To Judge or Not to Judge

Kingdom Heart Sermon Series

Working our way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is teaching those gathered about the reality of the Kingdom of God, and especially kingdom righteousness, and how they can live out reality of Kingdom, have that kind of righteousness

Two basic principles, first is that righteousness that Jesus is teaching us about is what it looks like to have heartfelt love for all others, true inner goodness - what we’ve been referring to as “Kingdom Hearts”. This is what God wants for us, this perfect love.

Second is that it is Jesus who alone can teach us this. He is Master Teacher. Jesus himself loved perfectly and can teach us what that looks like. To be Christian is to be a follower of Jesus, to look to him to teach you how to live, how to treat other people. That involves hearing his words and putting them into practice.

Prayer / Matthew 7:1-6

Condemnation Engineering

I don’t know if you saw this on news or on social media, but there were a group of Black Lives Matters protesters who were marching through area in Washington D.C. where there were a number of restaurants.

Area had wide sidewalks, there was outdoor seating…and protesters started going to folks eating at these restaurants demanding that they show their support for BLM movement by raising their fists in solidarity.

Most of folks sitting there complied, but there were a couple who refused. Footage showed protesters getting right up to them, shouting at them, demanding they do this. Irony was one of the woman who refused was very much supporter of movement, had been involved in previous protests. She didn’t like feeling compelled to do this.

I give this example not to make any kind of political point (I would hope that we all would affirm that black lives absolutely matter), but because as I hope as you’ll see as we make our way through Jesus’ teachings here, that this is just glaring example of type of behavior that we all participate in various ways ourselves.

This is what Dallas Willard would call condemnation engineering. What does he mean by that, condemnation engineering?

Oxford dictionary defines engineering as science of designing, building, and using machines, engines and structures.

There’s intention behind it, whole idea of engineering is trying to bring something about, build bridge that will enable a lot of traffic, weight, to cross over. Design engine so car has lots of power while using as little fuel as possible. Trying to bring something about.

Condemnation engineering is to try to bring something about through use of condemnation. That’s tool of choice. It’s tool those protesters were trying to use to engineer support for the BLM movement. You better publicly declare your support right now or we will condemn you for being evil and racist.

And it is powerful and dangerous tool - and it’s exactly what Jesus is teaching against in this passage - because we cannot engage in condemnation engineering AND have a heartfelt love for all others, they are polar opposites. Jesus teaches against way we engage in condemnation engineering in two ways.

One way that we do this is through judging others.

Second way that we do this by giving, as Jesus describes it, “dogs what is holy and throwing pearls before pigs”. Dallas Willard calls this “pearl pushing.” Basic idea is that we are forcing things, even good things, on people, even when those good things may not be helpful.

Those protesters were utilizing both ways of condemnation engineering here, they were trying to force upon others support of Black Lives Matter (everyone raise their fists). Because they see BLM as good thing, want everyone to embrace. But they are doing so forcefully. To point that if you didn’t do it, you’d feel like a bad person, however you might feel about movement. And if people wouldn’t display their support, the protesters would get right in their faces and yell at them for being terrible people, racists. Judging. Condemning.

And there are lots more ways to do this as you’ll see as we walk our way through these two ways of condemnation engineering.

So first, Judging as form of condemnation engineering

Jesus begins here by saying explicitly, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

When we consider what it means to judge, there’s a couple of ways to understand what judging means.

One way is simply idea of discernment, distinguishing, appraising. That’s not type of judging Jesus is talking about here.

Earlier this week I went to Doctor, was experiencing pain in my foot (apparently I pulled my tendon). Of course, they weighed me, took my blood pressure, checked my lungs - and my foot.

All of that nurse and doctor do in order to be able to judge how healthy I am (heart, lungs, etc.). They are judging in sense of discerning, to see and say what is, based on these my vitals.

Now, they might be judging in sense of condemning, could be thinking to themselves whole time - boy, this guy takes terrible care of himself. What an idiot! That would be other type of judging.

And to be clear, we can also make moral judgments in this same sense, when we try to discern or distinguish if particular act is right or wrong. And this is necessary part of being human. And difficult part of being human.

There have been some tragic and difficult shootings this past week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer’s shooting of Jacob Blake. In the midst of riots following, three young men were shot (killing two of them) by another young man who thought he should come help protect businesses. There are a lot of complicating factors in both these instances, and we ought to be humble enough to recognize that we don’t have all facts, we know very little about these circumstances and we certainly do not know their hearts. We want to pray for those who will be investigating (and those being investigated), and if they go to court, for those in jury, who will have to make difficult moral judgments, discern moral culpability of any and all involved. That’s heavy burden.

But this type of moral judgment is in arena (or at least it should be) in arena of discerning, appraising.

One thing we absolutely don’t want to do, and what Jesus is teaching us not to do, is to judge in other sense - to condemn, to blame. And this is very difficult to do. So many of us have already made those declarations in our hearts and minds…Jacob Blake was just punk, he was criminal. Police officer was trigger happy, racist.

Because, as Willard says, this is a “deeply rooted human practice.”

Because we so easily live in anger and contempt, our judging leans toward condemning, blaming. Which is why it’s first thing Jesus confronts in our hearts in Sermon on Mount. Our anger and contempt are what lead us into judging and condemning.

Here’s great danger. Condemnation, blame, always lessen others.

Because it attacks not just what they’ve done, but who they are. That they are bad. It’s not just that you commit a crime, but you are criminal. And it’s not just that you use racial slur, you are a racist. That’s condemning language we use. And because people are bad, they are to be rejected.

They are deserving of suffering in some way. Don’t wear a mask, deserve to die. Don’t work, don’t deserve to eat.

But as Willard writes, we still feel that condemnation is appropriate at times. In his words, “we have great confidence in the power of condemnation to ‘straighten others out.’ And if that fails, should we not at least make clear that we are on the side of the right - no small matter itself?”

So we use it in parenting, in correcting our children, there is tone of condemnation. We want them to feel bad, so we lay it on. I certainly have been guilty of that far too many times.

You hear it all time in conversations when there is talk about another co-worker or that neighbor down the street or talking about extended family member or even those here in church and you’re discussing what they did you think is wrong or an opinion they have, how often it has that tone of condemnation to it. Question is, can we hear it in our own voices?

Non-smokers talking about smokers, neighbors who keep their lawns mowed versus those who don’t, outfits that people chose to wear in public - don’t bother to dress appropriately for the occasion, people who feel judged talking about all those self-righteous people!

We judge. We condemn. We blame.

Jesus warns us about danger. It comes back to us. You judge? You condemn? You’ll be judged. You’ll be condemned. If you hold out strict measures, that’s exactly what you’ll experience.

Of course none of us measure up to God’s standards - so we are either being hypocritical by demanding in our hearts that they do so (when we ourselves don’t) or we are measuring them by our standards, what they have to meet to be acceptable to us. There’s always element of self-righteousness involved.

We’ve seen this in other areas…because God always honors our free choices - if you want to live this way, so be it. If you are unwilling to forgive others, you will not be forgiven. If you want to place others under cloud of condemnation, join the party.

But it’s not just case with God - it plays out that way in human relationships as well. When we feel judged, condemned, attacked in that way, it’s very natural response to launch counterattack.

Where do you think, “OK, boomer” came from? Counterattack from millennials, tired of being judged as whiny and entitled.

A child who experiences regular condemnation will act out - in rebellion, passive aggressive behavior, apathy - or outright return condemnation.

Which is why Jesus says that we are in no position to correct others, which is what he’s taking about when he describes removing speck out of their eyes. We’re not ready to do that until we remove log out of our own eye.

If you think about removing speck from someone’s eye, that’s very careful operation. Think about getting a splinter out of your finger, need lots of light, have to get close, and really look - have to be able to see clearly.

Of course, Jesus makes his point by using absurd example of having log in your own eye - that anyone would be able to notice speck in another person’s eye with log in their own!

Dallas Willard has brilliant insight here. Log isn’t, as I’d thought for a long time, removing all imperfections from my own life. That’s not what Jesus is talking about. The log in our eyes is condemnation! Judging, blaming, is board in our eye! That’s log we must remove.

Until we are free from condemning others, we are not ready to offer correction. We can’t truly help others until, as Willard says, we have grown into type of person who does not condemn.

Which is why it’s typically best, just like vengeance, to leave that up to God.

Second way that we tend to engage in condemnation engineering is by pearl pushing. So, what’s that all about?

Here, Jesus says that we shouldn’t give to dogs what is sacred and not to throw our pearls to pigs. If you do, they just trample them under their feet and then turn on you!

Now this is typically understood to mean that we shouldn’t give valuable, precious things to people who are not worthy. They’ll just waste them. But that whole notion has judgmental attitude about it, doesn’t it? They’re dogs, pigs - they’re not worthy of my precious things!

Dallas Willard offers very different look at this.

He says that problem is not that we give sacred things to those who are not ready because they aren’t worthy, it’s because it’s not helpful.

Dog has no use for sacred things. Pigs can’t eat pearls.

Problem with condemnation engineering is that we’re trying to fix others through condemnation. Straighten them out through this way that shames and belittles others.

One way we do it (a lot!) is by judging, blaming. Pointing out their mistakes.

But here we do it by trying to force things on them - may be good things, may be great things - problem is that we force them on them. We are pearl pushers.

We can do this in many ways

Again, parents with children - we force things on them because we think it’s good for them. I confess that I’ve done this as well.

We can force religion on others, have to tell them gospel or give them our spiritual wisdom when giving them something to eat or providing a listening ear might be what they really need.

Not just religion, people force their political views or their newly discovered exercise regiment, all sorts of things.

And in doing so, we fail to honor them, love them freely. Because we are not acting out of Kingdom heart, heartfelt love for all others. Which is what Jesus wants to nurture in us.

Heartfelt Love for All Others

Condemnation engineering is, of course, not love. It does not come from a heartfelt love for all others.

I hope it’s been evident to you that as we’ve gone through Jesus’ teachings here is that one of primary ways that we love others is to love them freely. That we honor their free will to choose.

Condemnation engineering fails to do that. We act out of our own compulsion to straighten them out, to fix them. It is, as Willard writes, “an effort to bring others out of God’s hands and out of their own responsibility and under our own control.”

Instead, Willard tells us, it all “comes back to respecting others as spiritual beings who are responsible before God above for the course they choose to take of their own free will.”

Isn’t that how we want to be treated? To be loved? With that kind of respect, that we ourselves are responsible to God for choices we make?

And how freeing this is, to not be moral police of all those around us - our family members, our neighbors, those we work with?

This is what Jesus wants for us, this is what living in Kingdom of God entails, living without condemnation. And that’s not just condemnation of others, but to be free of condemnation of ourselves.

Exactly what Paul is proclaiming in Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

No condemnation. None. Whatsoever. No blame. No shame. No, you are bad.

This is not to say that we don’t sin, we don’t think and say and do hurtful and ugly things on regular basis. It’s our standing before Jesus. We have been set free.

Jesus could condemn us. Absolutely. He lived and loved perfectly. But he did not come to condemn, he came to save us, set us free. Condemnation separates, it distances us from others (just one of ways its so painful).

But we cannot be separated from love of Jesus. Nothing can separate us from his love.

I wanted to close with this because more we embrace this reality, more we experience freedom of no condemnation, more readily we’ll give up judging and condemning others.

Beauty is, it frees us from condemnation of others - if God, ruler of all, great judge, the Lord - if he doesn’t condemn us, what does it matter what others think? (Another great reason to seek first Kingdom of God and his righteousness).

I love way Dallas Willard puts it, “When we enter the life of friendship with the Jesus who is now at work in our universe, we stand in a new reality where condemnation is simply irrelevant.”

It’s irrelevant to us, there is now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and it’s irrelevant toward others. We don’t have to (nor should we) condemn them. Freed from it all.

We no longer seek to build and design by judging or pearl pushing. No more condemnation engineering. Instead, may our engineering, our designing, our building, what we bring to the world, come out of heartfelt love for all others.