Sermon Tone Analysis

This week in our series entitled "The Bible Doesn't Say That" we turn to a phrase that, while it does actually appear in the Bible, is far too often taken out of context.

So what phrase are we talking about?

It's the phrase, "Do not judge."

I'm sure you've seen the sentiment lately.

Lots of people will have it on t-shirts, or tattooed somewhere on their body, "Only God can judge me."

That's a common refrain nowadays when someone is doing something that goes against the teaching of scripture.

They know they're wrong, but they don't want it pointed out to them.

So where does this idea come from in the Bible?

Well like I said, the phrase, "Do not judge," is one that actually does appear in scripture, but it is taken out of context.

Let's look at where this idea comes from.

We'll be reading from the 7th chapter of Matthew.

So that's where people get this idea that we're not supposed to judge.

And it seems pretty cut and dried doesn't it?

Jesus said flat out, "Do not judge, so that you won't be judged."

But there's more to this passage than just that first phrase.

Yes, Jesus said "Do not judge," but what he's actually talking about here is not judging in and of itself, but judging someone for something that you are guilty of also.

He's saying, "Be careful about judging someone for a sin because you will be judged by the same standard."

This is addressing those times when we look down our noses at someone else in the church because they don't give enough money (we think), or they don't spend enough time praying or reading their Bible (we think), or whatever else it is that we think they should be doing.

And God is sitting up there in heaven looking at us thinking, "And just how much money did you drop at Starbucks last week?"

or "How much time did you spend scrolling through Facebook when you could have been reading the Bible yourself?"

That's what Jesus is addressing here; judging others for something that we are guilty of ourselves.

And in fact if you keep reading he goes on to address how we should judge others and who we should judge.

Let's keep reading in verse 5 and 6

Now there are two things I want us to see here.

First, in verse 5 Jesus goes back to this idea of judging others and tells us how to do it.

He says, "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."

So he's not saying an absolute, "Don't judge."

He's saying, "You can't judge others when there is sin harbored in your own heart."

He actually tells us to take the splinter out of our brother's eye, to judge them, but in order to do so we have to take care of our own problems first.

Now something else I want us to notice from this verse is the fact that he tells us to take the splinter out of our "brother's" eye.

What does that mean?

He's talking about judging other believers.

He's telling us that we, as Christians, need to hold each other accountable.