To judge or not to judge? (Part II of III)
Matthew 7:1-5 (Jesus speaking), “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.”
In reading the entire context (Matthew 7:1-5), it becomes very plain that Jesus is denouncing (or judging!) the person who has a critical, fault finding attitude even though the judging person’s life is full of unrepentant sin. No one has the right to pick at minor faults (“the speck of sawdust”) in others, says Jesus, when he has not yet dealt with his own major blemishes (“the plank”). That is hypercritical judging which is dishonest and condemned by our Lord.
In effect, Jesus is saying, repent of your own gross sin before you point your finger at someone else’s sin. It is not wrong to find sins in others. It is only wrong to use your index finger in pointing out these flaws when you have equivalent or even worse sins yourself.
Then Jesus states something that is often ignored. He declares that once you clean up your own spiritual life, then you are to go help brothers and sisters in Christ clean up their spiritual lives, too.
When a person has slipped, it is time for compassion, not censoring. It is time for reaching out with one’s hand and offering to pull the person to oneself, not to push him farther away. It is time to speak kindly to him, not negatively or destructively.
There is never a spirit of criticism in the humble and loving Christ-like person. There is only loving compassion for those in unrepentant sin.
Yes, we can judge the actions and words of others and to withhold any judgment would be irresponsible and even dangerous for yourself and those you love — especially your children and grandchildren. But if we freely take upon ourselves the process of morally judging others, then our own moral houses must be in order, not perfect, not sinless, but sincerely connected to the Lord God of the Holy Bible.
Furthermore, our attitude should be one of trying to be truthful and helpful with the one being judged. We should all offer judgment with truth and love. God expects all of us to make our moral and ethical judgments based and guided, not by the latest polls, but by His Holy Word — which is “the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
John 7:24 (Jesus speaking), “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
Next time: “Judging” others and the story of the woman caught in adultery, considered, in the conclusion to “To Judge or Not to Judge?”
---------------
Like on Facebook: firstchristianchurchdonnatexas.
---------------
Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.