Mind Your Business
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Mind Your Business
Introduction: Mind Your Business
138 years BMBC
Mind Your Business Matthew 7:1-6
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
The Sermon on the Mount calls us to a different way of living, consider your lifestyle before judging others about theirs!
Paul tells the Ephesian elders in acts 20:28
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
He reminds those leading before you jump into others stuff: watch your own lives, take care of your walk with the Lord. . . then look at others
Paul is hinting to what Jesus gives us this week. This is the bombshell of all bombshells. I wanted to skip over this one; we don’t skip over stuff at BMBC. We labor to teach the full counsel of God.
I wish Pastor Orr, Pastor Anderson, Bishop Brown someone else would have done this one. They sent me out as the Hitman to bring this message to you.
For my sake, I am glad I have protection in this digital fence all around me, so no one can throw stones at me today on this issue. I will be careful this week when I’m doing my grocery pickup.
We must pay attention to our own stuff and stop passing judgment on others for what they do. Who they marry or not-is not your issue. Where they hang out, how someone dresses… who someone loves. What someone drives. . how this person this and that.
Hopefully, this socially distant holiday season will keep some from being bullied by they way they decide to make their dressing and homemade cranberry sauce.
What has really been crazy is the treatment of people and their decision to wear a mask or not. I witnessed many so called Christian bullying someone online because they made the decision to wear a mask. Talking about you’re not living in freedom and all that jazz…
Let me be with my mask. . . why should a mask wearer have to be met with so much chatter.
possible
opening illustration (facebook war about mask) living in freedom vs. fear {april randal and whit}
This text is something we live in the reality of; whether we admit it or not. Our lives are inundated with placing judgement on people; measuring our lives against the choices others make for themselves.
It is a daily exercise. From the car someone purchases, to the neighborhood one decides to live in. . even to the brand label clothing.
It happens more harshly in matters of morality; we judge people on our flawed standard and not the standard God has put in place in His word.
Back when church was fully in session; you had to dress a particular way to be accepted. Your speech had to be full of Christians cliches. . your life had to be perfect.
The perfect life: what does that even mean?
It is this stress of the Perfect life that has chocked the life out of people trying to live after God’s desire for their life. Unfortunately; for many, this life to be achieved means- {you can’t have a past, you can’t have a speeding ticket, can’t have experienced a bad relationship. . }
the list goes on and on but you catch my point which is this: people have a standard they can’t fulfill themselves.
This is the great tragedy in the world of Christianity; this is why the Lord wanted to give us The standard in Him to follow and not of ourselves. The Lord says: “His yoke is easy and His burdens are light”; yet we add and add and add the weight of legalism on people; crushing any chance growth in their lives.
Jesus says: “come to me all who are burden and heavy laden, i will give you rest”. . . we create such painful environments that people oftentimes; reject coming because the atmosphere is so toxic.
The gossip, the slander, the attacks, the vile remarks, the negativity (all pre-pandemic) by the way; has caused many people to question the authenticity of Christ. Not because of Him; but because of the people who are to bare His name
This is the judgement Jesus mentions here in this text. This is different from the Matt 18- where we are commanded to seek restoration of people who have committed offenses. This is not the speak the truth in love Paul admonishes believers to do when errors occur.
this is baseless bullying that He says must stop and must go away. Modern scholars and theologians calls this Legalism: today we will call it what Jesus calls it- Hypocritical.
This is nothing new to us: many songs have been written suggesting the struggle of Hypocritical people in this world.
Lecrae wrote church clothes
The williams brothers had “sweep around your own front door, before you start sweeping around mine”
intro:
You know there are too many people trying to take care of
Others peoples business and they can't even take care of their own
What you need to do is take six months to mind your own business
And six months to leave other folks business alone
You smile in your neighbors face and talk about them behind their back
But if you found out they were doing the same thing to you, you know you
Would like that. Who are we to judge what other people do, take a look
At yourself and you could find some faults too
Your always on the telphone puttin down on someone else
You need to take a little time, stop, look in the mirror and
Check your self. We all have sins that come short from gods
Glory today, So we don't have time to spread hersay
Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine
Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine
Now i don’t know what prompted this song to be written (must check with David Brown-Church Historian/Gospel music); it appears someone experienced judgmental behavior, never the less it exists and it is something we need to think through in order to grow the Kingdom of God.
Sidenote: We want to free people from the bondage of judgmentalism. . however we are not licensing turning a blind eye to realities that exist. we still must discern whats good and whats evil
Tough work for us today
Watching: verse 1-2
Watching: verse 1-2
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
judge-
7:1–2 “Judge” (krinō) can imply to analyze or evaluate as well as to condemn or avenge.
Jesus wants us to be better:
So Jesus is here commanding his followers not to be characterized by judgmental attitudes
Do not judge refers to the passing of harsh, adverse verdicts on the conduct of our fellows; it does not forbid the use of our best critical thinking (which may be done in a spirit of tolerance and helpfulness and which Jesus elsewhere commands as a help to others
when we judge, it opens us up to be judged by others and God.
The Gospel according to Matthew 7. Judging, 7:1–6
To be quick to call others to account is to invite God to call us to account.
Hypocrites - verse 3- 5
Hypocrites - verse 3- 5
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Judgmentalism- overly critical. .
Barbershop experience (brothers rejected because of how the looked). . .
Jesus now illustrates the foolishness of most judgmentalism with the hyperbole of the speck and the plank. He is concerned about his followers’ moral failures.
How often we criticize others when we have far more serious shortcomings in our own lives. Such behavior offers another example of hypocrisy (recall 6:2, 5, 16), especially when we treat fellow believers this way, whose sins God has already forgiven. But v. 5 makes clear that vv. 3–4 do not absolve us of responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Rather, once we have dealt with our own sins, we are then in a position gently and lovingly to confront and try to restore others who have erred (cf. Gal 6:1).
saw dust vs. plank
saw dust are very small particles. . planks are large. if there is a plank in my eye; it is impossible for me to see the speck in someone else.
Witness: verse 6
Witness: verse 6
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
when witnessing goes wrong-
There’s a comedian who had a segment called: when keeping it real goes wrong. It showcased various scenarios of people taking matters into their own hands and it ends up detrimental.
judgmentalism. . legalism. . hurts our witness.
Matthew 2. Paradigmatic Preaching: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)
The dogs described here are wild scavengers. The pigs best represent unclean animals for Jews. Both are natural opposites to what is holy or, like pearls, of great value. Both “dogs” and “pigs” were regularly used as pejorative epithets for Gentiles within ancient Judaism. Jesus is using the terms equally pejoratively but in the more general sense of those who are ungodly (cf. 2 Pet 2:22 for the same combination).
Matthew 2. Paradigmatic Preaching: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)
There is a form of evangelism that urges Christians to use every opportunity to share the gospel. Unfortunately, insensitive evangelism often proves harmful not only to the obdurate whose heart is hardened by the undifferentiating evangelist, but harmful also to the gospel that is force-fed.… Aggressive evangelism gets converts and counts them, but we are never able to count those turned away from the gospel for the numbers of the offended are never tallied