias in that admonition, is there? Continuing with verse 3: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Now, along these lines is Romans 12:10, and it's short enough to memorize: "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor." This is a surprisingly deep verse with four separate concepts, but we'll look at just one - this "give preference to one another in honor." It was amazing this study that "honor is the same Greek word used in John 12:26, where Jesus said if any man serve him, that's who God his Father will honor. It's the same honor that results from the trial of our faith being more precious than gold in 1 Peter 1:7, and here it is: it's the same honor that crowned Jesus Christ according to Hebrews 2:7,9. This is a very high standard, to not regard one another as more important than ourselves and "give preference" to the other "in honor." We have to appreciate, and therefore honor, their relationship with God. That's huge.

Rick (00:39:53): "In preference to one another in honor." Honor is the absolute opposite of any kind of belittling thought, word or action. It is the opposite because it's lifting others up rather than pulling them down. It's too easy to be natural when we are called to be spiritual. That's why we're shown such powerful, powerful lessons like Romans 12:10. You're right, it's a short scripture. Folks, memorize that scripture in relation to this lesson. Here's the Christian Bias Buster in relation to this belittling of one another: Mutual respect is a foundation stone of true Christianity. Jesus made that abundantly clear and the entire New Testament reiterates this truth. To belittle another in any way is to act contrary to everything we hold dear as Jesus' disciples. Let's keep our eyes open, our hearts receptive and our minds alert to living this higher standard without exception. Without exception! When we live the standard, it should be without exception, period. We can't go down the belittling road as Christians.

Julie (00:41:17): Oh, all right. That's a big admonition. So far we've covered five different kinds of bias. We began by stating that bias bows to no one - shows the pride behind it. We then saw how bias blocks listening. It builds walls, it breaks trusts and it belittles others. Our final example of bias shows its ability to permanently disable relationships by burning, by destroying any hope of reconciliation. Now we say it each time, but this is a big one! This is it, bias in action. What does bias do? Bias burns bridges. If you literally burn a bridge, it can't be crossed again. This expression, to "burn a bridge" is an idiom, meaning to act in such a way that it's impossible to return to the way things were; to behave in such a way that it causes a permanent rift.

Rick (00:42:07): Wow. We just went through belittling and it's like, boy, that's horrible. Now what you've done?

Julie (00:42:12): You thought that was the worst one.

Rick (00:42:13): Yeah, yeah. But see, now this is a step further. This is a step that says, "and I'm not ever going back. I'm not ever changing. I'm through. I've destroyed what's behind me." This is big - burning bridges. Now, here's what we want to do. Instead of giving an example of those who burned bridges in Scripture, let's use a biblical example of how a bridge could have been burned, but was not. This is an enormous, this is cool. You've got to hear this. Okay. This takes place, and right after the Acts 15 Council at Jerusalem. We talked about that in Part I in our last episode. That's when they were talking about Judaizing Christians and Gentile Christians and coming together and agreeing on things. Right after this council, two of the key individuals who were at that pivotal meeting had an issue. Let's take a look at what this issue was. Acts 15:36-40:

Julie (00:43:10): "After some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are. Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." Now John Mark is Barnabas' cousin who started out with them on the first missionary journey. Here we have Paul and Barnabas, two individuals fully committed to the gospel, agreeing to serve God separately. What's happening here?

Rick (00:43:59): Yeah, well, not only are they agreeing to serve God separately, but just remember, their testimonies were some of the most important things that brought the brotherhood together. Now they're going off in different directions. What's happening? What is happening is they're having a sharp disagreement. We're going to get into that in the next segment, but here's the warning, here's the Bias Warning: Sharp disagreements are a classic fuel that can set the communication and co-laboring bridges that exist between us, set them on fire, burn them so there's nothing left. That's the warning that we're looking at with this example, with Paul and Barnabas.

Julie (00:44:43): I wanted to turn to a few practical points. I came to you recently with a tough issue, and you gave me two good preliminary pieces of advice to kind of set me on the right path. First you said, don't allow personal hurt to get in the way of potential conversations. In this case, the object was to understand the person's position more fully and clearly, not to get them to admit that they were wrong, which is what I really wanted.

Rick (00:45:10): See that's a huge, that's a paradigm shift to say, "Look, I want to stimulate conversation, not make my point." When you stimulate conversation, you actually open a door for the ability to solve something. When I try to make my point, all you're doing is pointing at somebody, and that tends to hurt.

Julie (00:45:32): The second good piece of advice you gave me was a reminder that when approaching your Christian brother or sister, you want to assume the highest intentions on their part. You respect that they also are trying to stand for truth. If I come at them with a sword of accusation and emotion, they pull out their sword of defense, and we just fight. Along those lines, if someone is talking negatively about my brother or sister in Christ, I like these three words: be a skeptic. Don't assume it's true. Evil speaking and evil surmising is a big temptation that we all fall into when we assume motives of others and don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Evil surmising means imagining selfish or evil motives to be behind the words and acts of others. They deserve us to have them be thought highly of as a baseline in that they have a relationship to the Lord before we believe something negative about them. That's that honor again.

Rick (00:46:30): It is, and it fits very much in with what you said before about "irrelevant." The emotions become irrelevant, and you are a skeptic because the emotions are driving, when the honor of our brother or sister is the thing that's really at stake. There's a web here that we have to pull apart so we can walk through it and actually communicate. Let's look at Galatians 5:15-17:

Julie (00:46:56): "But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."

Rick (00:47:17): Julie, that's exactly what you described; the challenge of getting through the flesh so the spirit can be the influence that actually provokes us to move forward. This is a big, big thing, this burning of bridges. We want to be careful. Let's look at the Baseless Basis of this Bias. While some disagreements are clearly justifiable, and we don't want to take away from that because some disagreements are absolutely justifiable. Careful! It's far too easy to simply assume that we fit into that acceptable category and end up feeding our bias and carelessly burn a bridge. Well, I deserve the bridge to be burned! Well, hang on, hang on. Slow down, take a breath. It's too easy to simply believe that we are right. It's too easy and we need to stop. We need to pause. We need to scripturally consider what we're doing. Once again, this is very scary territory. We don't want to burn bridges between us, and we do want to stand up for principle.

Julie (00:48:24): This is a problem. Paul and Barnabas split up over this disagreement. How can we hope to do any better?

Rick (00:48:31): First of all, this is not the end of the story. While these two men of great faith were passionate in their positions and actions, the core of their parting was seeing that the work of the gospel would continue with the same power and the same fortitude as previously. Our attention needs to be drawn to what we know happened after they parted. We need to know the rest of the story.

Julie (00:49:03): In this case, both Paul and Barnabas were working hard to spread the gospel message, but they strongly disagreed on the logistics, let's just say, of the manpower. One last time, here's our definition of bias; It's "an inclination or outlook that prevents an unprejudiced consideration of the matter." Okay, so we've said this "burning bridges" bias is the worst. How do we calm and correct it?

Rick (00:49:27): That's really the big question. How do we calm and correct such a bias? Well, let's look at this disagreement. This disagreement between Paul and Barnabas would've been a significant dissension, for the rigors of a ministry journey, you can't take those for granted. You can't take it lightly. They're going out to do hard, hard work. Paul simply believed that the young John Mark couldn't do it because he had given up in a previous journey. He had given up. Paul was looking at it saying, "He's not ready." Barnabas believed that he could do it. "He can't do it." "Yes, he can." "No, he can't do it." "Yes, he can. I know he can." "No, he can't." This is what was happening. You had this building up. What do we do when we have that no-he-can't, yes-he-can dilemma? How do we find common ground? Well, let's reread part of this and then look at what happens. Acts 15:39-40:

Julie (00:50:25): "And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." Okay, let's look at that "sharp disagreement." The Greek here in the negative is a "dispute in anger; paroxysm." That's "a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity." It seems like they were raising their voices, or dare I say, maybe even yelling in a heated argument. Or as my husband says, "I'm not yelling, I'm explaining loudly!"

Rick (00:51:04): They were. This is undoubtedly a very high-level thing because the gospel was at stake here, and they're trying to do the work of God. This is a hard, hard disagreement. No question. We are not going to candy-coat it. You can't candy-coat it. Let me give you my opinion on this particular situation. I truly believe that this provoking was proper and appropriate. I think the argument was a good argument. I really, really do, as these two disciples of Jesus were both clear in their opinions and their perceived needs. They weren't saying, Okay, I won't say what I really believe is true so I I don't make trouble. They were honest with one another. Here's the key. The key was that while they separated, they did not attach importance to this particular decision beyond its true scope. In other words, this didn't change their relationship, it didn't change their work, it didn't change who they were. Let's take a look at, let's go a little further and figure that out. Go ahead.

Julie (00:52:07): It's as if it's like, "I strongly disagree, but we're going to part as friends and brothers in Christ. We agree to disagree. We move on with God's work." One good thing to come out of this was, if you think about it, they had two separate missionary journeys that could help spread the gospel faster. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus. Paul and Silas traveled through Syria and Selicia, so maybe it was overruled.

Rick (00:52:30): Well, I'm sure it was overruled, and I'm sure it wasn't comfortable parting. I'm sure that it wasn't easy because they had traveled together. Again, the two of them brought truth to this incredible Council in Acts 15, and now they can't agree. I'm sure when they parted, it wasn't easy. But here's what we know. We don't know a lot about what happens after, but here's what we know. Pay close attention to this. In later writings, the Apostle Paul reveals the nature of the unity that continued to exist. Where there's unity, Julie, there's no burned bridge. Okay? Where there's unity, there's the ability to go back and forth. Let's look at this unity in Colossians 4:10-11:

Julie (00:53:15): "Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas's cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); and also...Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision (meaning the Jewish Christians), and they have proved to be an encouragement to me." This John Mark really has been an encouragement to me because he could have been so upset by just his letting Paul down in the past and Paul not wanting to travel with him, very blatantly. He could have just quit. But apparently working under Barnabas was good for him, and he becomes valuable to the cause. I mean, he's an encouragement to Paul in the end. That's beautiful.

Rick (00:53:57): It is. In this scripture, Paul only names a few that he says are an encouragement to him, and John Mark is one of them.

Julie (00:54:05): Wow.

Rick (00:54:06): Now we're going to go to 2 Timothy 4:11. Now, let me put this in context. This is the final writing of the Apostle Paul before he dies. This is literally, what we're going to read is ten verses before the end of his final writing, before he is executed. Here's what he says. 2 Timothy 4:11:

Julie (00:54:27): "Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."

Rick (00:54:36): Think about that. He is near the end of his Christian walk. Who does he ask for? He asks for Mark. You see, there was no burned bridge. There was a disagreement, there was maturity, there was going on with the work of the gospel. There was looking to see the growth and there was the embracing of that young man who had become obviously very, very important to him. Paul taught us that serious disagreements are acceptable as long as we are thoroughly convicted to keep the issue the issue, and not centralize that issue and not escalate that issue, and not make that issue the centerpiece of everything else. Don't burn bridges.

Julie (00:55:21): We talked recently about trying to make a space between the stimulus and our response. Often our first quick thought, and even what we blurt out of our mouths, it's driven by emotion and it's our natural fleshly inclination talking, not what Jesus taught us. We all have temptations to say immediately what's on our mind or heart, even when it's not kind or pure. My goal is if I can just check myself so that at least my second thought, and hopefully it's before I say anything, has a godly spirit and influence.

Rick (00:55:55): That is the best place to start. Sometimes we can't control the first thought, but we can control the second one. We can control the action. To be able to calm and correct our "burning bridges" biases, we need to have a conscience. Not just any conscience, but a conscience that's tuned to spiritual things. Such a finely-tuned conscience will not burn bridges. A poorly-tuned conscience on the other hand, will heed that which is fleshly and comfortable. Let's look at an example, a really bad example of this poorly-tuned conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1-3:

Julie (00:56:32): "But the spirit explicitly says that in later time, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth." That's harsh.

Rick (00:56:59): It is, it is. But he's saying that their consciences will be seared "as with a branding iron." They will be marked because they will take the sacredness of truth and pollute it and create things to create following. There is no goodness in that. There's no spirituality in that; there's no true Christianity in that.

Julie (00:57:19): When you sear something with a branding iron that kills the nerves, right? There's no feeling. Now that's going to mess up the whole finely-tuned conscience.

Rick (00:57:28): Right. They're numb. There is no ability to feel anymore. Let's contrast that with a well-tuned conscience because that's the key to finding how spiritual things can be part of the conscience, how they can be the godly influences that lead us.

Julie (00:57:47): Romans 9:1-3. Here's the Apostle Paul speaking. He's devastated that his fellow Jews were not, with a few exceptions, accepting Christ. He said this: "I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the holy spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh." He then continues describing these blessings and privileges God had given to Israel. He's in anguish how they choose to stay under the Law instead of accepting the Messiah. He's saying, I would even change places with them, if only they could listen.

Rick (00:58:29): Think about the depth of his conscience and how they were so important to him. This takes in all of the things we've been talking about, and he's showing us the right way to handle these things. His heart hurt for those who did not follow; it hurt for them. Another way to come and correct our burning bridges biases is to remember the warfare that we're engaged in and remember the weapons that we're directed to use. Now you've got to be really careful on this one, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Julie (00:59:00): This is the Apostle Paul speaking again. He said: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." I'll stop here because sharp, clever and sarcastic words make great weapons, don't they? They can feel good too, but they're not the right weapon for us. Continuing with verse 5: "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Rick (00:59:38): That's the mic drop. Yeah, that's how you avoid burning bridges. You take "every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" and use only those weapons that are spiritual and biblically driven. This is such an important thing. Building bridges instead of burning them comes back to...guess what? The humility, the humility of seeing things through spirit-driven eyesight and then the fortitude to work, to work at changing. Our words reflect our hearts. We have to be careful of this. Our words do reflect our hearts. Let's look at Matthew 12:34-35:

Julie (01:00:18): This is Jesus chastising the Pharisees. He says: "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."

Rick (01:00:37): When I want to say something that's not good, not helpful, not beneficial, not spiritual, not kind, not loving, not wise, not reverent, I've got to think of what is in my heart to draw me to say that? Let's just use that as an example. Let's go back to James. We're going to go to James chapter 3 now. James now shows us how to work on our words and therefore our hearts. In James chapter 3, he talks about the tongue, the incredible power of our words. Let's go to James 3:2-4:

Julie (01:01:08): "Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong."

Rick (01:01:27): He's using these examples to say, little things make massive differences because they have control. He's saying, know the power of your words. They can bring bias or they can bring blessing, and you get to choose. Let's finish James 3:5-10:

Julie (01:01:45): "In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And...the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell (Gehenna) itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God (there's the bias). And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely my brothers and sisters, this is not right!"

Rick (01:02:33): It's interesting that James 3 follows James 2, which was about belittling others. When you put this all together, James has a very specific objective saying, we've got to watch what we do, watch what we say. We don't want to hurt with what we've been given. We need to spiritually help and build up. Julie, our final Christian Bias Buster, what is it?

Julie (01:02:57): To be a Christian is to be engaged in the work of self-denial and accomplishing God's will. The only bridge burning here is the removing of any connections we have had with our own sinful, human condition. Just as Jesus died for every man's sin, we also must live for the purpose of blessing those whom Jesus bought. Let us build the bridge that Jesus instructed us to build.

Rick (01:03:25): Bias is big. Bias is powerful. Bias is prevalent. Bias is everywhere. We all need to understand that it's a personal battle. Bias is personal. I need to make it a personal battle that I look at the biases in my own heart and mind and say, "Lord, grant me the grace. Grant me the strength. Grant me the direction and the scriptural knowledge and understanding to fight those things so I can truly glorify Your name rather than mine, rather than some other thought or perception or perspective or group." Let me glorify God, put bias away. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, "It's Time to Change, But How Much is Enough?" Talk to you next week.

Final Notes (01:04:24): copyright @2024 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.