The Good Life: Judging and Self Examination Matthew 7:1-6 (ESV) The command against judging Judge not (1a) Consider two scenarios I. Bob w/friends at the bar. Rarely drinks. Watching game with one beer. II. Bob (almost one year sober) at the bar. About to take a drink. A. This is the type of question the passage before us brings up. III. Bob (almost 1 year sober) at the bar. About to take a drink. You go in. He quotes Matt 7:1. A. The third-type of scenario happens sometimes The cultural buzzword for this is intolerance Intolerance is a sanction in our culture that prohibits us from practicing any kind of moral discernment. D.A. Carson (The Intolerance of Tolerance) Intolerance is no longer a refusal to allow contrary opinions to say their piece in public, but must be understood to be any questioning or contradicting the view that all opinions are equal in value, that all world views have equal worth, that all stances are equally valid. 1 The irony and self-refuting nature of the new intolerance: it is, itself, a moral judgment Bible presents a different story: there IS such a thing as wrong and right And identifying sin for what it is is not judging. It s loving in the case presented. We ARE supposed to lovingly correct each other. (e.g., SOTM; 7:5-6; 15; 18:15) Judge (Gk. krino) has a wide semantic range. 2 We get the meaning from its context. ( trunk ) Judge means To pass judgement upon (and thereby seek to influence) the lives of others. 3 When Jesus prohibits judging, he is referring to condemning others. 4 This can include AP I. Expressing disapproval of a person (though not necessarily the action) II. Calling someone s character into question III. Calling someone s salvation into question IV. Criticizing someone V. Finding fault in someone VI. Looking down on someone VII. Feeling or acting superior to someone 1 D.A. Carson. The Intolerance of Tolerance. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012). 12 2 Writes D.A. Carson, Much of the confusion here is resolved when the semantic range of the Greek word translated judge is understood. To judge can mean to discern, to judge judicially, to be judgmental, to condemn (judicially or otherwise). The context must determine the precise shade of meaning. Jesus Sermon on the Mount: And His Confrontation with the Word. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1987). 106 3 Bauer, Walter, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. 4 Judging, therefore, refers to the censorious condemnation of another, an attitude accompanied by commen- surate actions toward another. Robert A. Guelich. The Sermon on the Mount: Foundations for Understanding. (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982). 350. In other words, forming judgments and reaching conclusions about both things and people. R.T. France. The Gospel of Matthew. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007). 274 1 of 5
Judging is not always a sensational thing. It can be subtle. Examples A marriage ( I feel vs. You always ) ^ neutral, disarming ^ personal attack, defensive A sinful lifestyle (The hellfire guys vs. a friend you trust and love ) ^ personal attack, defensive ^ neutral, disarming The difference? One of them is lowering himself, the other is self-righteous. The judging Jesus speaks of has a lot to do with a self-righteous treatment of others. John Stott The follower of Jesus is still a critic in the sense of using his powers of discernment, but not a judge in the sense of being censorious. Censoriousness is a compound sin consisting of several unpleasant ingredients. It does not mean to assess people critically, but to judge them harshly. The censorious critic is a fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking out their failings. He puts the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes, and is ungenerous towards their mistakes. 5 Sometimes, though not always, it can be all in the attitude. 6 You might be saying something that is morally, doctrinally, or in any other way correct. But you say it with a level of disdain or self-righteousness towards another person. You are creating categories for people to fit in and sticking them in it. It could be 1) saying something condemning, or 2) saying it in a condemning way Today, we just call this judgmentalism. Jesus words are hardly more timely than today, with judgementalism being one of the key traits in some Christians that turns away people who would ordinarily find Jesus alluring. The Barna Group in a series of national surveys concluded that one of the most common perceptions young adults outside the church have of Christians was judgmentalism. Over 87 percent of young adults surveyed thought of Christians as judgemental. 7 At stake: 1) the well-being of our interpersonal relationships.. 2) our witness to the world. 3) and our own well-being (?) The reason you shouldn t judge AP...that you be not judged. (1b) 1. It assumes God s rightful place God alone is the judge of the living and the dead. (passive verbs the doer of the verb is not expressed) 8 5 John R. W. Stott. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount. (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1978). 176 6 What is fundamentally at stake, I think, is attitude. This is clearly seen in that particular kind of critical spirit found in gossip. It is not always the case that what the gossip says is malicious; what he says might, in fact, be strictly true. But it is always the case that he says it maliciously; that is, he speaks without any desire to build up. D.A. Carson. Jesus Sermon on the Mount. 107 7 In our national surveys we found that the three most common perceptions of present-day Christianity are an- tihomosexual (an image held by 91 percent of young outsiders), judgmental (87 percent), and hypocritical (85 percent). David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity And Why It Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007) 27 8 The original text does not mention the name of God at all. This is a common literary device called a divine passive used by the Hebrews who wanted to refer to God without mentioning his name, and risking breaking the second commandment. Says R.T. France, behind the passive verbs lies the judgment of God, who maintains impartial justice. You will be judged looks beyond social criticism to God s ultimate verdict. The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT. (Grand Rapids, MIL Eerdmans, 2007). 275 2 of 5
To judge is to sit in God s chair and make God s pronouncements upon people 9 Romans 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 2. It will backfire on you AP For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you (2) You will be judged by the same standard you use against others. Romans 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Geoffrey Chaucer: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. This is tricky does it mean believers will be judged by God even though they are justified by grace? Or that the person who judges never knew God to begin with?\ Yet, I judge all the time. Why?? The diagnosis for judgmentalism Hypocrisy (v5) AP 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? (3-4) We judge others because we re blind to our own shortcomings (3), yet can spot other s mistakes from afar (4) 10 The hope of the Gospel first take the log out of your own eye (5a) What the cross does to our blindness: shows us our sin against the backdrop of His holiness What the cross does to our judgmentalism: shows us how much we need God s mercy. What the resurrection does to us: gives us a new life to walk in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Discipleship does not afford us the point of vantage from which to attack others; we come to them with an unconditional offer of fellowship, with the single-mindedness of the love of Jesus. The Cost of Discipleship. (New York, NY: Touchstone, 1937). 184 10 Guelich, 351 3 of 5
A way past judgmentalism By growing in self-awareness AP first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly (5) 1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin in your life (Psalm 51) 2. Ask people you trust to call the log out 3. Be honest with your sin and weaknesses. We like to justify or deny our sin, which only keeps us entangled. Alcoholics Anonymous Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable. 11 By growing in our love AP to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (5c) Only when you can truly call someone your brother are you in a place to speak into their life for reconciliation. 12 This is nearly impossible when you are driven by contempt. In about 120 BC, Yehoshua ben Perachia, one of the earliest rabbinic sages, shared the following wisdom: Judge each person with the scales weighted in their favor. In other words, he was evoking images of the marketplace, where a friendly merchant might generously tip the scales in your favor. 13 This is the same imagery Jesus uses in v2, and when all taken together can simply be understood as, assume the best about others. Examples: But notice we ARE to remove the speck, but only after the humbling task of removing our log. By growing in our sense of family We are not supposed to remove the speck from those outside the church Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (6) Not meant to be derogatory. It s meant to keep our judgments in the family. Something that can greatly help with the perception among people outside the church that we are judgmental. 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (HCSB) I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the 11 Alcoholics Anonymous. Step One. http://www.aa.org/assets/en_us/en_step1.pdf 12 But when we find ourselves compelled toward judgment, Jesus humbling requirements for us have not been met until we can address our interlocutor as brother or sister. Only then can we engage in the kind of dialog that befits a family whose rule is the Sermon on the Mount. J.R. Daniel Kirk. Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011). 98 13 Lois Tverberg. Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of Jesus can Change Your Life. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012s) 105 4 of 5
world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don t you judge those who are inside? But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves. Objection: yeah, but their lifestyle is wrong I need to remind them that I don t approve Besides, Jesus made whips in the temple, yada yada yada Dallas Willard We must beware of believing that it is okay for us to condemn as long as we are condemning the right things. It is not so simple as that. I can trust Jesus to go into the temple and drive out those who were profiting from religion, beating them with a rope. I cannot trust myself to do so. 14 In other words, tread lightly. What about people who do not believe? Listen to them. Be their friend. Build trust. There will come a day when they the hope that is in you, and ask you for a reason, 15 or when they are going through a difficult time and you are able to comfort them, or the Holy Spirit simply moves you to speak. It s an in-house operation, and a mutual understanding of love 16 We can correct each other without calling each other s worth into question or shaming each other. Correction is best received by a friend. Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. When we take all of this into consideration, we should have deep relationships, where trustworthy brothers and sisters in Christ can speak into each other s lives, and share difficult truths in humility and the spirit of love. 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. Just as we must not make judgments on a person, we mustn't receive good criticism personally. We ve all hid behind this verse after someone tried to speak truth into our lives, when in reality we were really just being defensive and stubborn. What are the logs in your eye? Let s resolve this week to 1. View ourselves as the primary problem in every relationship 2. Assume the best about everyone 14 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. (New York, NY: HarperOne, 1997). 221 15 1 Peter 3:15 16 Craig S. Keener. The Gospel of Matthew: A Social-Rhetorical Commentary. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009). 242 5 of 5