Can You Believe What They Did? – Judging
Matthew 7:1-6
This week I was reading an article about a meeting that occurred during a seminar among some leading professors at some of our leading universities. During an open forum one professor reported that at his school the most damaging charge one student can lodge against another is that the person is being judgmental. He was very upset in the fact that for the past few years they had not been able to have one decent argument going in any class. He said, "As soon as somebody takes a stand on any issue, no matter the level of importance someone else will say that they are being judgmental. And that’s it. End of discussion, everyone is intimidated! No one wants to be Political incorrect.
Many of the professors agreed with his sentiments. It seems that in this time of Political Correctness we have all lost the ability to take a stand on anything. And I believe that this has even affected the church in epidemic proportions.
I want to let you know today that I don’t believe that our Lord and Messiah is very politically correct.
Christian respect does not commit us to a spectator viewpoint. Political Correctness doesn’t mean that we cannot make a judgment about what goes on around us. And Political Correctness doesn’t require us to approve of what other people believe and do.
In the church we often walk a fine line between making judgments and not being judgmental. We still read in our Scriptures:
Matthew 7:1 Judge not.
And then in John 7:24 we read, “Judge with right judgment.”
Today as we continue to look at Heart disease I want to look at the Subject of making judgments. I want us all to see that when we make judgments about people we really reveal a lot about our relationships with Christ and our heart in general.
First I want to look at two types of Judgments that we who follow Christ are called to make.
First I believe we need to judge our beliefs.
In the context of John 7 we can see that people were struggling with the claims that Jesus was making about Himself. He was claiming to be the Son of God the Messiah sent to save man, and they were having a hard time believing that someone who was from God didn’t hold to the same traditions and laws that they held to.
In essence they were having some of the same struggles trying to make God fit their rigid belief system that some of us do today.
In verses 22 and 23 Jesus shows them their error in the fact that they are willing to break the Sabbath law to keep the law of Circumcision. So there must be some things that are more important that there man made laws. That’s how we get to verse 24.
Listen to how Peterson translates it: Don’t be nitpickers; use your head—and heart! — to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.”
When we see it in context, the call to judge means something entirely different. Jesus is telling us to test our beliefs and our traditions to see if there are in line with God, and His will for our lives.
I believe that this is exactly what Paul is talking about in His letter to the Church in Thessalonica when he writes in 1 Thessalonians 5: 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
Why do we meet on the first day of the week? Why do we partake of the Lords Supper? Why do we sing A Cappella? Why do we baptize? Why do we have Elders and Deacons? Why, Why, Why?
It is not wrong to question, Jesus calls us to judge our beliefs and see if they are in line with the will of God.
Secondly I believe that it is God’s desire for those who are mature in the church to judge or recognize the sin in a brother’s life and lovingly restore them.
Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Now I want you to look at what Paul is saying here. He says restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Some others translate it, spirit of meekness, gently and humbly, or forgivingly restore him. That is a far cry from the way that others have recognize the sin in my life.
More often that not I have been bird-dogged, you know where someone has already decided that they didn’t like me or what I said and they took every opportunity to expose the sin in my life. Not in a spirit of gentleness but through bulletin articles, and closed-door meetings, and letters to area brethren.
And it is not just me that has been bird-dogged. There are publications in our brotherhood that specialize in writing nasty comments about people in the brotherhood. And it’s not just in the churches of Christ. I have had friends show me the same type of publications in the Baptist church, Lutheran church, and Methodist churches.
I believe that God has led Paul to write to the church in Thessalonica, how it should be done, in a loving and compassionate manner. The same way that Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos in Acts 18:24-26
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
That’s how it is to be done. Aquila and Priscilla judged that Apollos was wrong in His doctrine and took his aside and lovingly taught him the deeper truths. Their main concern was for Apollos’ soul and not their name or reputation. But that type of care and concern is hard to come by.
I believe that’s why Jesus says what He does about making Judgments in Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Once again listen to how Peterson translates this passage:
Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
It is so hard to judge someone with a pure heart. Because all to often in the “I have got to make myself feel better than you by putting you down” game we play we are all to quick to pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults.
We have got to realize that as followers of God who all came to God the same way, by the spilling of all of our savior’s blood, it is so unjust to judge others.
First we never fully know the circumstances that someone else is going through.
Steven Covey tells in, 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, the story of a man who riding an a bus and was greatly disturbed at a young boy who was running up and down the isle of the bus screaming and laughing at the top of his lungs, while the young boys dad just sat idly by. The man could not believe that someone would be so rude and inconsiderate, of the other people around him. He then began to notice other unflattering things about the man. His hair was unkempt so he was probably homeless, and his eyes were bloodshot so he had to be an alcoholic. Finally not able to take anymore of the child this man went and approached the dad and demanded that he get control of his young son.
The dad seeming to be shaken from a trance apologized to the man and told him that the Boys mom, his wife had just died at the hospital after struggling all night and he was trying to think of a way to break the news to the boy.
Next it is next to impossible to be impartial in our judgments.
A mother had a son and daughter both of whom were married. When she was describing her son and daughter in law she said, -"The daughter got such a wonderful husband. He lets her sleep late, insists on her going to the beauty parlor, will not let her cook, and takes her out to dinner every night."
She then said, "But I’m not so happy for my son. He married a girl who is lazy, sleeps late every morning, spends her time in the beauty parlor, will not cook and makes him take her out all the time."
Keep in mind that we can only see the outward man, not the inward man.
When picking His king for the Children of Israel God tells Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7 Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.
She prayed, ’Please God, send me an angel . . . preferably one with mechanical experience.’ Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and, without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame, and whisked the whole rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump.
The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket: ’Hell’s Angels -- California’. As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, "Thanks so much," and carry on a brief conversation. Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, "Don’t judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you’re talking to." With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.
And Jesus says that God has given him the right to judge
John 5:22 The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,
When we judge someone unjustly we infringe on the prerogative of God! When we critically judge another we then call in question that very law itself, setting our standards and opinions over and against the law of the Lord. And, we become judges of this law rather than doers.
So if it is so unjust then why do we do it? What causes judging and speck hunting? Well there I believe that there are three reasons:
First it is an effort to draw attention away from my own sins.
Remember in John 12 when Mary was anointing the feet of Christ? It was Judas who accused Mary of wastefulness when the Bible tells us that he had been stealing from the bag.
Second we do it to sooth our conscience.
When I find a fault in your life it is very easy for me to blow it out of proportion so that I sit back and think" ... why I’m not bad after all."
Judging others is a dangerous thing, not so much because you make mistakes about them but because you may be revealing the truth about yourself." The thing that I hate most about you is usually the thing I hate most about myself.
You don’t believe me? Find someone with a temper and they will complain about someone else’s short fuse.
Someone who tells lies will grumble about how you can never trust someone.
Someone who lacks initiative will nit pick someone for being lazy.
Thirdly we use the opportunity to build ourselves up while tearing down someone else.
If I can make someone look small in your eyes then I feel good, but if I can make someone look small in my own eyes well that’s gravy. This is exactly what the Pharisee was praying in Luke 18:11-12
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
Finally today I want to remind you that we have been Transformed not conformed. Just because the world acts or Judges or lives a certain way is not a good reason for those who have been called into the light to act like them.
We have been called to Love.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 Love is "always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient."
If we can truly love then we will learn to look for the good in others. Even though Paul was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, God saw in him the possibility of being a chosen vessel. I hope that we will be able to be like the bee and concentrate on the sweet and beautiful, rather than like the buzzard who concentrates on the dead and the foul.
We have been called to practice the golden rule.
If you would let me substituting "think and judge" for "do" in Matthew 7:12 it would read, " So whatever you wish that others would think and judge of you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Think about how much hurt you inflict into the heart of your victim. The sharp barbs of harsh criticism and judgment wound and discourage. This person can only come to Christ through the same cross that you have and being members of the same family, and having the same Father, should make a difference in our demeanor!
I believe that there is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it is pointless to talk about the rest of us.
CONCLUSION
It was F.B. Meyer who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are three things we do not know:
First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin.
Second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her.
Thirdly we also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.
With that in mind how could we even begin to pass judgment.
