Bible Studies

Jesus and Name Calling

by Anne O'Donnell
06/06/21
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If I tell an artist they are a talented artist because I like their creations, I am expressing my opinion of their works.

If I walk through a gallery and I see an awful painting hanging on the wall, I won’t call the artist awful, I am simply verbalizing how the piece affects me.

Conversely, if I were to see Antifa setting fire to police cars and burning buildings, I would classify them as being vandals with hatred and rebellion controlling their hearts. 

When I hear stories of child trafficking at the US southern borders, I label the perpetrators as evil and despicable with lust and greed controlling their hearts.

If someone steals money, I would call them a thief because they have stealing in their heart.

As the man thinks in his heart, so is he.

When Christians refuse to take a stand against the evil in our world, I would label them as lukewarm Christians or cowards because I remember what Jesus says about lukewarm Christianity.

So now that I am name-calling, how do rationalize my entitlement to do so? Am I judging, or just merely calling out the truth?

Jesus shows us specific times in the Bible when name-calling was not judging, but more shedding the light on the condition of men’s hearts. The Spirit of God exposes the sin in men’s hearts so they can see themselves for who they are.

Jesus knows the intentions of a man’s heart so if he calls you a liar, you are a liar. He called people fools, hypocrites, murderers, whited sepulchers who close their eyes to the truth, fools of iniquity, and children of hell. He called Herod a fox, referring to him as an unclean animal in the Israelite holiness code. He labeled the Pharisees as blind guides for misleading their “students” down the path of immorality and disbelief. Jesus always exposed the heart.

In Matthew 23:33, John the Baptist renounced the Pharisees by calling them a brood of vipers, snakes, and serpents to reveal their true character.

Jesus is the only One who sees a man’s heart, we do not. There is a difference between calling out the truth and judging. Judgement is reserved for God when we stand before His judgement seat.

Woe unto me when I usurp the authority of God and try exercise what is reserved only for Him. But I am free to call out sin when I see it.