Don’t Look at Me!
Romans 2:1-5 1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Intro: Paul showed in chapter 1 how people in general are responsible for their actions and responsible for knowing God. Undoubtedly many in the audience in the Roman church would have agreed readily as Paul condemned homosexuality, idol worship, violence, and other kinds of sins that seemed to describe pagans. Well, if you’ve ever been set up, you might be able to relate with some of Paul’s readers. Listen to the last verse in chapter 1. Romans 1:32 “Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
-Now you can almost read the thoughts of some of Paul’s readers. “Hey, I don’t approve of people who commit those kinds of sins. No way, not me! Those dirty pagans do those kinds of things, and boy, are they going to pay! Those godless goyim (Gentiles) are gonna get what they have coming to them! God will judge them because they are so wicked and despicable!”
-But here in chapter 2, Paul lets the other shoe drop rather unexpectedly. After indicating that approving of others who live wickedly is as bad as living that way yourself, Paul tells them that even if they don’t approve of others who sin, it doesn’t get them off the hook for their own behavior. Even if you are angry about someone else’s sin, that doesn’t cancel out the sin in your own life. Paul even indicates that some of them are committing the same sins they are judging others over. Jesus called this kind of thing hypocrisy.
-The word hypocrite was used for actors in plays. It is made up of two parts: the Greek prefix hypo-, meaning "under", and the verb krinein, meaning "to sift or decide". The original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to sift or decide. In a play a good actor made it difficult for the audience to tell that he was just acting. (Maybe you’ve heard the story of Sammy at the theater.) A hypocrite is someone who acts one way in front of an audience, but really lives a totally different life. It’s hard to tell who a hypocrite really is because everything looks good and sounds good, but something is missing. Hypocrisy has been called "the tribute that vice pays to virtue" (François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims). A person may act a certain way while at church or around other Christians, but slip back into their default mode as soon as they are able.
-So Paul addresses this end around attempt some of his readers are using to bypass the examination of their own lives. Some apparently think that if they keep the focus on the really bad people, then God and everybody else will not see the evil in their own lives. There is nothing new under the sun. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. And there was nobody else around left to blame, so God started with the devil and worked backwards.
-This kind of thought process that judges other people’s faults and sins while trying to conceal our own is considered to be a thinking error. It is known in psychology as projection. “Projection is a common defense mechanism where a person gets upset with a trait in someone else that he wishes to deny in himself. They suppress the knowledge that they have the same trait and externalize blame on the other person. They are highly sensitized to the unwanted behaviors in others and transfer their horror and anger at their own unwanted inner trait to an outside person. The majority of their internal thoughts or words during an argument is focused on blaming the other person. We all have a bit of projection in us, but some people have the need to blame others big time, thus obstructing their own growth and learning.
People who project blame often feel a hidden stigma and shame at possessing a disgraceful personality trait so they 'project' or transfer anger on others to distract themselves from knowing the truth about their own self. They become so highly sensitized to the presence of their unwanted traits that it interferes with their social informational processing. So they don't see reality as it is and then operate out of their misperceptions. How do you know if you are projecting your anger on others? Preoccupation, judgments and anger about others' behavior are projection. If you spot it, you got it!” (http://www.angriesout.com/grown14.htm)
-Well, I’m no psychologist, but I think we can safely say that projection can be hazardous to your health – both spiritually and physically. In fact, as Boris Pasternak has Yurii say in his novel, Doctor Zhivago, "Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike... Our nervous system isn't just fiction, it's part of our physical body, and it can't be forever violated with impunity."
-So, God wants us to be real with Him, which means being real about ourselves. God is not calling us to be perfectionists, but He is calling us to live the examined life. Let’s take a few minutes to look at some problems with projection. My hope is that after looking at these problems, we will get real with God and allow His kindness to lead us to repentance and a changed life in the areas we may have tried to hide or ignore.
1. Projection produces condemnation all around us (1)
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
-When we put on the black robe and decide to appoint ourselves as the judge of others, we bring a sense of condemnation to them, as well as to ourselves. Even if they do not hear us say anything judgmental, our smug verdict may still be very plain to them.
-Now, our knee jerk reaction to this might be to just overlook all sin and not see it as the offense it is to God. That is where our culture is today. “Don’t you dare judge me! I have every right to do whatever makes me happy! And if you don’t accept my way of life, then you must be a hatemonger!” How do you answer that? All I can really say right now is lead with grace! Or be led by grace. If your approach to someone is led by a pointed finger, you’re likely to get the same treatment.
-But shouldn’t we warn people about sin and judgment? Yes. But if you don’t lead with love and grace, then you’ll probably never be heard. People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
-So, if we aren’t supposed to approve of those who practice the terrible sins of Romans 1, and we aren’t supposed to judge them, then where does that leave us? Well, there is a lot of Romans left to cover, and Paul is taking us on the road to freedom. We’ll get there eventually, but I think one of the starting places is to realize that as believers who have been forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus, we are all sinners who could not help ourselves. The only difference between us and the pagans of Romans 1 is that we got help. We may not have asked for it or even wanted it at first, but at some point we received a gift from God that changed our lives.
-Somebody said that sharing God’s grace with others is like one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Would it be appropriate to tell the other beggar that he stinks and that his clothes are dirty? No! I would say that most beggars are keenly aware of the fact that their lives are a mess. When Jesus told his disciples He would make them fishers of men, He didn’t say that it was our job to clean them. No! He says, “You catch em, I’ll clean em!”
-So projection won’t help anybody. The louder we shout about someone else’s sins, the greater the indication that we might be covering up some vices of our own. If we judge others, we bring condemnation on them, but we also lower the boom on ourselves, since we fall under the same standard.
2. Projection does not give us a free pass (2-3)
2 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?
-The bottom line here is that God is the judge. He is the only one qualified for the job. His robe will not fit you! He alone is capable of judging based entirely on truth. V.3 makes this clear with the words, “a mere man.”
-God is the judge over all the earth and all of its inhabitants who have ever lived. He sees everything. He knows everything. And we don’t get brownie points for getting the answer right. We just need to get our relationship right.
-Now, remember that Romans is all about being made right with God based on our trust in Him, not based on our being sinless. Why does Paul seem to make the assumption that the people who judge are committing the same sins they are condemning? Did he know each of their lives? He didn’t have to. He knew the human heart. Even in A.D. 57 Paul knew that if he pointed a finger at someone else, 3 fingers were pointing back at himself. We try to hide our guilt, but every time we judge someone else, we find ourselves pointing at our own sin.
-Just because somebody else is guilty does not mean that we are innocent. All have sinned, and all need a Savior.
3. Projection is an abuse of God’s kindness (4)
4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
-Why doesn’t God judge all evil right now? Because He is still drawing people to Himself, leading them toward repentance. He is patient with us and gives us time and space to come to Him.
-Peter wrote a nearly identical thought in the 2nd book by his name: 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
-The question is what do we do with the kindness and patience of God? Do we value it? Are we grateful for it? Projection bypasses the cross and tries to justify us by comparing ourselves to others. Projection bypasses the cross by believing we are justified because we are special. Some in Rome no doubt believed that their Jewishness was cause for God to overlook their sin. Others may have trusted in how much money they had given to God or how many good works they had done. But only repentance puts us in a position to have God’s wrath and judgment pass us by. Someone said that it’s very hard to look down on someone else when you’re kneeling at the cross of Jesus.
-Any attempt to be justified by any other means than trusting in Jesus and what He did on the cross would be the equivalent of despising God’s kindness and patience.
4. Projection can lead to God’s judgment (5)
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
-If you have received God’s forgiveness and are doing life with Him, projection would seem to make little sense. Why would we need to hide our sin or hope it gets overlooked? Our sins have been forgiven! Jesus paid the price for them.
-Yet, I’ve known Christians, and I’ve been one, who try to hide their own sins and failures by focusing attention on someone else’s sins. We will often denounce others with whom we disagree and mourn the sorry moral condition of our society. All the while, we may be entertaining ungodly thoughts, or hating someone, or gossiping about someone, or committing some other sin.
-Notice that v.5 doesn’t actually list a particular sin as the cause for God’s wrath. Rather, it is a heart condition that stores up God’s wrath against oneself. If you refuse to repent and turn away from your sins, then you have something to worry about. However, if you call on the Lord and get real with Him about your sin problem, then He can help you, He can forgive you and cleanse you!
-We can’t escape God’s judgment by projecting, hiding, or denying our sins. We need to agree with truth and submit to the verdict – guilty, then let Jesus pay the price.
-So, the message today is not so much, “Do not judge,” even though we can find it here. The message is, “Get real with God and don’t try to cover your sins with anything but the blood of Jesus! Don’t trust your church attendance to take away your sins. Don’t trust your giving to take away your sins. Don’t trust your good deeds to take away your sins. Only Jesus can take away your sins! Make sure your faith is in Him alone. When we invite God to make His face shine on you, that means He is looking at you with a smile of approval because you belong to Him and your sins have been forgiven by the life of His Son Jesus. Trust Him! Love Him! Talk to Him! Get close to Him! He’s looking at you!
