"Don't Judge Me"

The Bible Doesn’t Say That

“Don’t Judge Me”

This morning we are on week 3 of our series, “The Bible Doesn’t Say That”.

Week 1 we talked about “God Helps Those That Help Themselves.”

Last week we talked about “Money Is The Root of All Evil.”

Today I want to talk about a saying that I can guarantee you all have heard in one way or another.

I’m gonna see if you can guess it.

Pretend that you have a friend that is doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

And you confront them about it.

It that moment there is something that comes out of that friends mouth probably 90% of the time.

WHAT IS IT?

DON’T JUDGE ME!

In our culture today if you try to correct anyone about anything they jump right away to don’t judge me.

And a lot of the times they will quote scripture to do it.

They’ll say, “doesn’t the Bible say “Don’t judge, or you too will be judged”?

And what they are doing is quoting which says in the NIV, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”

Now we hear that and say, “Well there you go. See you can’t judge me.”

And when someone uses scripture against us it’s over.

It’s like playing the God card.

So the reason I am going to talk about this is because this is one of the most misquoted scriptures in the Bible.

And a phrase that is said as often as this is, I want to make sure that we FULLY understand what God is saying here.

Because there are some REALLY IMPORTANT things we can learn from this verse and other verses in the Bible that talk about judging.

So first I want to read to you more of so you can hear what Jesus is TRULY saying here.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus is talking about hypocrites.

He uses the example of someone having a plank in their eye but they don’t seem to care but are making a big deal out of someone who has a speck in theirs.

It’s basically like someone throwing a fit because someone stubbed their toe and cursed.

Yet they’re getting plastered every weekend and sleeping around and don’t see a problem with that.

Jesus is saying, “you’ve got some pretty big stuff in your own life that you need to figure out before you start condemning someone else for saying a curse word.”

But the thing is this why it’s so important that we know what the WHOLE Bible says.

Because Paul says something in 1 Corinthians that can be very confusing when compared to .

“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

So this makes it sound like the opposite of what Jesus is saying in .

Paul is now saying that we shouldn’t judge non believers but we SHOULD judge fellow Christians.

So what is really true?

Is the bible contradicting itself?

No. Again we have to look at the context and see what the scripture is really saying.

You see the problem is that word “Judge” is known as such a negative word.

We just assume it means it’s someone who’s only consumed with calling other people out for something they don’t agree with.

So the question is, “What does judging even mean?”

Well let’s answer that by talking about what judging is not.

Judging is Not Telling the Truth

Many people confuse telling the truth to someone as judging.

I heard a Pastor say one time, “I bet nobody here would say stop judging me if I were to tell you that your shoes are untied and that you might trip.”

“But some people would say, stop judging me if I were to say there are some areas in your life that are lose and if you don’t tighten them up you may trip or crash.”

You see telling the truth to someone does not mean you are judging them.

And the problem with that is people think that truth is relative.

But the truth is in the Word of God.

NKJV “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

The truth is when you care and love somebody you need to tell them the truth when they are doing things you know are going to hurt them.

Even if it hurts them to hear that.

Judging is Not Identifying Someone’s Blindspots

We all have blindspots in our lives

Things that we do that can be hurting us and we don’t even know it.

Like for me, I’m very sarcastic. So sometimes I can say things that can be hurtful and not realize it.

So I need people like my wife who can call me out when I do that.

Thank God when you have people in your life who are willing to speak the truth in love and reveal those blindspots to you.

It’s called ACCOUNTABILITY

That’s a little nicer word than judging right?

This is what Paul was calling for in 1 Corinthians

Paul is pointing out to the Corinthian church that they are allowing sin to creep into the church.

Earlier in the chapter he brings up that there is a man who is sleeping with his stepmom and they are just allowing it.

He’s pointing out that as Christians we can’t just allow this blatant sin to go on without addressing it.

He’s calling us to be accountable to one another.

But in today's culture we think that telling someone they are doing something wrong BASED ON SCRIPTURE that we are judging which we shouldn’t do.

So imagine if that friend doesn’t listen to us so we bring in a couple friends to confront them as well?

And if they still don’t repent and recognize it we bring them before the CHURCH leaders?

We would say that is so judgemental and terrible.

Yet that’s exactly what Jesus says to do.

NIV “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.`` If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

It’s called accountability.

We are called to HELP each other in our walks with the Lord.

Because if we care about those we love, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to make sure they’re walking in the path God has for them?

And not heading down a path that’s going to lead to destruction.

Now obviously HOW we do this is what can make people feel like you’re being judgemental.

This doesn’t mean that we run around and yell at everyone and make them feel GUILTY for what they are doing.

In Jesus says to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

EVERYTHING we do must be driven by LOVE.

We go to that person IN LOVE and speak to them in a loving way and show them why what they are doing is wrong?

Because the WHY is very important to people.

The problem is we’ve misinterpreted what that word “judge” means.

Or really what we’ve done is we’ve misinterpreted so we can justify our sin.

And the issue is that Christians unfortunately have been known to judge in the wrong manner.

So I wanted to take a minute to share a few kinds of judgments that are WRONG.

Superficial Judgement

Judging someone based on mere appearances is wrong.

Looking at someone and thinking they can’t be a Christian or that they must be this terrible person because they look and dress a certain way is wrong.

Look what God said to Samuel when he was to crown the next king and he saw David’s oldest brother.

“ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Samuel made a judgement about David’s brother (even though it was positive) based on his appearance.

God said I look at the heart.

Harsh and Unforgiving Judgement

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

“to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”

Again, how we treat people is EXTREMELY important.

And remembering what God says about forgiveness.

“But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

So many times we judge people in the view of their past and we act like God couldn’t save THAT person.

Again look at Kanye West

So many people are bashing him and saying this isn’t real.

Like God’s forgiveness isn’t for everyone.

But it’s interesting when I look in the Bible and see some of the people that God chose to use.

I think of Paul or Moses

So when we see these people who make a radical transformation, instead of doubting them let’s thank God and believe they’re going to be another powerful testimony of God’s grace!

Self-Righteous Judgment

This is what the Pharisees struggled with.

That mindset of “look at me and how spiritual and great I am.”

We feel like because we have such a great relationship with the Lord that EVERYONE should be at our level.

And if they’re not then we look down on them like we’re better.

Everyone is on a journey with God and we’re at different stages in our journey.

So the bottom line is that there are types of judging that are wrong

But it’s not in the way we use that scripture in Matthew.

The Bible calls us to hold each other accountable and help each other in our walks with the Lord.

So if you have those people in your life who want to show you the areas you’re struggling with, don’t get defensive.

Thank God that you have people in your life that care about you enough to speak the truth to you.

And if you are wanting to go to someone and talk to them about their issues, make sure you always do it in love.

Do it so they know that you are only saying this because you care.

So my opinion is don’t look at judging each other as a bad thing or something that feels condemning but look at it as keeping each other accountable to God IN LOVE.

I believe if we all did this correctly the church as a whole would be in a lot better place.

Altar Call