The Dangers of Being a Judge

Introduction

A few years ago I got a ticket for parking in a clear ‘No Parking’ zone. I had missed this sign, but in truth I wasn’t looking very hard. I simply parked where it was convenient and got the ticket.

Today, I have a real pet peeve about people who don’t use their turn signals. Ironically, I may find myself at times judging others for their failure to keep traffic laws when I myself have failed to keep those same laws. I always use my turn signal, but if I judge others for not using theirs I’m really bringing a condemnation on myself because I am just as imperfect a driver as they are.

This concept of judgement applies to more than just traffic laws; it applies to all of life and it applies to God’s law. It is impossible to judge others without condemning yourself because you know yourself to be a sinner. So how should we act and think when we see others in sin? That is what we will explore this morning in this next section of the Sermon on the Mount.

A Christian’s Judgement

What is Judgement?

The word means “to decide between two things” and in most contexts, this applies to deciding a case of rupture in a relationship. If someone has harmed another, judgement would be deciding what is necessary to recompense that harm so that social order may be maintained and justice be done. It also is the place where someone decides what other ought to do and ought not to do in order to keep social order and promote justice. If someone has broken that social order, a judge will decide whether or not what they did could be considered a breach of that social order, such as perhaps theft, and if found guilty, a judge also decides what the person should do or what should be done to them in order to keep peace and promote justice in society.

Notice that judgement always occurs in relationship. A man stuck on an island by himself has no need for a human judge because he cannot break a social order with anyone. The only one who can hold him accountable as a judge is himself, which is possible. In fact, we judge ourselves all the time. Our actions and thoughts unseen by others may haunt us with self-judgement because we are breaking our relationship with ourselves, or rather with who we want to be. So we see that judgement occurs when a breach in a relationship has taken place and attempts to decide what actions are necessary to justly rebuild broken social order.

What the Bible teaches about Judgement.

The Bible gives us one solid and unmistakable truth regarding judgement, and that is that judgement is reserved for God alone. He is the only true judge in the universe whose judgement matter. Though he may appoint some to judge on his behalf, such as the Judges in the book of Judges or a court judge or ruler who is appointed by God to punish evil and reward good (see Romans 13). For example, Moses would sit to judge the people (Ex 18:13) but only by God’s law, thus he sat representing God as a judge.

But all of this is done in the understanding that God is the only true judge, and that all judgments are founded on his sovereignty. Hannah’s song shows this in 1 Sam 2:10

1 Samuel 2:10 ESV

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

The Psalms are full of praises to God as judge of all the earth.

Psalm 50:6 ESV

The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah

The writes of the OT rejoiced in and looked forward to the judgement of God

Psalm 96:13 (ESV)

(the Lord) comes,

for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Other writers wrote extensively about God’s judgement.

Isaiah 3:13 ESV

The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 ESV

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

God’s judgement is a hope the Prophets called on

Lamentations 3:59 ESV

You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause.

And the NT likewise points to God as the ultimate judge.

Acts 10:42 ESV

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

How does God judge?

With righteousness Psalm 94:2

Psalm 94:2 ESV

Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!

Isaiah 11:3–4 ESV

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

He judges hearts.

John 2:25 ESV

and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jeremiah 11:20 (ESV)

But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,

who tests the heart and the mind,

He judges the nations in order to save his people from them,

Isaiah 3:13 ESV

The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples.

Isaiah 2:4 ESV

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 51:5 ESV

My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.

He judges his people, to see those who are truly his by faith. Is 33:22

Isaiah 33:22 ESV

For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.

Ezekiel 34:22 ESV

I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.

1 Peter 4:17 ESV

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

He judges with just wrath

Ezekiel 18:30 ESV

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.

Since God is a judge, the only judge over all, and all who judge are answerable

to him, we get to our text in which Jesus tells us, “Do not judge.”

Does God Require or Approve of Christian Judgement?

Before we get into the nuances of this commandment and other Scriptures that talk about righteous judgement, let us look at why Jesus gives this command. When the judge of all the earth tells us “do not judge” we should perk up our ears and listen eagerly to what he is saying.

Does God allow Christian’s to judge? There are places and times where we are to use a certain kind of judgement, but only that which is sanctioned by the Lord and under his own judgement. In other words, the command not to judge means never to judge outside of God’s ultimate authority (like the command “do not kill”. There are two reasons we are not to judge.

God alone is judge and all judgement belong to him. If we put ourselves in the place of judge we are putting ourselves in the place of God. The first human judgement was at the tree where mankind decided we were going to be judges. We were going to take of the tree of good and evil and become like God by judging right and wrong for ourselves. We are taking a divine seat that is set alone for God, and we think we can decide between right and wrong rather than simply submitting to God and letting him be the judge of all things. In this, we also think we can decide what behaviours and actions are right for us to do, and thus we treat each other in a way that displeases God and ultimately degenerates our relationships with others.

We are incapable of judging without hypocrisy. Since every one of us is a sinner, we are incapable of judging because in passing judgement, we condemn ourselves. We saw this two weeks ago in the evening sermon in Romans 2:1

Romans 2:1 ESV

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.

While we may not literally be doing the exact same sin as those we condemn, we are equally guilty before the law of God and thus are incapable of judging without placing guilt on ourselves. How could we stand to watch Jeffery Dahmer become a judge of thieves? He may not have been guilty of theft, but his murder would make such a trial ludicrous because of his own guilt as a serial killer. A guilty person is not fit to judge because that would be unjust. They cannot condemn another person for breaking the law when they themselves have broken the law without condemning themselves. In judging, they agree that the law is the standard to be upheld for a righteous relationship with society, and so prove that they themselves deserve condemnation.

Since we are all sinners, breakers of the law of God whether it be the OT law or the law God has written on our hearts, we are guilty and deserve the same condemnation we dole out. So even if human beings were given the right to judge, we have forfeit that right by our own sin.

In short, we are unable to judge as human beings unless we are given the task by God of judging on his behalf according to his revelation in his Word. We will come back to that.

The Danger of Hypocritical Judgement

Since hypocritical judgement is all we are capable of with our sinful hearts, this is the kind of judgment Jesus aims at in our text. He warns that the same measure of judgement that we give will be given to us for our sins. Even if a Christian under the blood of Jesus judges another, they are showing a lack of respect for that spilt blood for them and seeking to take God’s place as judge rather than serve him as our Lord.

Hypocrisy Eagerly Takes the Judge’s Seat

Matthew 23:2–3 ESV

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

These teachers were eager to sit on the seat of judgement, and so Jesus tells his disciples to submit to them, but to be careful because they are hypocritical and their own judgement will condemn them. They pick out specks, but the logs in their eyes are clear in their lifestyle.

The desire to judge another, while at times lawfully given, is a dangerous one. Any position of authority includes some amount of judgement needed, and this is what Paul Trip calls a “Dangerous Calling” in his book on pastoral ministry. Those who eagerly desire to judge another are often either willful and rebellious individuals or hypocrites seeking to cover up their sins with the sins of others.

2 Samuel 15:4 ESV

Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”

Absalom’s pride was his downfall, and we all should be very cautious about judgement because of the warning against hypocrisy. Let us take a moment to consider the signs and fruits of judgement.

Hypocrisy is the Root of Unrighteous Judgement

A hypocrite will always judge based on an unrighteous standard. To them, logs are not a big deal but specks must be uprooted. To a hypocrite, their lust and pornography use or their pride may be fine while they judge much less serious sins as vile. Because they are twisted, their judgments are affected.

Hypocrisy Judges Unfairly

Hypocrites pick favourites, often those who treat them well or who are wealthy givers to the church, but those who fall out of their favour are judged severely. They judge based on their own gain and power, not based on what is fair and just. Micah condemns the judgement of unfair judges in Micah 3:11

Micah 3:11 ESV

Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”

They judge in the name of the Lord while they take a bribe and pick favourites.

Hypocrites do not Willing Stand under Scrutiny

A hypocrite will not submit to being judged themselves willingly.

Scrutiny of their Judgement

In their eyes, they have the knowledge of good and evil and see their judgement not only as right but even see them as divine. They use the name of God so that their judgments will not be questioned, because they have taken the place of God in their hearts as judge.

Scrutiny of their Lives

Any attempt to point out the log in their own eye will be met with ferocious anger and defensiveness, even those the Scriptures command us to exhort one another every day. Being judges in their own minds, they cannot conceive that they too are to be examined in a biblical way. They will not repent, but rather may hide their sin better or simply confess a sin they have been caught in and pretend to repent, but it is all a cover-up to keep their self-righteous image.

Hypocrisy Removes Objectivity from Self-Examination

A hypocrite will go about life with little serious self-examination, and thus blindfold themselves on their way to hell. Consider carefully the words of the Apostle Paul

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Those who judge others must be twice as strict in judging themselves, or else they may fall into the trap of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy Seeks to Scandalize, not Help

Finally, a hypocrites judgement is unhelpful because it only seeks to scandalize and condemn. Consider the actions of the Judge of all the Earth who sent his Son to pay for our reconciliation to him. All righteous judgement must be done with this same loving attitude, but a hypocrite is harsh and revels in exposing sin rather than forgiving and reconciling. This is why Jesus says,

Matthew 6:15 ESV

but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

God holds judges more strictly accountable to the point that we are not granted forgiveness of our sins if we do not treat the sins of others in the same way. This does not mean just judgement just lets sin go on, but it does mean that the judge is always willing to humble themselves and reconcile with the guilty party.

Righteous Judgement

John 7:24 ESV

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Before we close, let us take a more positive look at what righteous judgement looks like. Just note that I am talking about Christians judging other Christians, because that is what Jesus is talking about. Notice how he uses the word “brother” in our text. A fellow member of the Kingdom of God. We will talk about judging the world next week.

Righteous judgement must have these foundations:

It is ordained by God and based clearly on his Word.

It is done out of love; for the love of God and for the sake of unity in the Church.

It is done by someone who fits the description of the Blessed Ones found in the Beatitudes at the beginning of chapter 5.

With those thress foundations, it will bear the following fruit.

Judge from a Repentant Heart

Jesus does not discourage removing the speck from a brother’s eye, but he does give the condition that first the log in your own eye must be removed. For righteous judgement to take place, it must be done from a humble, repentant heart that recognizes the sin in self before it corrects the sins of others.

Judge with Justice

Proverbs 31:9 ESV

Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Righteous judgement is just, not biased based on appearances but looks with perception into the heart that only God can give. This is why it is so important only to judge in instances where God has given you the authority to judge on his behalf. The righteous judge fairly, do not exceed the punishment above the crime, and give the benefit of the doubt.

Judge with Grace and care

It appears that the paralytic Jesus healed was afflicted because of his sin, for the first words Jesus speaks to him are

Mark 2:5 (ESV)

“Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Jesus was gracious to this man by first forgiving him and then healing him.

Hebrews 2:17 ESV

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Jesus became like us to be a merciful high priest and make propitiation for our sins. His gentleness and care when dealing with sin should be reflected in our own judgement. We need only be harsh to the hardhearted, but very gentle to the sinner who is convicted and distraught with their sins.

Judge the Heart and its Fruit

Righteous judges look at actions as a fruit of the heart. They do not judge merely by outward appearances, as Jesus tells us in the previous text from John 7:24, we must judge the intentions of the heart. This is easier said than done; we cannot see into the heart like others can, so we must judge by actions, which are the fruit of the heart. But it is the heart we are after, because as Christians we are called to exhort one another lest “there be in any of you an unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Legalism looks at purity in actions alone; conformity to the law. Christ looks for purity of heart in his church, and so we must judge with pure hearts the purity of hearts. But this is not the end.

Judge to Build Up the Church

The end of Christian judgement of other Christians is the building up of the church. We take the speck out of our brother’s eye so he can see clearly, not so he can be condemned. If they refuse to see that speck, we take them through the process of church discipline to test whether they can really see in the first place; whether they are truly saved.

This is to purify the church from unbelievers and to purify the church through encouragement. Encouragement is not open ended, we don’t just say “good job” to encourage someone. Rather, we encourage them on to the duty and privilege of their calling in Christ. This is the kind of judgement Christ calls us to exercise towards one another.

Conclusion

The challenge for us today from this text is twofold.

Take a good, long, intense, and unrelenting look at your own sin. Judge yourself by God’s judgement, not your own. Put yourself under the judging eye of God through Scripture and tell me what you see. A Christian song actually paints this picture well. It describes a man walking up to mirrors of men and seeing in them all the perfections and characteristics they love about themselves, but then they reach a mirror called the Mirror of Souls, which is later identified as the holy standard of God, and he doesn’t see his strengths, beauties, or talents. He sees a dead, rotting corpse. It terrifies him, and it should. The law of God, the judge of all the earth, sees right through self righteousness and hypocrisy and sees your sin in all its grotesque horror. Put your face in their, don’t look away, for the sake of your own soul see the darkness in you for what it truly is. You are not the judge, you are the criminal more disgusting in the holy eyes of God than every mass murderer, rapist, and liar ever was in the eyes of man. You will know you have seen your true self when your judging eye turns in fear towards yourself and cries out, “how must I be saved?”

Later in the song, the man meets Christ who tells him that the disgusting image in the Mirror was him. That the reflections that had influenced his life up to that point were lies which looked only to exterior things and not the heart. He then believes in Christ, who leads him back to the Mirror, back to the holy eyes of God, and what does he see? He doesn’t see himself all put together, he doesn’t see a righteous version of himself, he doesn’t see himself at all. He only sees Christ. That is what you must do, you who judge others. That is what you must do, you speck pickers and hypocrites. You must look so thoroghly to Christ in faith that finally you fail to see yourself and you only see Christ, because that is what God sees. He doesn’t see a good Christian man or woman when he looks at you. He doesn’t see someone who finally has their act together. He sees the righteousness of his own dear Son just like he saw your ugliness on the Cross where he punished him on your behalf. Have your looked at Christ like that? Have you believed in Christ like that? Have you seen who your truly are, who he truly is? Have you seen the one who bore your corruption on his shoulders in agony on the cross represent you before the Father, who smiles at you as his own dear Son and says, “my righteous, holy child.”

Is there a place for judging? Yes. But you will only be able to lift the speck out of your brothers eye, with grace and care, when you have looked at yourself and at Christ this way. If you haven’t, you will continue in hypocrisy and die in your sins. Will you cling to your self-righteous exterior and judge others by theirs? Or will you spill all your are before the Saviour and stand before the judgement of God, who stares through you into your heart, unashamed. Then, when you see your brothers and sisters in all their imperfections and stumblings you won’t see a person to be judged and condemned, you’ll see the righteousness of Christ. That is how you are to judge.