Christian Challenge Sermon Xi: Fruitfulness Not Foolishness Series

CHRISTIAN CHALLENGE SERMON XI: BE KNOWN BY FRUITFULNESS NOT FOOLISHNESS

Have you ever been called to jury duty? Why were you called? If selected to serve, what were you expected to do? Make a judgment, based on evidence, with regard to a matter before the court. You were instructed by the judge to do so honestly and objectively.

As a juror who happened to be a Christian, did the responsibility of sitting in judgment on someone else bother you? If so, why? If not, why not? There are times and circumstances when an honest, objective judgment has to be made regarding the actions of our fellowman.

The theme touted by many voices in America is tolerance. Does it mean that everyone is supposed to put up with anything and everything that may be thrown at us? Absolutely not! We have options for dealing with differences of opinion.

Just as Christians need to be discerning enough to see that the word “love” is often thrown at us by “toleration extremists” to try to convince us that we must accept unchristian practices in society, we also need to see that the term “judge not” is often thrown at us to try to stop us from making a judgment with regard to practices considered by us to be unbiblical, or immoral, or illegal.

There’s much biblical support for “making judgments”: about doctrine . . . preachers and teachers who could be false prophets in “sheep’s clothing” . . . fruitfulness vs foolishness in carrying out the will of the Father. . . brothers and sisters in Christ who have obviously strayed from the “straight and narrow”- Church Discipline.

But in making judgments, we must be cautious! We are not to judge motives, but we may have no choice but to make a judgment about misconduct. One is inward and the other is outward. God knows the heart. Only He judges motives. We only make judgments based on factual evidence. Then we speak the truth in love!

R. J. Robinson whose preaching was telecast throughout the CSRA, was driving back to Augusta late one night after preaching in South Carolina. He was pulled over for speeding. As the state trooper flashed his flight in Dr. Robinson’s face he exclaimed, “You’re the preacher on television!”

Jack grinned and thought to himself, “I’m off the hook.” The trooper continued: “You know, preacher, I’m glad we met because this gives me a chance to tell you how much your sermons mean to me and my wife.” Smiling broadly, Dr. Robinson replied:

“Thank you, sir, am I free to go now?” “Well, not yet,” said the trooper. “You exceeded the speed limit by 20 mph!” “I didn’t know I was going that fast” said the preacher, “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” Replied the trooper: “Such a high speed could get you killed, and we don’t want that to happen, do we? So I’ll give you a citation to help you remember to slow down and stay alive.” What did Jesus mean by His instruction on judging others? The answer lies, as does all Scriptural teaching, within the context of its occurrence. As we read our Lord’s lessons on how our relationship to Christ transforms our actions, keep in mind that the context is the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 7:1-6 . . .

Jesus told His disciples that, with regard to all that He had taught them, they are not to be hypocritical in judging others in terms of how well or how poorly fellow believers have lived up to the doctrinal and behavioral standards that He had set!

He is addressing his remarks to Christians, telling them not to judge another Christian as to their degree of righteousness with regard to all that He has taught!

No critical attitude that manifests itself in a derogatory, condemning way! All too often some folks perceive their own self-worth by seeking to tear others down to a level lower than their own.

Within the church body in particular some folks seem to have a keen sense of “rumor” . . . always seem to be “in the know” about what the real truth is!

There’s nothing so unbecoming of a child of God than a judgmental rather than discerning spirit – always looking for what’s wrong and then assessing one’s motives – when we all are probably as guilty in our own ways as they are in theirs.

The folks listening that day to Jesus’ analogy of “the speck versus the plank” must have laughed out loud at his humor! It is as if Jesus drew on the chalkboard of their minds a cartoon like the ones we see on the editorial page of newspapers!

Just imagine a caricature of a person, with a 2x4 protruding from one eye, pointing a judgmental finger at another caricature of a person with a tiny particle of sawdust in one eye. How silly it would be for the one to point the finger at the other! No Christian is perfect. But how easy it is to see in another’s life a shortcoming that we have overlooked in our own. So: Be discerning of actions not judgmental of motives. To be discerning can be fruitful. To be judgmental can be foolish.