Jesus Teaches About Judging Others (Matt 7:1-5)
In an age of tolerance, perhaps one of today’s worst reactions is a self-destructive tendency that needs to be checked is a hypocritical, judgmental attitude that tears down in order to build oneself up. Jesus is not giving a blanket statement to be naive toward others. The Lord is not telling us to overlook wrong behavior just for the sake of tolerance. Jesus knew that the Pharisees dominated the religious landscape of His day with their judgmentalism. Today His words of warning against judging are even more needed in our world of angry, critical and cynical thinking.
Jesus said, "Stop judging others and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, "Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye when you cannot see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye."
Quote: Pride is at the root of judgmentalism. Those who know God will be humble. Those who know themselves cannot be proud.
Quote: If you think God’s thoughts, you will tend to not think too highly of yourself.
Quote: Great people are the ones unconscious of greatness; only little people want to increase their significance by putting down others.
Illustration: Some people make judging others their specialty. According to some century-old church records, a congregation in a small midwestern town in the United States appointed two officers in the church and gave them the titles of "Pointer" and "Beaner." They each had a special responsibility during the Sunday sermons.
The duty of Pointer was to call out the names of those in the congregation who needed to take particular note of the sermon. Beaner’s task was to sit in the choir loft with a bean shooter (no doubt the envy of young boys) and awaken drowsy attenders with a well-aimed bean. Who would want to attend that church?
Jesus warned about the danger of pointing out the faults of others. He said people with planks in their eyes should not attempt to remove specks out of other people’s eyes. He challenged His hearers to choose humility rather than hypocrisy by always applying the truth to themselves before noting the faults in others.
What would people find in our churches today? Those who specialize in speck removal or plank removal? If it’s the latter, they’ll likely hear someone say, "I’m glad I heard today’s sermon--I really needed it!" And they may want to return next Sunday. Jonie Yoder (Our Daily Bread)
Jesus said, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45,46) -
Jesus knew that our speech reveals the true underlying beliefs, attitudes and motivations of our being. If people are judgmental and unforgiving they reveal a prideful Pharisaical attitude that is displeasing to God. Do not associate with such people who are given to anger or you will become like them.
Illustration: When I served as a missionary in Nigeria I lived next to an old abandoned well. Adjacent to that well grew a large mango tree. However, the fruit of that giant mango tree was very bitter because its roots drew from the rancid garbage that had been thrown down that old abandoned well. Even though the fruit looked delicious on the outside, its taste was putrid. That is the way many people are unless they are willing to let the blood of Christ cleanse their thoughts, attitudes and motivations. Many people choose to remain bitter instead of allowing the Lord, His word and His Spirit to make them better from the inside out.
Here are a few guidelines to help us avoid the tendency to have a judgmental attitude:
1. Jesus is teaching us to be discerning not negative in our perspectives, attitudes and relationships. Surely, the Lord instructs us to expose false prophets and beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Ultimately, we are to leave the judging to God who is the only one who is completely in possession of all the facts about people.
2. Jesus warns us against trying to see clearly before taking the obstacles from our own perspectives. Unconsciously we all have things in our mind’s eye that tend to distort our ability to see with complete objectivity. Only the sovereign Lord is able to understand all peoples’ motives. Perhaps a person is doing something that makes perfect sense to their temperamental motivation for peace, harmony and good human relations where you want to see tasks completed. Allow the one who made man to correctly evaluate according to His standards and not our own.
3. Jesus wants us to know that to attribute bad motives to other people is wrong. It is easy to impugn wrong motivations to other people. This is judgment that is reserved for God along and is self-destructive. Paul wrote, "You who judge and condemn others are destroying yourselves. For in posing as judge you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things that you censure and denounce. But we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things." (Rom. 2:1,2)
We need to recognze that criticism usually tells us much more about the critic that the one who is being criticized. People who set themselves up as judges are placing themselves in a precarious position to be judged by God for trying to take His rightful job.
3. Jesus teaches us to avoid suggesting that other people are acting out of pride, selfishness, laziness, malice, or anger. It is inappropriate to think that we can correctly understand the reason when the root cause may be some deeper root cause. Many people act angry because they are not in fellowship with God. When we understand the root causes of people’s problems we tend to be more sympathetic, compassionate and patient with them.
4. Jesus teaches us that is wrong to attack others. It is a Machieavellian attitude to insist that a good offense is better than great defense. People who attack others are guilty of presumptuous thinking that is caused by mischaracterizing or misinterpreting people’s thinking, attitudes or actions. When a person insists that people are liars then you can tell that they are attacking people with a character assasination mentality that is going to come back on them with a vengeance.
5. Jesus teaches that is wrong to try to blame others for the cause of problems. We all like to shove problems on to others but we fail to recognize and deal with our own contributions to difficulties first. Blaming others, the devil and the evils of society will insure that the problems will only perpetuate. When we blame other people we can fall in to depression. The New Testament teaches us to put away anger and put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven us. (Eph. 4:28-32)
6. Jesus teaches us to not try to dominate, control or manipulate others with investigative attitudes. So much of our media is filled with investigative reporting. The "gotcha mentality" is so prevalent that many people are presumed guilty even without a trial. 60 minutes, the longest running show on TV, has made a living for many people by trying to uncover alleged wrongs. Exposes try to dig up dirt on people for the sake of righting wrongs, but often, there is a mentality of superiority in journalists that presuppose guilty before hearing all the facts. Jesus teaches us not to get in to the blame game. We need to be content with dealing with our own guilt and shortcomings.
7. Jesus teaches us to avoid trying to dominate others by using judgmental attitudes. Some people use judging as a power-play moves to keep others in their place while subtly assuming they are superior judges of other people’s character. This is a certain formula for winning small battles but losing the greater war. Confrontation is only positive when two people are friends and remain on the same level ground.
8. Jesus teaches us to avoid refusing to relate or to relate to others assuming that people are too far gone. The Lord taught in Matt 18:15 that "If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses." (Matt 18:15,16)Correction is to be done privately in order to gently correct instead of taking a judgmental tone of voice to people. Restoration, reconciliation and renewal are the guide words that should govern all relationships.
9. Jesus teaches us to avoid relying on second-hand information or assumptions about people. It is easy to assume that people will not listen to you or they are too busy to talk. In truth more people are afraid of revealing their own pride, judgmental attitudes and bitterness. People like to gossip instead of recognizing that we need to forgive even as God in Christ has forgiven us.
10. Jesus teaches us to infer that others are manipulative, abusive or condescending when they may simply feel they are getting the job done. We live in a world where people are quick to sue others for job discrimination for the slightest problems. The writer of James taught, "Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger, for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God." (James 1:19) Remember, that our employer may be so concerned about doing a good job that he might overlook our feelings. This does not indicate he purposely abuses us. Learn to be bigger than all problems, by knowing that you can be content in whatever circumstance you find yourself in because you can do everything God asks you to do with the help of Christ who gives you the strength and power. (Phil. 4:12,13)
Application: Learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and admirable, think on these things. Look more at the 50% of the jar that is full and positive instead of the 50% that is negative or empty.
11. Jesus teaches us to not relate to people’s alleged emotions instead of the facts. I do not have to feel angry when I am cut off in traffic by an angry driver. The New Testament teaches do not return evil for evil, but with good. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12) There is no need for me to get bent out of shape when others are. An emergency on another’s part does not constitute one on my part. I do not have to take up another’s grievances just to pretend to be empathetic. Remain above the fray of wild emotionalism.
12. Jesus is teaching us to not judge the reactions of others by the way we would react. Some cool headed people are more apt to go along to get along where cholerics want to see the job get done regardless of who misunderstands. Many times a weakness for one is a strength for somebody else. We are only responsible for doing God’s will for our life not for another. Do not evaluate others on the basis of your own temperament or personality type. This causes many people to error in judgment when they assign motives to people on the basis of their personality.
13. Jesus is teaching us not to reject people because of their viewpoint. Different cultures have different ways of perceiving situations. Opinions, methods and practices are often conditioned according to upbringings that are different than our own. Politicians are often guilty of writing people off because of their party differences. Realize that a person may be operating according to their conditioned responses that make perfect sense to them.
Application: Let God be the judge and do not try to take His place as the righteous judge. This will go a long ways in preventing problems and resolving differences and minimizing self-destructive attitudes, actions and thinking.
