Judge Not

Introduction

Today, we are looking at the most recited verse in the Bible, “Judge not.”

This is often cited by unbelievers anytime a Christian offers a correction or sideways glance.

“Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘judge not’?”

And indeed, it does.

And yet, how we understand that term, “Judge” certainly means everything.

Every word has a semantic range. This is the idea that the same word can mean different things depending on the context.

It’s like when I would take my kids to the fair. You expect fair prices, but instead you get highway robbery. And when the day is all done I ask my kids, “Well, what do you think? Was it good? Bad?” And my kid responds, “Ah, it was just fair.”

You see, I used “Fair” three different ways just now. The first time fair meant festival. The second time it meant appropriate. And the last time it meant mediocre. How did you know what I meant by “Fair?”

It was the context in which I used the word.

Jesus begins this section of the sermon with those two words, “Judge not.” It is a command. This word, “judge” can mean: decide, discern, condemn, or sentence.

But it’s important to remember the context of this sermon to understand what it meant. Jesus says that his disciple’s righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. He focused on giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting and gave warnings that those things should not be done like the hypocrites.

The shock that would go into a person who hears, “righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees” would be immense. However, anyone who has read the rest of the Gospel would not be surprised. And this is exactly what the rest of the Sermon on the Mount lays out. The Pharisees focus on the external righteousness to seem holy in front of people. They do not do the things they do (law keeping, prayer, almsgiving, etc) because they want to please man rather than God.

This man-focused religion betrays the Pharisee when it comes to materialism and anxiety, as one commentator puts it, “

Sermon On The Mount: Restoring Christ's Message to the Modern Church Relating to Brothers (Matt 7:1–5)

The hypocrite’s focus on present reward rather than future reward betrayed a perverted set of priorities that promoted materialism and anxiety. Thus Jesus addressed these two ills associated with hypocrisy and now treats another symptom of it: hypocritical judgment.”

So, then, what exactly does “judge” mean and why does Jesus forbid it?

Let’s read the first few verses.

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 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? 5 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.

Notice that in v. 2, the judgement is pronounced, it’s said out loud. Notice in v. 3 the object of the judgement is the brother, that is a fellow believer. Notice in v. 4 that this judgement being pronounced on a fellow believer is impaired by a greater personal failing. And notice in v. 5 that the speck removal is completed and commended.

And so, this is not a blanket prohibition of all discernment. If we lacked the ability to discern between right and wrong, we would be unable to live out this very Sermon on the Mount. This is also not a blanket prohibition of correction. Notice that at the end of v. 5 the correction is commended. The word “judge” in the prohibition refers to an attitude of blind inspection.

The disciple’s life is not devoted to an inspection of other people’s righteousness (vv. 1-4)

Look at the example that Jesus gives. Picture this fellow with a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers. Everytime he comes into church he combs over everyone with the magnyfying glass to find any speck of dust that he can. And when he does he proudly announces, “Sir, look, I’ve found this problem.” But as he reaches with the tweezers, he misses the speck completely then thwacks the guy on the head with the log protruding from his own eye.

Now, remember, Jesus just taught that the eye is the lamp for the body. Remember, we discussed before that “what we eye becomes our why.” And so, we should examine our vision, we might have some specks in there. But some people hearing that sermon instead of thinking of their own shortcoming might immediately begin to think of their neighbors shortcomings. And this other guys shortcomings. And they devote their entire lives to becoming the righteousness inspector. What they eye, became their why.

The hypocrite goes around pronouncing everyone’s faults to them. And this becomes their sole focus so much so they that fail to ever look within. Church history donatist controversy

At the end of the third century one of the greatest persecutions in the Roman empire broke out against the Christians. The emperor saw the deterioration of the empire and believed the best thing to do was to return to the gods. He forced everyone in the empire to pray and offer incense to the gods (and himself) or die, be beaten, or thrown into prison. Upon offering incense, worshippers were given a certificate known as a libellum to certify their worship.

Christians during this time were faced with a difficult decision. Those who refused to worship and were beaten or thrown into prison were known as confessors. Those who compromised were known as the lapsed. The lapsed were divided into different categories. Some bribed guards to get a certificate. Others actually practiced idolatry. But the worse of the worst gave up Scripture and names of other Christians. They were known as traitors.

After the persecution was over, controversy arose in how to deal with the lapsed. In Carthage, North Africa, two different views developed. Cyprian believed they should be restored to the church and Donatus believed they should not be restored. Cyprian won the election and like any good political event, Donatus accused him of being a traitor (which he wasn’t). He also claimed that any restorations he made were false since he was a traitor.

Donatus started a whole new church. This was one of the first church splits in history. Donatus devoted his entire time to a life of inspection; inspection to other people’s righteousness. But his movement was not so pure. Some of the leaders of his movement were actually traitors. And one of the leaders murdered two of his nephews. The movement branded on purity and inspection was filled with impurity. The lack of unity sparked by this divisive group made it all the more easy for the Muslims to conquer centuries later.

The life built on blind inspection does no good and in fact causes harm. Jesus warns Matthew 7:1–2 “1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

Why should our lives not be built on blind inspection? So we will not be judged. I think this can be used in a natural sense and in the divine. The golden rule Matthew 7:12 “12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” shows a general relationship between humanity. I believe this does here in v. 2, “the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” The way we inspect and correct others blindly is often the way they inspect and measure us. When we correct blindly, not in love, others often take the ruler that we used out of our hand and beat us over the head with it.

And yet, I believe divine judgment is also intended here. “That you be not judged” is referencing God judging us. And I believe here again Jesus is driving the point home. What are we forced to think of when we think about God judging us? We are faced with our own sinfulness.

The disciple’s life is devoted to an introspection of true righteousness (v. 5)

The Christian is not to be all about inspection but introspection. This is what Jesus says in v. 5 Matthew 7:5 “5 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.” The problem is not just correction of a fellow believer. The problem is the sole focus becomes correction of other to the extent that no self-correction is ever made. No internal inspection is made. The sin of other people has become a greater problem than the sin that’s within.

And just like every other section in the sermon on the mount Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter. Jesus is getting to the motivation. Do you want a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees? Look at your motivation. Prayer, almsgiving, and fasting are not the problem, but the motivation behind them (seeking people’s attention) can be. Having money is not a problem, but the motivation behind it can be. Having concerns is not a problem, but the motivation behind it can be. And here we see the same thing. Correction is not a sin, but the motivation behind it can be.

This call for introspection is again stated as a question in Matthew 7:3 “3 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?” The question why is to get at that very motivation.

The disciple’s correction is motivated by love for God, the hypocrite’s correction is motivated by love of being right (vv. 1-5)

The act of correction is closely tied to authority. When we correct, we assume authority over another person. When the two Israelites were bickering with one another before the Exodus and Moses tried to correct them they responded, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?”

Blind inspection, hypocritical correction loves to be right, but even that had something more insidious behind it. It could be pride. It could be greed. It could be wanting to maintain control. Preachers are in a very dangerous place in this regard. It is the pastor’s job to correct.

2 Timothy 4:1–2 “1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

And yet even I when I correct must be sure every time that the first target of my correction is me. I cannot offer any advice, rebuke, exhortation on my own authority. I am under the authority of the Word of God. And so though I am called to do these things, I can just as easily make my correction serve me rather than God. Let me give you some examples:

Perry Noble started a mega church about 25 years ago. He has said his share of controversial things. One thing he said to convince his church to tithe:

“how in the world can we stand in the shadow of a Blood Stained cross and not at least do the bare minimum that God asked us to do first 10 percent goes to God now I know the arguments I know the arguments. . . “well Perry tithing is Old Testament law.” if you're here tonight you're that person I'm glad you're here two things about you that that tells me number one you're stupid number two you don't read your Bible. . . you don't want to play the Bible game with me on this subject.”

In 2016, his net worth was 2 mil and he was removed from ministry.

IFB Preacher Clips

If you want a good laugh or cry you can always look up IFB preacher clips. Independent fundamentalist baptist are individuals who make every issue into a heaven or hell issue. I heard one of these preachers say that if you don’t believe in a stationary earth, you’re going to hell.

I love coffee. I do. I love coffee. And when I say coffee, I don't mean coffee with cream and sugar. That's what I'm talking about. When I say coffee, I mean coffee. Sir, if you put cream and sugar in your coffee, you ought to turn in your man card.

That's good Bible preaching right there. If you put cream and sugar in your coffee, sir, you've probably got an Instagram and a Pinterest account.

Bible preaching. Man, I love coffee. And when I say coffee, I don't mean cream and sugar. You put cream and sugar in your coffee.

You don't just be honest about it and put it in a baby bottle. Just put it in a sippy cup if you're going to drink it that way. I like cowboy coffee. You say, what's cowboy coffee? That's where it's so dark and it's so strong, it would float a horseshoe.

He says all this to say that he hadn’t paid for coffee in 25 years because people give him gift cards, hint , hint, In at least 10 different sermons. There’s 100 different things men should be corrected on in how we take responsibility in our homes, churches, and communities, but I’m not sure how you drink coffee is one of those things. This is taking things the Bible says nothing about and heaping judgment on others.

Of course, I saved the best for last:

hey now, don't go to sleep while I'm talking

hey hey hey I'm important I'm somebody, now

you might do your English teacher that

way but I'm not teaching English I'm

teaching eternal life here I love you

you know I love you and I convinced you

I love you oh yeah you better say I love you

you better nod your head yes, alright, come on

put it there alright you stay awake

you listen to me you say “well he may

never come back” well he ain't here now.

and where have you been mr. Underwood

and I noticed I'm

supposed to marry y'all, what makes you

think I'd marry you you're one of the

sorriest church members I have. you're

not worth fifteen cents and you want me

to marry you to her? . . .

I'm a real deal yeah all right I know

the camera on me back there in the

little video room good we're having

trouble in the video room there's no one

finer than young back there and he

comes down here spend two hours in that

thing

but he has a little attitude adjustment

that we're going to fix it. . . I don't have a better

friend your mama but mummy you get out

of my way when I'm messing with that boy

because I'm his preacher

and last I checked he's a grown man in

that video room ain't gonna be a youth

hangout we might as well just fix this

thing . . .f you loved me

and you submitted to me you'd know what

my heart is and my message is and you

wouldn't go about establishing your own

kingdom in the video room

I really feel good now

Jesus

The disciple’s correction is motivated by love for God, the hypocrite’s correction is motivated by love of being right (vv. 1-5)

What motivates that man’s correction? It seems to me to be pride. We all like to be in control. Oftentimes we correct to manipulate, to stay in control. We don’t correct with God in mind, but me in mind. There are those people who only correct when your sin in an imposition to their convenience. Their correction, even if it is right correction, no longer serves God but self.

How you correct is where you direct. Is our correction directing people towards Christ and hope in his salvation? Is our correction directing people towards conveniencing us and looking only to us for validation? Does our correction have no hope and only place people under the crushing weight of legalism?

Why do we inspect other’s deeds, behaviors, and attitudes? Is it to manipulate? Is it to build ourselves up? Or can we honestly say that our correction is based out of a love for God and a desire that we all would grow closer to him? A correction that says there is healing and forgiveness in Christ, so turn to him. A correction based in the cross always brings restoration not condemnation.

Correction often occurs between the closest relationships.

Between Husbands and Wives.

We know the stereotype of the man who has been hen pecked and the woman who has been put in her place. How do we handle correction between husbands and wives?

First of all it must be done. Continually sweeping sin under the rug will only allow bitterness to spring up. And bitterness tends to fester and distort reality. We believe towards a person because the way they treated us in the past. If we don’t seek reconciliation, we will continue to think of them in light of that sin, then we will begin to treat them in light of that sin.

So how do we correct? Most of the time we do it out of anger. Something has annoyed us enough that we are going to do something about it. Correcting out of anger puts the judge in a position outside of the wrongdoer. But we are all in the same boat. I cannot allow anger to best me because I know “If it weren’t for the grace of God, there go I.”

Stuart Scott gives practical advice to husbands in how to correct sin. Pg. 219 Exemplary husband

When we get out our tweasers to pick away at a speck, we need to think:

Jesus commands us to be introspective: be honest with our own shortcomings especially in the same are.

Spend time alone in contemplation over whether it is really sin, identify in in teh scripture

Be in prayer in how to approach the topic.

Parents correcting children

Not to be done in anger. Tedd Tripp in Shepherding a Child’s Heart gives several idolatrous reasons to correct:

develop special skills, convenience, being well-behaved, and having control. We offer correction to bring us both together to the foot of the cross.

And this is what true correction does. Correction done Christ’s way strengthens the relationship. Hypocritical judgment destroys the relationship.

Finally, Jesus gives an analogy.

Matthew 7:6 ESV

6 “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.

The dog and the pig are unclean animals. Wild dogs were common to roam the streets. They were known to be vile creatures, eating disgusting things that their stomach could not handle then returning to the vomit to eat it again. Pigs likewise were known to eat small things like acorns and corn. When they crunch down on a hard pearl it would probably enrage them and cause them to trample it. Pigs do not understand the value of pearls. Nor do dogs understand the value of holy things.

Here dogs and pigs refer to anyone who makes a mockery of God.

So while verses 1-5 involve correction of the fellow believer, v. 6 involves correction of a mocker.

Proverbs 9:8 “8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”

There’s no point forcing a goat to behave as a sheep (v. 6)

I had that as the original thrust of this verse. Now I still think there’s truth to this statement, but I believe there’s more here in this passage. Let me explain my change of heart here.

A lot of commentators said the pearl and holy thing was the gospel message. I had a big problem with that because it makes it seem as if there are people with whom we should not share the gospel. This would go against the plain teaching of the Great Commission.

So I belied that if someone mocks your gospel presentation, I don’t think that gives us permission to simply give up on trying to share the gospel with them.

So, I believe pearls and that which is holy is referring to kingdom living. But then I ran into the problem: should we not tell a murderer that murder is wrong, or tell a fornicator that he is wrong, and on and on the list could grow.

Well that does not seem to be the intention of Christ’s command either.

Neither do I believe that Jesus instructs us that there are lost causes out there. In fact if there were ever a lost cause, certainly it would be the human race, certainly it would be the nation of Israel. And yet God never gave up on either. I do not believe the instruction is to simply giver up on the scoffer.

Rather I believe the instruction is to change strategy when approaching the scoffer.

The problem with the dog and the pig is the inability to discern between what is holy and what is not.

Giving correction and proclaiming doctrine and the excellence of the gospel before the pig and dog will only cause it to be trampled. But patiently teaching the value of the pearl can bring great reward.

Story of dealing with scoffer in youth group.

How to deal with scoffer:

Build relationship, learn their interests

Ask worldview questions: what do they value?

Prove value: the gospel is more valuable than they suppose.