“To Judge Or Not To Judge, Now That’s A Really Good Question”
Matthew 7:1-6
OKAY - I want to start off our time together this morning by reading 2 passages of Scripture, and then I will pray us into our time of study.
The first passage is in Luke 18 beginning at verse 9...
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. - Luke 18:9-14
The second passage is from John 8, beginning at verse 2...
It actually was our reading for this past Tuesday in our FCFH...
AND LISTEN – if you are doing this plan you are really missing out.
At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men.
Only He was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” – John 8:2-11
Prayer
MGCC – 2000 years ago on a grassy hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee...
Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever preached.
The Sermon on the Mount...
His Kingdom Manifesto about want it means to be His follower and to live in His Kingdom.
UNDERSTAND – because oof the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Jesus-followers are empowered to live lives that are distinct, different than the world around them and the religious leaders who are over them.
Different and distinct in regard to...
Lust, anger, marriage, divorce, truth telling, keeping our word, responding when wronged, how we treat our enemies, where to store up treasure,
and in regard to worry and anxiety
Such relevant and practical stuff... AMEN!
Relevant and practical 2000 years ago and still relevant and practical today.
NOW – the passage we are going to dive into this morning is Matthew 7:1-6...
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
QUESTION – have you ever heard that verse before?
NOW MAYBE - you have heard it in the good ole KJV, ‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
YEAH - people don't even believe in the Bible, but boy, they believe in that verse, and they say it with attitude. Jesus said, ‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
IN OTHER WORDS - you have no right to tell me how to live. I'll do what I want with my life.
AND UNDERSTAND MGCC
Both non-Christians and Christians have weaponized this verse to prevent anyone from making a moral judgment on their life. “You can’t tell me how to live. Who are you to tell me that this behavior is wrong or sinful.
I MEAN - even this Jesus of yours said,
‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
QUESTION – but is this ‘really’ what Jesus is saying?
LIKE – is Jesus saying that...
• We are never to call out sin, as sin?
• We have to keep our mouths shut whenever we see a brother or sister caught up in ungodly attitudes or behaviors?
is Jesus saying that...
• We are not allowed to proclaim or affirm our beliefs in the moral truths found the Bible....
Because so many in our world today will view it as being both hateful and judgmental?
OKAY – back to our text...
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. – Matthew 7:1-6
OKAY... so that is our text for today’s conversation, the title of which, is my longest title ever...
“To Judge Or Not To Judge,
Now That’s A Really Good Question”
MGCC...
• Do you think that the topic of, ‘judge not, lest you be judged’ is a relevant topic for us today?
• Do you think that judging other people (especially rash and harsh judgments) is an issue in our current cultural.
• Has the church (i.e., Jesus-followers) ever gotten it wrong when it comes to judging?
• Do you think that these words of Jesus in Matthew 7, have often been misunderstood, abused and misapplied?
NOW – as I have already mentioned this passage of Scripture is often misinterpreted and weaponized in an effort to shut down any and all moral judgements.
IN FACT – I am convinced that this is one of the most pervasive values in culture today. Tolerate everything, every kind of behavior, every kind of belief system. You have no right to say if something is right or wrong.
‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
YEAH - it does stink to be judged, doesn't it?
LIKE - how many of you have ever been wrongly judged?
NOW - oddly enough, that's never happened to me.
Like no one ever judges me.
No it’s actually kind of the opposite.
Anyway, it does feel horrible to be judged, right?
AND - it's no secret that this theme alone is probably the number one theme that drives non-Christians away from Christianity.
"Those Christians are just so judgmental. They're so narrow-minded. Such hypocrites.
Jesus said, "Do not judge or you, too, will be judged."
BUT MGCC - is that exactly what He meant when He said those words on that grassy hillside 2000 years ago.
I MEAN - if that's true, then we have to acknowledge that...
• No teacher has the right to judge an essay. Who are you to say if that was an A or a B? You have no right to judge my paper. I MEAN...
• If we take it at face value, then no one on a jury has the right to judge or hold someone accountable for a crime. Who are you to say if I'm innocent or guilty?
No police officer has no right to tell you if you're driving on the wrong side of the road. Who are you to judge me? I just feel better driving on this side of the road. You have no right to tell me where I can drive. ‘Judge not, lest you be judged’
QUESTION - is this ‘really’ what Jesus was saying?
YEAH - I think we would all probably agree that at some level... maybe we are allowed to judge...
QUESTION, does...
• A father have a right to judge the guy who comes to the house to pick up his daughter... a guy: who doesn’t have a job, dropped out of school, is obviously on drugs and thinks socialism is about very active on social media?
• A homeowner have a right to judge the guy who he hired to paint his house, if he painted it the wrong color?
• A J-F have the right to speak into the life of another believer who’s caught up in some sinful behavior.
What if it’s a guy who is being verbally abusive to his wife? What if his wife happens to be your daughter.
• A Jesus-follower have the right (and maybe even an obligation) to express their beliefs in the public forum. But what if those beliefs are in direct and hostile disagreement with the current culture and are viewed as hate speech?
MGCC – like, do you see how very complicated and yet important, incredibly important it is that we get this right.
Do not judge, or you, too, will be judged.
What exactly does Jesus mean?
AND... AND – how can we figure it out.I MEAN – like, how can we be sure that our understanding of Jesus words in Matthew 7:1-6, is the correct one?
AGAIN B/S – it’s so important that we get this right? AND – I’m not sure that we always do.
AND LISTEN -
I want you to know that it is extremely important, as I stand up as a spokesman for God, that I get it right.
AND MAN – I gotta tell you, Saturday morning when I typed out those words about being a spokesman for God... It was not only extremely intimidating, but also it seemed pretty presumptuous of me.
BUT NEVERTHELESS – that is who I am and what I am doing each Sunday when I stand up here and I take very seriously.
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. – James 3:1
NOW – I spent a lot of time wrestling with these 6 verses all week long. AND – when I woke early on Saturday morning.
It was time for me to try to pull it all together in the best and clearest way possible with His help.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – I recognize how important is to handle the word of God correctly, after all we read in Hebrews chapter 4.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, - Hebrews 4:12
OKAY – let’s do this...
Matthew 7:1-6, ‘To Judge Or Not To Judge, Now That’s A Really Good Question...”
NOW – the way I want to attack this conversation is by unpacking three statements...
• Judging Not
• Removing Specks, and
• Knowing When To Not
QUESTION – when we study Scripture...
Especially passages that are tough to understand and that are often misinterpreted, misused and misapplied.
How can figure out what they actually do mean?
By applying basic principles of Biblical Interpretation.
BTW...
(website, Spotify, apple podcast, tunein)
NOW – one very important principle we talk about a lot is...
The Principle Of Context
Context is... KING. NOW - this principle is about not taking a verse out of context.
LIKE - we want to know who wrote this, when did they write it, why did they write it, who was it written to, what comes before this verse, what is after this verse?
AGAIN - we don't want to just pull a verse or a phrase out of its context.
For example... In Psalm 14:1, we find this phrase
There is no God
But what’s the context,
The fool says in His heart, ‘this is no God...”
OKAY – so what’s the context of Matthew 7:1-6
Well it’s in the middle of Jesus’ Kingdom manifesto about how His followers are to live their lives distinct and different from the world around them and from the religious leaders who are over them.
AND LISTEN – when we make context King we are using Scripture to help us understand Scripture, a good thing btw.
QUESTION... What comes right before Mathew chapter 7:1
‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
The answer is Mathew chapter 6.
NOW - in Mathew chapter 6, one of the big themes is hypocrisy. I MEAN – like, Jesus is hammering the pharisees for their hypocrisy.
LIKE - in verse 2, in verse 5 and in verse 16,
He's dealing with their hypocrisy when it comes to –
giving, praying and fasting.
SO - the flow of Jesus’ teaching, is... the theme of hypocrisy.
QUESTION – do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:20 (again in the same sermon) He said that those who live in His kingdom must have a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
Whose favorite past time was judging other people, LIKE...
• The woman caught in adultery
• The tax-collector praying in the Temple, and
• They even judged Jesus and found Him worthy of death.
OKAY – that’s what comes before Matthew 7:1...
‘Judge not, lest you be judged...’
What comes after it? LIKE - the rest of Matthew of Matthew 7, where we see Jesus instructing us to...
• Remove the speck from our brothers eye
• Not give what is sacred to pigs and dogs
• Watch out for false prophets who we will recognize by their fruit.
AND UNDERSTAND – removing a speck out of our brothers eye, and determining who is a pig, a dog or a false prophet will require that we make some kind of judgment.
Does that make sense? Are you tracking with me?
OKAY – what I am trying to say... is that in Matthew 7:1-6 Jesus is not telling us that...
• we are to live our lives without any discernment
• we never have the right to speak into the lives of other believers, or
• that we must hide and remain silent about Biblical truth
INSTEAD – He is telling us is that we should be very, very careful about ‘how’ we judge. UNDERSTAND – what Jesus is calling out is not exercising judgment but being judgmental.
Any there is a huge difference.
UNDERSTAND MGCC...
Judging someone is about discerning truth based on facts.
Being judgmental is about being censorious and finding fault with people without cause based on personal feelings or assumptions.
(censorious – severely critical) Sen sore re es
YEAH – I know that this was a lot of background and introductory stuff... BUT – it is critical to unpacking our text, which we are about to do after...
Prayer
OKAY – let’s do this Matthew 7:1-6
AND REMEMBER – this is part of Jesus’ Kingdom Manifesto,
YEAH – I know the world around you and the religious leaders who are over you have their own ideas and opinions when it comes to judging others, but I say to you, in my Kingdom ‘this’ is how we do things....
OKAY – let’s talk about judging not.
AND BTW – this is going to be a two part conversation.
I MEAN – it is just too serious and important for us to rush through it.
LIKE – we really need to get this right and too many times Jesus-followers have not gotten it right.
Judging Not...
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. – Matthew 7:1,2
a) Don’t judge superficially
QUESTION – have you ever judged people superficially?
AND – what does that even mean?
Well one way to judge superficially is to judge others based on appearance.
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. – John 7:24
QUESTION – do you ever judge people by appearance?
NOW – studies have shown, that...
• attractive students get more attention and higher evaluations from their teachers than lesser attractive people.
• Good looking patients get more personalized care from their doctors.
• Handsome criminals receive lesser sentences than lesser attractive criminals
AND – looks matter at work too. According to research done by a couple of economic professors at the University of Texas and Michigan State.
• ‘plain looking’ people earn 5-10% less than people with ‘average looks,’ who in turn earn 3-8% less than those deemed ‘good looking.’
• Height and weight matter also... a study of male graduates from the University of Pittsburgh found that taller students average starting salary was 12% higher than their shorter colleagues.
A Guy named Gordon Pattser who has spent 3 decades studying and writing about physical attractiveness wrote;
Human beings are hardwired to respond more favorably to attractive people. Studies of babies have shown that they look more attentive and longer at attractive faces.
Which kind of explains why babies have always stared at me so much.
AND MGCC – I don’t think I need to tell you, that we live in a time... where our that government leaders, our media and our educational system... want us to do is judge other people by appearance... by the color of our skin.
YET – Jesus says...
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. – John 7:24
Checkout what James wrote in his letter...
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?...If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. – James 2:1-4,8,9
NOW – another way that we judge people superficially is when we jumped to conclusions without having all of the facts... while only seeing a part of the story.
AND LISTEN – because of SM there is a literal epidemic of people rushing to judgment without context.
All based on what it looks like.
NO – things are not always as they appear.
Context matters
Giving people the benefit of the doubt matters.
Listen people deserve that rather than our judgmental assumptions.
Now I heard about a guy on the plane who was really getting angry and frustrated because the man in the seat in front of him obviously had no control over his toddler-age son.
The young boy would not settle down and keep crying.
Finally he had enough, and he got up and started to let this young father have...
We’ve been in the air for 3 hours and that kid of yours has not stop crying even for a minute.
What’s the problem don’t you know how to be parent.
Where’s the boy’s mother anyhow, maybe she can do something about this...
She is in a casket in the plane, we are taking her home for her funeral.
Ever judged like that?
Ever been judged like that?
B/S – let’s not judge before we have all the facts and assume the worst of people.
Let’s not judge people based on their worst moment.
NOW – yeah I know, our culture does that all of the time.
BUT LISTEN – we are not called to be like our culture we are called to be like Jesus.
Get It?
b) Don’t judge hypocritically
In others words, don’t be like the Pharisee in Luke 18 that we read about at the start of today’s conversation.
A GUY - who easily saw and condemned the sin in the lives of other people while ignoring his own sin.
NOW – Paul dealt with this very issue in Romans 2...
When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things... Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?
Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
Romans 4:2-4
UNDERSTAND - this (judging hypocritically) is so easy and so common. LIKE - we tend to accuse others and we excuse ourselves.
"Oh, you ought to hear what they did. Oh my gosh. Do you know what I heard? Me? Oh wait, you don't know the whole story. If you just knew what I went through, you'd understand. If you just knew my intentions. That's not who I am. That was just one time." Right?
You guys are so quiet. I must be preaching really good. I've never heard it this quiet in a long time. Must be getting on a nerve, you're so quiet. We accuse others and we excuse ourselves.
c) Don’t judge unwarily
(without heed or caution)
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:2
Unaware that...
The measure you use to judge others that this is how God will judge you..
NOW – we have seen this same idea already in the SM
• If you forgive, God will forgive you
• If you show mercy, God will show mercy to you
QUESTION – do you want God to judge you the way you judge other people?
NOW – another way that I think we see this, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Lived out is if you judge other people harshly, superficially,
By appearance and without having all the facts don’t be surprised if that is how they in turn judge you.
d) Don’t judge outsiditly
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. – 1 Corinthians 5:12,13
Understand, if we are believers, then we are in this thing together, as iron sharpens iron, so we are supposed to help one another, spur one another on toward good works, to show love, to help gently restore people who have fallen away?
Aren't we to help our family members?
In other words, at my house, we have certain rules that we expect our kids to follow...
BUT LISTEN - I can't hold your kids accountable for my family rules. It’s not my business. It’s your family.
UNDERSTAND – if someone is outside the family of God, we don't hold them accountable to Christian family rules.
LIKE - we don’t expect them to act like Jesus, before they surrender to Him.
e) Don’t preferentially
don't judge others based in your own preferences.
have you ever done that?
what kind of person likes cats?
who would ever think Tom Brady is not the goat
I would never get a tattoo
f) Don’t judge enjoyably
understand if judging others is something that makes you feel happy and alive. that is not good.
so repent and hang out more with Jesus
g) don't judge condemningly
the goal is not to condemn but to restore
2000 years ago on a grassy hillside overlooking the Seas of Galilee, Jesus proclaimed His kingdom Manifesto.
and in this manifesto He talked about many relevant and practical things and one of those things was about judging others. And when it comes to judging others Jesus is like, 'yeah I know the world and the religious do it 'this way' but I say to you..."
