Who am I to judge?

Introduction:This week our passage of scripture is Matthew 7:1-7, the famous “Do not judge, or you will be judged.” passage

Judging (READ Matthew 7:1-5

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

“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.

This is a passage that has been at the center of both controversy and abuse. This passage might be one of the most abused passages in all of the New Testament. We must approach this text with careful consideration and discernment. Why? Because having a bad understanding of this text could quite possibly cripple and compromise our understanding and proclamation of the gospel. In other words, having the right approach to this text is of unprecedented importance. (ILLUSTRATION: Over-correcting a car. There is a lot of over-correction with peoples' approach to this text.) People see the warning that Jesus gives not to judge, and they over-correct by complete inaction regarding the way they are called to address sin. This verse has become a trump card for those criticizing Christians who are calling out sin. But Nathan, does this passage tell us not to judge? Shouldn’t we just not judge people? Here’s the uncomfortable truth about judgment. We all do it. You might be thinking. Well since we are all sinners, we sin by judging others. In a sense that’s true, but it goes deeper than we may realize. Utilizing good judgment is necessary for our well being. We have to be able to judge situations, people's character, and our choices, because it could have life or death consequences. You could make the case that we have to be able to express judgment. What’s more is that using good judgment is a recurring theme in this chapter. In Matthew 7:15-16 Jesus speaks of false prophets and he tells us to evaluate and analyze their fruitfulness.

Matthew 7:15–16 ESV

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

In verse 24 Jesus tells the story of the wise-man who built his house upon the rock, and the foolish man who builds upon the sand. We are expected to show good judgment in which one we use as an example. This is really awkward considering this chapter starts with the phrase “do not judge.” How do we navigate this? How do we show good judgment as necessary without judging? It seems like a paradox. We start by evaluating how we should understand this idea of judgment. There were three major ways people understood judgment in the 1st century, they are largely similar to we understand it today.

Analyzing and evaluating The Greek word used in this passage for “judging” is Krino. It means to “analyze” to “evaluate” or to “condemn” Christians are expected to do 2 of these three things. We are expected to analyze and evaluate others and their standing with God regarding their sin. In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us to be salt and light to this world. In other words we are to be that moral example. How can we be an example of morality if we cannot evaluate and analyze and gracefully correct those behaviors that are sinful.

Condemnation: On the other hand the third definition of this word “condemnation” states that we are strictly forbidden to condemn or assign punishment to our fellow man. That is the responsibility of God and God alone.In Luke chapter 6 we see his account of Jesus teaching on the subject of judging. In this passage Jesus seems to elaborate on what he means when he says do not judge. (Luke 6:37

Luke 6:37 ESV

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Jesus clarifies the type of judging he is referring to is condemnation. So when Jesus instructs us not to judge, the judgment he is referring to is a condemning type of judgment. This is so important for us to understand. This passage of scripture does not relieve our responsibility to be a voice of morality and calling sin. We don’t call out sin in others in order to belittle them, but rather to help them move past their sins.

When people say “Only God can judge me” that is undeniably true. You’ve no doubt heard people say this especially in the face of Christians who might be pointing out sin in their life. Yes, while it is true that only God has the ability to judge us, Christians have the responsibility of telling people what that judgment will be. (ILLUSTRATION: If you find yourself on trial for a crime, you're going to have a lawyer, either hired or appointed. One of the many jobs of this lawyer is to tell you how the judge is going to handle their case. If your lawyer says “the court has presented you with a plea deal, you have to take it, because if you don’t the judge is going to throw the book at you” you have the right to tell your lawyer “you not the judge, you don’t know that” however it wouldn’t be in your best interest.) As Christians we aren’t in a position to pronounce judgment or punishment on another person. We are however obligated to inform people how the judge will rule in their case, and a person without Jesus and still living in sin isn’t going to like the ruling. We do this by analyzing and evaluating the behavior of others, we cannot however condemn people, because we haven’t the right to condemn.

This seems fairly straightforward, so why have Christians met so much resistance when we try to put this into practice? There is one more element to judgment we haven’t discussed.

Hypocrisy Our goal shouldn’t be to eliminate hypocrisy. Why? Because we can’t. There are some situations in life where Hypocrisy is inevitable. (ILLUSTRATION: A doctor in a restaurant). So how do we manage hypocrisy? Jesus uses a hilarious analogy to address this problem. Why do you point out the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye, when you don’t see the plank in your own eye. You have a six foot 2X4 in your eye, it knocks dishes off the table, it makes you look like a bull in a china closet. Yet you point out the small speck of sawdust in your own eye? First remove the 2X4 from your own eye, then you can see the speck in your brother's eye more clearly. Notice Jesus doesn’t tell us to ignore the speck of dust in our brother's eye, we are to instead address the 2x4 in our eye. We must address the sin in our own lives before addressing the sin of others. We have sin in our lives just like other people, the sin in our lives is equally offensive in the eyes of God. Before we call others out for their sin, we must first realize that we too were once people who lived in sin, and needed the grace of Jesus. Commentator John Stott says this about the nature of hypocrisy. We tend to have a rosy view of ourselves, and a jaundiced view of others. We see our own faults in others, while ignoring ours. Do you know why support groups like AA work? Because it’s filled with people who understand each other. Because they understand each other, they support each other. They don’t allow them to relapse into addiction without intervention.

How do we apply this verse? How do we address sin without condemnation?

Do not belittle the broken, but sympathize with the sinner, and communicate change in Christ.