Micah: How Lack of Justice Perverts Truth

God was clear with Micah—when justice is despised truth is distorted. And this is so especially when spiritual leaders and rulers do it. “Listen, leaders and rulers of Israel who despise justice and distort truth,” (Micah 3.9).

Justice is declaring right from wrong, good from evil (Micah 3.1-2). This works so powerfully to form God's flesh in us. 


God wanted leaders to judge correctly. Instead, they “judge for a bribe,” (Micah 3.11). They picked people who paid them well and gave them favorable judgment. Those who didn’t got “war” from them (3.5b).

God’s Justice is His Judgment

God’s justice is declaring right from wrong and doing what is right. And this is always done through God‘s anointed servants, like prophets. When God pronounced a judgment, He did it through a prophet. God does not act unless he first tells about it to his servants the prophets (Amos 3.7). In our day it’s pastors, especially prophetic pastors. We have to judge, and judge correctly according to God’s standards.

So it won’t do to say “Do not judge,” or “Don’t be judgmental.” Church people always misquote Jesus here as saying judging is never to be done at all at any time. What Jesus says here is, don’t judge unless you’re sure of your life quality. “First, get rid of the plank of wood from your eyes; then you can wipe the speck of dust from your brother’s eye.” Thus, prophets were always cleansed first before they were used to judge people. Isaiah cried out upon seeing his foul lips. Then an angel cleansed it with a burning coal from the altar.

When there is no righteous judgment in church, the church becomes powerless—it can even become a synagogue of Satan later. When righteous judgment is pronounced in church, God’s justice prevails.

Look at How a Zero-Judgment Church Operates

Many have consulted me about their chaotic churches. On the outside they look good—beautiful worship programs, full of church activities, active members, lots of money, good church buildings, good preaching that blesses, touches, and encourages. But on the inside they stink. They asked me why.

I asked them how they confronted church members in sin. “Confront sinners?” they asked. “We don’t do that—we’re not supposed to judge people in church. No one is perfect.” In other words, what they were saying was that, nobody could deal with a sinning church member, much less a sinning church officer, because they were all into sinning one way or another. “Only God is the judge—He alone can judge,” they added.

Well, too bad. All over Scriptures, God judged through His holy men. He didn’t do the judging directly. He called men to live in fear of Him and be His anointed prophets. If no one among you is clean enough for Him, then He cannot send His judgment—He’d just annihilate you, as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. And many churches are fast coming to that condition.

So these rotten churches just go on doing ministry without dealing with sin in their midst. Oh, many of them even have mega churches full of people and money. They hope that the problem will just go away—just be forgotten. When the vessel is dirty no truth will come out of it—except entertaining cliches. “How can you who are evil say anything good?” (Matt.12.34). What abundance is in the heart overflows to the mouth and is spoken. No wonder truth is distorted, and God's flesh is nowhere in church.