Get the Plank Out

Growing up there was a lot of things that I did not like to eat. Most of those things I had never tried.

I had this issue where I would decide that something tasted bad without ever trying it.

One such thing was Broccoli. I don’t like Broccoli I would say. Have you tried it. No. Then how do you know that you don’t like it?

The answer is I didn’t. I had judged something bad without having all the details. When I finally tried Broccoli I found out that I like it.

At times, we as Christians, are like this with people. We are quick to judge someone or something when we may not have the whole story. It can be easy to “Judge a book by its cover.”

Today, we are going to look at a passage that is often miss quoted where people say you can’t judge others. That is not what Jesus is teaching here. Jesus tells us that we need to look inward before we look outward.

This powerful message from Jesus will help us to see that we need to look at our own sins before we start to look at someone else. We all sin and we need to help each other to grow in our walk with Jesus.

Do not Judge (1-2)

Matthew 7:1–2 CSB

1 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.

What does it mean to judge?

Many people, including non-Christians, know this verse. It has often been quoted to say that we have no right to judge. We just need to let people do whatever they want.

As we will see, this is not what Jesus is teaching.

The word used for judge means: judge guilty, condemn, pass judgment upon, express an opinion about. (Louw-Nida and BDAG)

So, Judge here comes with the idea of condemning a person for their actions. That is something we cannot do for that alone belongs to Christ.

We can however know from other scriptures that their is a right way that we as Christians can judge.

Matthew 7:20 “20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,”

Galatians 6:1 “1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.”

John 7:24 “24 Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.””

We need to call sin sin and distinguish between right and wrong.

For me to stand up here today and say that sin is wrong is to make a judgement.

To say it is wrong to murder is a judgement

We need to understand there is a difference between judgment and judgmental.

The problem is when we become critical of others. We tend to judge people when the don’t do things our way. We judge based on our standards instead of the word of God.

Example 1: How many of us get mad when we are driving down the street and get behind someone going really slow? We start to say things about that person. What if he just lost his wife and he is going to make the arrangements?

Example 2: I can’t believe she is letting her kid play with that or eat that. What if that is all she has?

Example 3: Well so and so is not a good Christian because they don’t do this. What if no one has taken the time to invest in their lives and show them a different way.

Jesus wants His disciples and us to see that the measure we use is the measure that will be used upon us.

If we want people to treat us with kindness and mercy, then that is how we are to interact with others.

Look at the way Jesus treated the woman at the well.

What did Jesus say on the cross about those who crucified Him? Luke 23:34 “34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.”

It can be very easy for me to judge someone because they did not do it my way.

We have all judged and we have all been judged and we have been wrong about people and they have been wrong about us.

Judge The right way.

The heart of what Jesus is teaching is that it comes down to our attitude. Why are we making this judgement about this person?

Are we being critical - That is not the way we have always done it. That is not the way I think it should be done.

Are we being helpful - That sin will cost them more than they can know and I want to come along side them, pull them out of sin, and help them grow in their walk with Jesus.

The key is we need to use God's standard and not our own.

God is mercy, and love, and kind, but at the same time He is good and does not downplay sin.

We can never say that sin is ok but we can say it in a nice way. We love the sinner not the sin.

When we judge others we need to think, how would we feel if there were judging us the same way?

What if Jesus judged us the way we judge others?

Jesus says remove the beam first.

Remove the Beam First (3-5)

Matthew 7:3–5 CSB

3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.

We all have sin

Romans 3:10 “10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.”

Romans 3:23 “23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”

James 2:10 “10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.”

Because we all sin, we need to remember that we are no better than those we are placing judgement upon.

This is why Jesus tells us to look inward first to remove our beam.

Remove the Beam

When we take the log out first we can see better to deal with the speck .

We can see there is a sense that we do need to call out what is wrong. We just need to do it in the right way.

We can be blind to our own sins and not see them even though they are a big ol log hanging out our eye.

We see this in the OT story of Nathan and King David.

David had sinned with Bathsheba and had her husband killed

The prophet Nathan comes and tells a story about how a rich man took a poor man’s lamb.

David got mad and said that man needs to die

Nathan said, “you are the man.”

David did not see his beam but was ready to judge the speck.

When we see our sin we are able to show mercy and kindness knowing that we struggle too.

We can mis judge other people because we are not able to see over our own beam in our eye.

Would you want me to remove a splinter from your hand if I had something blocking my view?

Yet this is what we do to other people

Often we have a beam hanging out our eye but instead of dealing with it, I am worried about your speck.

I don’t want to deal with or talk about my sin, I would much rather deal with yours.

Jesus is telling us to look at our hearts before we look at another.

Often we judge other people instead of looking at our selves.

There was a time I was KJV only, Suit and tie.

I would judge those who did not agree with me as being wrong and in danger.

There is no biblical support for KJV only or suit and tie. Neither of those existed when the bible was written.

Yet I used them as a standard and judged people based on them and I pushed people away from the gospel.

Today as we look at this passage, may we look inward and see our sin. May we see where we have allowed our preferences to judge others in a way we should not.

Once I have dealt with the big ol log in my eye, then I can see better to help you get the splinter out.

We have to be careful to not make our way the only way.

The Pharisees were good at judging others based on their standards instead of God’s.

Luke 18:11 “11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

We should work together to help each other with sin. We all have sin and we need each other.

Some People won’t Listen (6)

Matthew 7:6 CSB

Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

This verse seems to make no sense at first glance as to dealing with the verses on judging.

However, it plays a vital role.

There are some who will not hear or heed the message and we need to judge who they are and not spend all our time on them.

Verse 6 is dealing with those who are hostile to the gospel and at times we need to walk away and shake the dust of our feet.

Matthew 10:11–15 “When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave. Greet a household when you enter it, and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

Dogs and Pigs were considered bad by the Jewish people. (Not dogs like we have today as pets these were scavengers)

The Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary stats:

Matthew Exegesis

Don’t give what is holy to dogs” appeals to the widely-known principle that one should not allow wild dogs, which normally feasted on carrion, to eat the remnants of temple sacrifice. “Don’t toss your pearls before pigs” expresses a similar principle. Like sacrificial meat, pearls were precious and deserving of special treatment. Pigs would not appreciate the value of pearls any more than dogs appreciated the value of sacrificial meat.

What is holy and what is pearls here is the good news of the gospel.

We cannot force anyone to believe. Some will be hostile and at some point we simply walk away.

We can be kind, gentle, and loving and still they are hostile to us.

We need to try to help all people, but not dwell on those who refuse to hear the truth.

We need to invest our time in those who want to know Jesus and grow in their walk with Him.

There are some that no matter how much proof you have they will not change their belief. They will do things their way and be hostile to the truth.

When we find people who want to grow in their walk with Christ, we take the time to invest in their lives giving them the precious pearls that is the word of God.

Conclusion

I lost a lot of time that I could have enjoyed Broccoli because I knew I didn’t like it even though I didn’t try it.

I missed out on things like Broccoli and cheese soup

Broccoli Salad

Steamed Broccoli covered in Cheese

My bad judgement took away yummy food.

How much time have we lost in relationships because we judged people to soon? I know I have missed out because of this.

What is God saying to us today?

Do we need to remove a beam from our eye?

Do we need to help someone with a splinter?

How are we casting our pearls?

Invitation