Should We Judge? "Absolutely, Positively."
John 7:24
July 17, 2005
Introduction
Last week, on our walk through the gospel of Matthew, we looked at the words of Jesus in chapter 7, verses 1-5 where Jesus says that we are not to judge, and that we need to be careful about cleaning up our own lives before we presume to be in a position to clean up the lives of others.
But we also discussed the fact that this passage is not saying to never judge, only that a harsh, critical, and condemning attitude is what Jesus was addressing, because later in John, Jesus says the words that form the basis of our message today, from chapter 7, verse 24 -
"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
Please allow me to very quickly review what we covered last week, as I think this will give us a little context for my comments today.
First, I said that not all judging is bad, and that’s kind of where we’re going today as we look at what is involved in "good" judging. We are commanded in Scripture to be people of good judgment, and to carefully discern right from wrong. And yes, this includes evaluating the lifestyles of individuals at times, because there are lifestyles that are prevalent in our society today that are sinful.
As I said last week, many times we’re not the ones doing the judging - it’s God. He has pronounced things to be good or bad. We’re simply communicating that.
Second, people judge all the time, whether they recognize it or not, or whether they admit it or not. When someone says they are "not judgmental," in reality it means that they have judged something to be okay, even if others don’t. They are just as judgmental as everyone else.
Third, I said that judging does not need to be harsh. When we think about making judgments, we are many times confronted with the idea that judging and discussing our judgments needs to be done in a harsh, angry manner. But, while we need to be firm, we do not need to be mean or harsh. Jesus was harsh not with the sinners, but with the religious people.
In discussing judging, Jesus said that the measure we use to judge others will be used to judge us. And therefore, we need to make sure we’re using the right measure, which is the never-changing word of God, as opposed to the always changing whims and opinions of society, because truth is not determined by majority opinion.
And lastly, we looked at the fact that judging others while being blind to your own sins and shortcomings is hypocritical, the very thing Jesus condemns in the passage about judging. If you condemn Enron executives for stealing from their company, yet are a gossip and a backbiter, you are in sin, and are the type of person Jesus was addressing in Matthew 7.
We make judgments all the time. We judge food, clothes, hair, TV shows, cars, and all sorts of stuff. We make judgments about events and issues, and everybody does it.
And you know what? We should. We should absolutely make judgments, or at least pronounce the judgments of Scripture.
But I want us to get past the negative connotations of the whole concept of judging.
Did you know that making judgments and talking about them can be done in a positive manner? It’s true! And that’s the point of the message, and the title, "Should We Judge? Absolutely, Positively."
Why am I talking about this? Because I want the church of Jesus Christ to be seen, not as some institution filled with a bunch of religious hypocrites who have nothing better to do than criticize and rant, but as a body of people whose love for Christ and his word equip us to impact our world for Jesus in a positive manner.
So to that end, let’s take a look at what Jesus says about judging by focusing on the two phrases that make up our verse for today.
In this verse, we find two very distinct instructions that we would do well to take to heart, and the first one is...
"Stop judging by mere appearances..."
You know, I make fun of myself and my appearance sometimes, and I make note of the fact that I’m more likely to be compared to Patrick Stewart, the Captain from Star Trek: The Next Generation, than to be compared to say, Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.
Actually, I’m kind of a fan of Hector Elizondo, the bodyguard/chauffeur from The Princess Diaries. He’s gotta be the coolest bald guy in the movies right now...
My point here is that at first glance I don’t think I make that much of an impression. And if people were to judge me based merely on my appearance, they won’t get an accurate picture of who I am and what I’m all about.
Then they see my wife and they think, "Man, he’s got to have SOMETHING going for him to get that good of a wife." And as they get to know me, they find out that I’m more than what my appearance alone would say.
That’s true for all of us, isn’t it? The problem is that we judge people by their appearance all the time, in spite of the fact that it’s not an accurate measure.
And while it describes the way God operates, the principle found in 1 Samuel 16:7 is applicable to us as well -
"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
But it’s not just people we tend to judge - or misjudge, in most cases. We often look at situations, or hear or read something that can set us off. We make a judgment without checking it out.
Looking at the context of our passage today, we see that Jesus references a healing that he had done on a previous Sabbath which had the Pharisees and religious leaders all in a tizzy, because it appeared that Jesus had broken the Sabbath, at least according to the laws of the Pharisees.
But Jesus says that, "Hey - what about being able to circumcise a baby on the Sabbath, huh? Why is it okay to perform a ritual of purity, but not okay to heal a whole person on the Sabbath? Your standard of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable is based merely on what appears to be against the Sabbath, based on your faulty theology."
So what’s the lesson here? Look beneath the surface. Don’t just assume that what is on the surface is all there is to know about someone or something.
The second piece of instruction Jesus gives us here is to...
"...Make a right judgment."
Let’s look at 5 ways to help us do that:
1. Slow down.
Don’t be in a rush to judge.
Proverbs 20:3 -
It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.
People are very quick to jump on something, especially if it’s their "pet" issue or something.
They’re like a lion just waiting to pounce on someone if they say the right (or wrong) thing.
But it’s much wiser to just hang back a bit and listen and look. You might just be surprised that your initial impressions were wrong.
So slow down. Second...
2. Do some research.
Don’t just assume anything about someone or their position on an issue, or about their actions.
Why is this important? Your previous "knowledge" might be faulty.
Gather your facts. Stay away from stereotypes and labels.
You know what I’ve found? I’ve found that the people who have done the least amount of research and thinking scream the loudest.
And I have to wonder if they’ve ever had an original thought about the matter in decades. They can spout the party line just fine, whatever the issue and whichever side they’re on.
You know what? Christians are as guilty of this as anybody. People who call themselves followers of Christ, who are called to be people of good judgment and discernment, and who Jesus said were to love God with all our heart, soul, MIND, and strength, are terrible at actually taking the time to think through an issue any more than reading the press releases and talking points from their favorite public policy group or preacher.
And because that’s all they know how to do, they make up for their lack of knowledge by raising the volume of their voice, and this leads me to third way to go about being absolutely positive as you make judgments...
3. Communicate your position in a reasoned and reasonable manner.
There’s a radio commercial that’s been out for years, and it starts off by saying that people judge you by the words you speak. They judge you and your level of intelligence by how you speak. And it’s true. Is it fair? Probably not - but that’s the world we live in.
And if we cannot communicate our stances on things without screaming, ranting, or just using tired and worn clichés, then don’t expect people to listen.
And if they don’t listen, then they’re not going to consider the truth of your position.
Paul was great at communicating in a reasoned and reasonable manner. No matter who he talked to, he was able to help them see the truth.
This short passage from Acts 17, when Paul was in Thessalonica is a great example.
Paul...reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
This type of description of Paul is found many times in the book of Acts.
And then look at the instructions of Paul in 2 Timothy 2, which I referenced last week but really wanted you to see for yourself today. Please read this aloud with me.
And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Remember, a firm position does not need to be communicated with the volume level of a ranting maniac. But it does need to be communicated reasonably, in a reasoned manner.
4. Allow brothers and sisters to live in freedom.
A slight detour here, but so often when we talk about the issue of judging, we tend to think of social issues and sins like homosexuality or theft, or gossip. But what about judging other believers?
Did you know that there are believers in the world who actually think that it’s okay to go to movies? (Gasp!)
Did you know that there are believers in the world who actually think it’s okay to only eat vegetables? (Gasp! Gasp!)
And did you know that there are believers in this world who actually think that it’s okay to listen to rock music and dance? (Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!)
But wait! There’s more! There are some believers who think it’s okay to listen to country music!
There are some believers who think it’s okay to have a drink once in a while. Or a smoke. I think of such people as C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer, just to name a couple, not to mention everybody else around today, famous or otherwise.
There are some believers who think that all sports are worldly and should be avoided by Christians - either participating or watching.
None of these are addressed in Scripture, and finding principles governing them is hard, and Bible-believing people who love Jesus will disagree about them.
So what do we do? We choose to let it go.
Romans 14:10 -
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
Then down to verse 13 (not in your note-taking guide) -
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
Ahh, now there’s something we don’t think about very much. Rather than just looking critically at someone, why don’t we make sure that we’re not in the way of someone’s walk with Christ?
So allow believers to live in the freedoms they believe they have. If they are not in sin (according to Scripture, not your opinion), then you need to let it go.
Let’s move quickly to the last way to make good judgments and that is to...
5. Let God be the ultimate judge.
God will judge both the unbeliever and the believer.
It’s not our job to send people to hell or to convict them of their sin. Those jobs don’t belong to us.
When I first came to Christ, I didn’t know you shouldn’t get drunk. So guess what? I got drunk, until a few months later when I realized what it would do to harm my efforts to win people to Christ, and that the Bible speaks specifically about not getting drunk.
But if you would have seen me then, many here would have thought I was not a Christian. But I was! And I would have been in heaven had I died during that period.
Folks, Scripture is very clear that God is the ultimate judge. You will not stand before me in the end, nor will I stand before you.
All people will stand before God, and it’s ultimately up to him as to what is acceptable and what is not.
Yes, we’re to make judgments about things, using the word of God as our standard. But ultimately, people will stand before God and answer to him, not to us.
And don’t forget - Jesus says we’re supposed to start with ourselves before looking critically at other people.
Conclusion
Are we to judge? Absolutely. But we can do so in a positive manner.
We can be godly people of good judgment and discernment, but we don’t have to be people of harsh, critical spirit.
We need to be people who recognize truth and error, but who can communicate in such a way that people who disagree actually listen.
I’m convinced that if Christians can really get a handle on this, we would find that there are lots of people out there who would seriously consider the truths of Jesus.
But they’re blinded by their perceptions of Christians as just being a bunch of hypocritical idiots who don’t know how think for themselves.
So here’s the challenge: prove them wrong.
Be careful in your judging - reflect not only the truths of Christ, but also the love of Christ.
And show the world that being a Christian involves using your mind, in making absolute, yet positive judgments.
Let’s pray.
