40 If a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald, but he is clean. 41 Or if he loses the hair at his hairline, he is bald on his forehead, but he is clean. 42 But if there is a reddish-white condition on the bald head or forehead, it is a serious skin disease breaking out on his head or forehead. 43 The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the condition on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of a serious skin disease on his body, 44 the man is afflicted with a serious skin disease; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; the infection is on his head. 45 The person who has a case of serious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ 46 He will remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp. ~ Leviticus 13:40-46CSB
The Levitical priests were given the task of not just being the moral authority of the people of Israel but also the doctors of Israel as well. Today, we, the Church, are to be like the Levitical Priests, but oftentimes, we fall short. How?
The majority of us aren’t a moral compass for anyone. The majority of us believe that we’re not called to judge, which is both wrong and right at the same time. See, we’re not called to pronounce a blasphemous judgment or condemn those in the world, but we are called to judge between right and wrong. We are called to judge the actions of all people in order to know whether or not they are of Christ or the Devil.
The few of us that still call sin sin and judge between right and wrong may save a soul, but we don’t disciple that soul. We move on to the next person to save. We leave these new Christians as infants, expecting them to feed and teach themselves, then are shocked and disappointed when they fall back into sin.
This is because we didn’t take the time to disciple them. The Levitical priests had to not only check to see if they were clean or unclean, but they also had to do a follow-up examination. They had to make sure that person left clean, or they’d be unclean and remain outside the camp. When we disciple someone, we’re looking for fruit that lines up with the Spirit. If we don’t see that fruit beginning to sprout, then we know that we can’t send them on their own way and move on to another person.
We’re to disciple people until we can confidently send them out to create new disciples. We’re not to just save souls, we’re to plant seeds and water them. We’re not to just pronounce someone unclean and leave them be. We’re to pronounce them unclean and then help them become clean by the precious blood of Jesus and the renewing of the mind through the Holy Spirit.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do More Than Pronounce.
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