Misused Matthew 7

Don’t Judge Me!

“Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Some Christians and non-Christians alike use this verse to give themselves a pass when it comes to someone else being critical of them or their actions.

And then if they know about the verses that follow, they might through them up as well to put you on the defensive…"take a look at that beam in your eye before you look at the speck in mine!"

So what are we to make of this?

Well, for one what is the person doing who says, "Don't judge me" or "you shouldn't judge me"?

They are the ones judging.

It is a contradiction for us to not make judgments or to judge that someone else is judging and then make the judgement that, that is a wrong thing to do.

If we look at the Lord's teaching on how we are to deal with one another when there has been sin, I think it might shed light on this passage in .

. “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

We want to avoid extremes. Such as, some people might take this teaching of the beam and speck and push it much farther than it needs to go and go around trying to make sure everyone's eyes are clear. On the other hand there might be people who reason that because they don't have their lives together, that it is not their place to speak into someone else's life.

Of course the Lord says in verse 3 this is a brother you are dealing with. So, we are not talking about someone who is not a believer.

In verse 5 the Lord tells us to remove the plank in our own eye so that we can remove the spec in our brothel's eye. It is instruction on how we are to judge.

The imagery or the word picture the Lord uses here is so appropriate.

We understand that someone has a spec in their eye.

How might we know that?

Perhaps we hear them complaining about it.

We hear them screaming.

We notice their vision is impaired i.e.. Bumping into things.

We see them blinking incessantly.

So the Lord says to deal with the plank in our own eye first. Why?

The Lord says that we will then be able to see clearly…removing a spec out of someone's eye is delicate work.

Also, if you are in the habit of removing planks from your own eye, then you will be more likely to take extra care when helping someone else.

It's also a humbling thing to not only admit that we have a problem, but to actually deal with it.

What this Lord says at the beginning of this talk may help us to understand the rest of what He says.

. Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

. “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

In context, perhaps this is a caution to us about the level of trust we extend to some.

. Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.