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A Bible Secret to Solving All Conflict and Justice Issues Worldwide?

Writer's picture: Asher IntraterAsher Intrater


Would you like to have a Bible secret that could solve all problems of social justice and every conflict in the whole world? In one verse?


It could be in your family, or in your congregation. It could be in the government, in politics. It could be here in Israel, or anywhere.


Here is the key.

Are you ready? It sounds too good to be true. Look with me at John 7:50-51. Here Nicodemus is quoted - the same Nicodemus who had come to Yeshua by night and asked how a man could be born again. He was a member of the Sanhedrin national Jewish council.


Nicodemus said, "Does our law judge any man before it hears him and then knows what he has done?!"


This was basically a summary of the entire Torah scriptural teaching on Justice.


Let's picture the situation. Nicodemus is in the Sanhedrin. Yeshua's disciples have been brought in and put on trial, and the majority of the council wants to condemn them. But they haven't really investigated, and Nicodemus says to them (in my paraphrase):


"Well, wait a minute; how can we judge these disciples until we really hear their side of the story? We can't judge them based on rumors."


Here's the secret. It's an incredibly deep principle:

If you want Justice and righteousness in any interpersonal situation, you've got to be able to TRULY hear what the other person has to say --- BEFORE you can make a right judgment about it.


People ask me what do I think about what's going on in Israel? Am I for the judicial reform or against it? Am I left-wing or right-wing?


Actually both sides have some good things to say, yet also both sides have some bad things to say.


What's the problem? If you talk to them, no one on either side can really explain to you what the other side is trying to say.


When you listen to the news, you'll have news presented either from the right side or the left side – often with "screaming and yelling" and presenting propaganda-like accusations. You almost never actually get to the content and understand what the other person wants to say. This same dynamic happens in families and in congregations.


The way justice has to take place is you have to be able to listen to the content of the other person, not just how he's saying it; not just the slogans. You have to hear the content and then be able to reflect it back accurately to that person. "This is what I think I heard you saying: You just said, 'one, two, three, four.' "


And when they affirm you have understood their intent, then you can do the same reflective listening process in the reverse direction.


Or if you're entering the judge position, you've got to listen just as effectively to what both sides actually mean, until you understand it. Until you can express it in THEIR terms, in their logic. And when both sides can affirm and say, "Yes, you have understood the content of what I'm saying," then you are positioned to make a sound judgment. Then you can express your discernment or give your opinion.


Usually we think we know what the other side is saying without actually having intentionally heard them out. Until then, number one: you haven't known. And number two: the other person doesn't know that you've known it. So he's NOT WILLING to listen to you.


That's how a good judge in a courtroom functions. Before he gives a verdict, he's supposed to be able to say, "Now these are the pros and cons on this side of the issue; and these are the pros and cons and on the other side." And weighing both of them, he pronounces his judgment.


You may end up on this side or that side of an issue, but you've got to be able to first understand both sides.


Overpowering Modern Media Drowns out Simple Hearing Process


Everything you hear today is in the context of a certain media. The audio-visual tools today are so impacting on our senses, that they are stronger than any given message and tend to dictate how any message is received.


So what's happened is people think they're hearing the content, but they're not. They're just getting impressed by the media - by the style and form, by the way it's presented. The media hardly ever gets to the content. Most news reports that you hear don't actually look thoroughly at the core issues. The first thing you hear is the news commentator giving you his interpretation of the event.


Right now Israelis are divided in an emotionally charged conflict over judicial/constitutional change. But if you ask average people what's the actual content of the law, most don't know. It's so hotly presented. People are screaming and yelling, and it pulls you emotionally to one side or the other - when you haven't really gotten to deal with the actual core issue.


So we have to be careful not to be influenced by the way something is being presented, but actually get it in the context. You have to "hear it from the horse's mouth." The right-wing opinion presented on a left-wing channel, is going to sound wrong. And if you hear a left wing position presented on a right-wing channel, it's going to sound wrong as well.


People's views have to be presented in a context they agree with, and that's how you judge. It's very difficult today because we're being flooded with media that so powerful that people almost don't have the skills to filter through the wave of propaganda-like media and get to understand actually what the content is.


So here is Nicodemus presenting the summary in one sentence. What is the position of the scriptures, of the Torah, on how to bring social justice and understanding in almost any kind of conflict? Here is what he says: "How can we judge someone if we haven't heard what they're saying first?" Afterward you may agree to disagree, but at least you'll know and they'll know that you've truly heard them.


Let's not go with the flow of this world. We are people who believe in truth, and we have to push our way through all the shouting and yelling to get down to actually hearing the different sides and issues.

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