Sermon Tone Analysis

As I began thinking on today’s text my first reaction was to go down the path that several commentators follow.

They, and I, first feel compelled to explain what this is not saying.

It is as if the sting is so sharp that we feel a need to deflect, rather than to allow the words to bring about the necessary change.

As I caught myself trying to rationalize and excuse my intolerance, my prayer is that the words God has laid upon my heart will serve as a fine scalpel in the hands of the Holy Spirit to excise that which needs to be removed while not causing unnecessary trauma to surrounding flesh.

Nobody, including me, enjoys being told “you are wrong” but Proverbs 15:32 offers a wise word:

Proverbs 15:32 (ESV) — Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

My desire is that we would open ourselves to the instruction and reproof God’s Spirit needs to apply to our wicked hearts.

Last week we looked at the subject of worry or anxiety and I told those gathered that worry and concern were two-sides of the same word that Jesus used.

Today we also have another two-sided word.

Negatively we can interpret the word to mean criticism, but positively the word leans toward discernment or the ability to judge rightly.

Yesterday morning one of my long-term friends tweeted Proverbs 4:23.

I’m guessing that my friend is reading the chapter in Proverbs that coincides with the day of the month, (which is a helpful suggestion for our graduates and a good practice for any of us).

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV) — Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Is it possible to “keep or guard one’s heart” without exercising discernment?

We all make judgment calls daily. 1 Cor 15:33 reminds us that our choice of companions matters.

Ps. 1 instructs that the blessed man is the one who chooses his circle of influence.

1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) — Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Psalm 1:1 (ESV) — Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Is it possible for me to conclude that associating with certain people can threaten my own decisions?

How can I experience God’s blessing if I do not identify the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers?

How can I identify them if I don’t “judge” them?

The very ones that would label you or me as “judgmental” are indeed exercising judgment themselves.

The very ones that label certain words as “hate speech” or “phobia” are imposing their judgment on the ideas and behaviors of others.

In 1 Cor 8 Paul writes about a particular behavior that divided 1st century believers.

Certain butchers engaged in a behavior that others considered superstition.

One set of shoppers adopted a shopping mindset that more mature believers understood to be imaginary.

Some imagine that they know more than they actually know.

1 Corinthians 8:2 (ESV) — If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

I suppose the best way to illustrate what I’m describing is with a real-life example.

In Bonner Springs is a bakery franchisee who happens to be Buddhist.

Behind the cash register, in a prominent location, is a statue of Buddha.

Each day the shop owner lights a candle and sets the first/best of his product before this icon.

There is something about his process that makes his donuts taste better than other franchises of the same chain.

Should a Christian do business with him or not?

Today we make similar choices and are accused of holding to imaginary standards.

A behavior that one group identifies as noble or innocent is considered dangerous or evil by another group,

I believe this is the sin that Jesus is calling out in today’s text—claiming to know when we don’t know.

When we presume to know the heart of another person and it causes us to think negatively of them, we slip into the judgmentalism condemned by Jesus; and it happens on both sides of the fence.

Today’s text was written 2,000 years ago and is about more than abortion rights and what some call “gay-marriage”.

The person who quotes verse 1 without considering the next 5 is taking a quote out of context!

Matthew 7:1 is not a charge for social liberals to levy again social conservatives.

It is a caution for all Christ followers to evaluate themselves.

Transition: If all Scripture is inspired and profitable, which it is, then we cannot omit or ignore verse 1.

We owe it to the Lord and ourselves to seek to understand it and obey it.

I believe proper obedience to this command begins when we…

Consider Our Privilege (vv.1-2)

Explanation