Critical Questions

"I say it was Professor Plum… with the candlestick… in the dining room!"

The accuser's face has turned red with passion. His words… are spoken confidently.

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His chance on winning the game depends on the correct accusation.

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Have you ever played the game of Clue? The object of this game is to find out who is the murderer, what weapon he or she has used, and what room the murder was committed in.

Whoever discovers these three facts first, and makes the correct accusation is the winner.

Here is the rub, however. If you make a wrong accusation, you are out of the game.

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If nothing else, this game teaches those who play it to make careful accusations.

Our text for today teaches us much the same thing. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus taught his disciples to be careful when they criticized others.

Matthew 7:1–6 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. “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.

We are continuing our study of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount today. In the previous verses to our passage, Jesus taught the disciples to seek God's kingdom instead of worrying about the things of this world.

Matthew 6:34 ESV

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The thought of evil seems to connect with Jesus' next words. "Don't become judges of whether other people are evil or not."

The basic premise of this scripture is that we should be careful in our criticism of others.

Jesus was not issuing a blanket prohibition against any and all kinds of criticism. Rather, Jesus was calling for his disciples to be discerning, rather than negative. (LAB 1338)

This scripture is not telling us to close our eyes to sin. (WSB 1423)

It is not telling us that we cannot form opinions about others.

Unbelievers often appeal to this scripture… as well as believers who are committing sin knowingly and willfully. They argue that you cannot judge them.

Jesus was not teaching his disciples to close their eyes to sin.

On the other hand, some Christians may totally ignore this teaching of Jesus.

They excuse their criticism and condemnation of others, saying they are fighting for truth and morality. In reality, they are usurping the authority of the Holy Spirit to convict and condemn sin.

In our text, Jesus condemned those who have a condemning spirit. (McLaughlin 82)

Matthew 7:1 ESV

“Judge not, that you be not judged.

It is easy for a bully to pick on the little boy. But it becomes a whole different matter when the little boy's big brother shows up.

This is what Jesus was saying: be careful when you judge others, because God is going to judge you.

Big Idea: Usurping God's authority to judge brings God's condemnation.

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That's awe-inspiring, isn't it?

When we condemn others, when we judge others, when we criticize others… we open ourselves up to receive God's criticism, God's judgment, God's condemnation.

Our scripture teaches us three questions we should ask ourselves when we are tempted to criticize others. The first question we should ask is found in verse 2.

1. "Can I measure up to my own standard?", v. 2.

Matthew 7:2 ESV

For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

One day as Jesus was teaching, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Him who was caught in the very act of adultery. These Pharisees leveled the charge against this lady.

John 8:5 ESV

Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

Jesus knelt on the ground and began writing in the dirt. The Pharisees and scribes pressured Jesus. They thought they had Him trapped.

Finally, Jesus raised Himself up and said, John 8:7

John 8:7 ESV

… “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Conviction gripped the consciences of the Pharisees and the scribes. One by one, they began to leave, beginning with the oldest and continuing to the very last.

Finally, there was no one left to accuse this woman. So Jesus forgave her . He sent her away with the command, John 8:11

John 8:11 ESV

… “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

These scribes and Pharisees could not measure up to their own standards. When Jesus confronted them with their own sin, they realized they had no right to condemn other people.

Someone has noted, "Critical censure is a boomerang." (BBC 87)

John Wesley told of a man he had little respect for because he considered him to be miserly and covetous.

One day when this person contributed only a small gift to a worthy charity, Wesley openly criticized him.

After the incident, the man went to Wesley privately and told him he had been living on parsnips and water for several weeks.

He explained that before his conversion, he had run up many bills. Now, by skimping on everything and buying nothing for himself, he was paying off his creditors one by one.

"Christ has made me an honest man," he said, "and so with all these debts to pay, I can give only a few offerings above my tithe.

"I must settle up with my worldly neighbors and show them what the grace of God can do in the heart of a man who was once dishonest."

Wesley, realizing his error, apologized to the man and asked his forgiveness. (Daily Bread, July 20, 1992)

You should remember when you are tempted to criticize others you are inviting judgment upon yourself. Stop a moment and ask yourself, "Can I measure up to my own standard?"

There is a second question we should also ask when we are tempted to judge or criticize others.

2. "Am I overlooking a greater personal fault?", v. 3.

Matthew 7:3 ESV

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?

Don't you think this is really a funny idea?

Picture in your mind someone… with a telephone pole sticking out of his eye… trying to get a speck of dust out of his brother's eye!

Of course, Jesus was using exaggeration, hyperbole, to make his case.

But how could a person with a telephone pole sticking out of his eye help a his brother who has a piece of straw in his eye?

His vision would be totally distorted. He couldn't see well enough to pick anything out of his brother's eye! (BBC 88)

We usually don't ask a person who has flunked out of law school to be our lawyer.

We don't usually ask a person who can't swim to be a lifeguard. They are unqualified for the job.

Jesus said that we should first pull the log or beam out of our own eye before we try to help our brother who has a speck or piece of straw in his eye.

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Of course, we have to wonder if, after pulling the log out of our own eye, we will realize that the speck in the other person's eye is gone. (McLaughlin 83)

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If we have a beam in our own eye… our vision is going to be so distorted that we might be seeing our own problem superimposed on the other person.

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Our sin can distort our view of others.

There was a certain pastor who lived on a county road that was not easy to find. When his family was planning for a garage sale, he made many signs to direct people to his home.

It was his responsibility to put up the signs. Instead of going to the trouble of making stakes to hold the signs, he put them on all the stop signs, exit signs, and power poles in their area, all pointing the way to their house.

Now, where they lived putting signs like this on traffic signs and power poles was illegal, and the pastor knew it. But he still decided to take the easy way out.

The next morning, one of the first cars to arrive… was a County Sheriff. The pastor's first thought was "Oh no! I am in big trouble!"

He went out to the drive and met the sheriff. With a guilty look on his face the pastor said, "Let me guess, I shouldn't have put the garage sale notices on the road signs."

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The sheriff said, "No, I just wanted to look at your stuff!"

Sometimes, the sin in our hearts give us a wrong perspective of the words or actions of others.

It may not be that they did something wrong as much as that there is a problem in our own hearts!

Titus 1:15 ESV

To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

We should look at ourselves when we are tempted to criticize others.

Do we have a greater fault? Is that the reason why we have problems with others?

But there is a third question we should ask when we are tempted to criticize and judge others.

3. "Will this be of any benefit?", v. 6.

Matthew 7:6 ESV

“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.

This verse may seem a bit unrelated to the previous verses, yet it truly is connected and gives a powerful addition to Jesus' teachings on judging others.

The basic thought behind this verse is that …

when we have a valid criticism,

when we have a criticism that we can measure up to,

when we have a criticism that isn't distorted by our own faults …

when we have a valid criticism of others, we need to realize that not everyone will take even a valid criticism.

Proverbs 9:8 ESV

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

If we know this person is just going to get mad because of our helpful hint, what good will it do to give it?

They aren't going to pay attention. They may react violently. They may try to exact some revenge on us.

Just because we have a gem of wisdom doesn't mean we should share it with everyone else.

You've met that kind of person, haven't you?

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It's the type of person who will not reason at all.

It doesn't matter how much good sense your constructive critique may make.

This type of person is unwilling to evaluate themselves and to consider that they may be in the wrong - or may need to make a change.

What sense does it make to try to give such a person a constructive critique? They will only turn in anger and maybe even hatred toward you.

It is truly like you are casting pearls before pigs who trample them in the mud and then turn to attack you.

Some people will rail on us when we do them good. Jesus says, "Don't even bother with such people." (Laughlin 83)

Indiana's one-time fiery basketball coach, Bobby Knight, said the criticism he got from the press was nothing compared to what he faced at home.

After a narrow victory over Michigan State years ago, Knight says he was criticized by his wife, Karen, a former high-school girls basketball coach, for the way the Hoosiers played.

Finally he had enough. "Lady, why don't you bake a pie or something?" Knight said in typically sexist fashion.

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"Well, if I did," Karen replied, "you can bet my pie would be a lot better than your zone defense."

We’ve been looking at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for a number of weeks now. When you consider the main point of Jesus’ full sermon, you realize that it perfectly coincides with the point Jesus made in our text today.

The key truth - the key principle, the big idea - of Jesus' sermon is found in Matthew 7:12.

Matthew 7:12 ESV

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

The whole point of Jesus' sermon was that the godly life is one that treats other people like one would like to be treated themselves.

Jesus began his sermon by addressing what the good life is all about. "Blessed. Blessed. Blessed." Everyone wants to have a good life.

Jesus said the good life is experienced by those who recognize spiritual poverty and submit to Christ's lordship and live by God's values, even if the world despises them.

The people of that time equated the good life with godliness - with obeying God's good Law.

But, due to their carnal hearts, they twisted the meaning of God's Law to be something different than what it is. So Jesus corrected their misinterpretations of God's Law.

Jesus then explained that the truly good life, the godly life displayed by our deeds of piety, such as giving, praying and fasting, was not to be lived for the applause of men, but of God.

Instead, Jesus said we are to store up treasure in heaven, trusting God to provide for our needs.

The passage we delved into today from Matthew 7:1-6 about judging one another seems a little disconnected from the previous verses, but it isn't.

One of the great temptations we face when we determine to practice Christ's words and live for eternity, instead of for today, is then to look around at others who appear to be living for today, and feel more righteous than they.

The verses immediately following our passage again seem disconnected. In fact, Matthew 7:7-11 appear to be more connected to the words that conclude Matthew 6. In the verses following our text Jesus said…

Ask, seek, knock.

Now, back in Matthew 6 Jesus urged us to seek God's kingdom instead of treasures here on earth. So yes, we should ask, seek, and knock.

But consider also how this connects to our passage today on criticizing and judging others.

When people commit to a life of judging others, when people focus on criticizing others, they not only refuse to allow other people to receive God's grace, but they also withdraw themselves from being recipients of God's favor.

Instead of asking, they condemn. Instead of seeking God's favor, they search for the faults of others.

Instead of knocking on Heaven's door, they knock on the character and reputation of other people.

Matthew 7:12 ESV

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

The whole point of God's Law, God's Word, the essence of how God wants His people to behave is about treating others like we would want to be treated.

If you would live a good life, a godly life, you MUST treat others like you yourself would like to be treated!

Therefore, judgmentalism, criticizing and condemning others should NEVER be part of our lifestyle! Indeed, criticism and judgmentalism cannot be a habit of the sincere Christian!

Why?

We find the answer in three questions that arise from our text:

"Can I measure up to my own standard?"

"Am I overlooking a greater personal fault?"

"Will this be of any benefit?"

These are the critical questions we should ask ourselves.

Why?

Big Idea: Usurping God's authority to judge brings God's condemnation.

(PAUSE)

A lady in an airport bought a book to read and a package of cookies to eat while she waited for her plane.

After she had taken her seat in the terminal and gotten engrossed in her book, she noticed that the man one seat away from her was fumbling to open the package of cookies on the seat between them.

She was so shocked that a stranger would eat her cookies that she didn't really know what to do, so she just reached over and took one of the cookies and ate it.

The man didn't say anything but soon reach over and took another.

Well, the woman wasn't going to let him eat them all, so she took another, too.

When they were down to one cookie, the man reached over, broke the cookie in half, and got up and left.

This woman couldn't believe that man's nerve, but soon the announcement came to board the plane.

Once she was aboard, still angry at the man's audacity and puzzling over the incident, she reached into her purse for a tissue.

It was then that she discovered something awful… in her purse lay her still unopened… package of cookies.