Spirit Check

Introduction

-Today, I want to quickly go over what is probably the most misquoted and abused passage out of all the entirety of Scripture. Verse 1 especially has become a mantra of people all around the world who do not want to be questioned about their lifestyle choices, but want to live in as much sin as possible without being made to feel uncomfortable.

-If you dare to tell someone that what they are doing is wrong or sinful according to the Bible (no matter how loving you may do it), they shoot back with this verse faster than Quick Draw McGraw, as they throw in your face with as much attitude as possible, saying: “WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT TO ME. DON’T YOU KNOW THE BIBLE SAYS DO NOT JUDGE? SO YOU CAN’T JUDGE ME.”

-When people say that, I so want to retort back to them a modified quote from the movie THE PRINCESS BRIDE, when Inigo Montoya tells Vizzini: “You keep using that <verse>. I do not think it means what you think it means.”----It is absolutely inconceivable how badly they twist the meaning of that verse.

-Let’s put this matter to rest rather quickly. In no way, shape, or form is Jesus saying that no judgments of any sorts can be made. In fact, if you read Scripture closely, we are told to make various kinds of judgments so that we can analyze, assess, and evaluate in order to discern the rightness and wrongness of something:

1 Corinthians 6:2 ESV

2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

-{If we are going to be judges, we have to make judgments}

1 John 4:1 ESV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

-You need to make a judgment call in testing the spirits to determine whether they are from God or not. Actions are to be tested and judged in the same way as spirits.

-There are plenty of other verses, but the point is that some blanket statement of not being able to make any sort of judgment of anybody’s actions is ripping this verse and this passage out of its biblical context.

-So if that is what the passage DOESN’T mean, then what is Jesus talking about? Again, we look at the context. Jesus is talking about living according to the values of the Kingdom of God, and here He is calling the members of the Kingdom to put a check on their spirit to prevent that which is not a Kingdom value.

-To put something or someone in check means to do something to get them under control. And in this particular passage Jesus calls His disciples to conduct a check on their own spirits to see if they are doing wrong, hypocritical judgments—get your spirit under control so you don’t judge wrongly.

-What is this wrong judgment? This wrong judgment is having critical, judgmental attitudes toward others. Christians are not to be critical and judgmental such that they tear other people down by word, deed, or attitude.

-Unfortunately, Christians are known for a critical, judgmental, unloving attitude in the way that they treat people. But this passage is a call to put your spirit in check, to make sure that is not you. And if you have a critical, judgmental attitude, and it has seeped out of your spirit and into the way you live your life, Jesus is calling you to a time of repentance.

Matthew 7:1–6 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 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? 5 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. 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.

-Let’s answer this question today: How do we check our spirits to make sure we are not critical and judgmental toward others?

I) Consider the standard by which you are judging (vv. 1-2)

-In vv. 1-2 we are warned by Jesus that by the same judgment that you judge others, that same judgment is going to fall back on you, and not just from other people, but from God Himself.

-In one sense this speaks about the manner of judgment, because if you judge harshly, you yourself will be judged harshly. If you judge with bitterness and anger and vitriol, you yourself will be judged with bitterness and anger and vitriol by other people and your judgment from God will be as harsh.

-But even more than this, Jesus is speaking about the standard that you use in judging, because if you judge by the wrong standard, your spirit will take up the wrong judgment of others.

-The wrong kind of standard is your own, personal standard that you make up in your own head. It is the standard set up by the flesh. And when people do not meet this standard that you yourself set up, you sit there in judgment over them for things that have no authority over them. You are being critical and judgmental.

-However, there is a right standard, a godly standard, a holy standard, and that is the standard that is set up by Scripture—the standard given in the Word of God. We are able to discern things and make judgments and point things out to people when it is specifically dealt with in Scripture.

-The real problem comes in when we get these two different standards mixed up. When you have your own standard, but it is found nowhere in the Bible, and you have no biblical authority to back it up, and yet you set your standard as having the same authority as Scripture, there is a problem.

-hear me on this: YOUR STANDARDS ARE NOT THE SAME AS GOD’S STANDARDS. If it isn’t in the Bible, be very leery of making your standard that which people are expected to live by, and you then critically judge those who do not live up to your standard.

-So, for example, you tell people that if they listen to a certain type of music that they are going to hell, and you then sit in judgment over them—you are judge, jury, and executioner, and you deem they are going to hell. But where’s the Scripture to back that up?

~Now, there is a better way to approach this. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 10:23 ESV

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

~You may have the freedom to listen to any music you want, but not all music is going to be spiritually beneficial to you. So if you want to grow spiritually, you may not want to listen to that type of music.

-Can you all sense the difference in the spirit of those two approaches? You see, when the self is the standard, there is a fleshly arrogance. When the Bible is the standard, there is a godly humility.

-And do you know why there is a godly humility, because when you read the Bible as the standard, you yourself find out how far short you yourself fall of that standard. The biblical standard is actually perfection. The biblical standard is actually Christ.

-With that in mind, this leads to our second answer here:

II) Consider yourself before you start judging (vv. 3-5)

-In vv. 3-5 Jesus uses an exaggerated picture to try to get His point across—in telling people not to be critical and judgmental about others, He forces His disciples to look to themselves first.

-Just imagine this picture. Here you are trying to take care of a little, tiny sliver in somebody else’s eye, but you have this long 2 x 4 sticking out of your own eye.

-Jesus wonders how in the world you can see out of your own eye with that 2 x 4 in order to help somebody else with a small sliver. So He tells His disciples to take care of their own log before they try to take care of somebody else’s sliver.

-It’s actually an amusing picture, but it carries a great deal of meaning. The pieces of wood represent a person’s sins and faults. When a person starts looking for a small, tiny sliver in somebody else’s eye, it is representative of someone nit-picking over all the small things that might be wrong with another person that they sit there and criticize and judge over.

-It is also a picture of someone having a wrong focus. Here you are with this big log sticking out of your own eye, but you ignore that in order to look for the tiniest fault in somebody else. It begs the question: How can you sit there criticizing someone over minor things, when you have your own (much bigger) problems that you need to deal with?

-You sit there and criticize someone over their dress, over their hair, over their manner, over their skills, over their talents, over their habits, and yet you have a problem with gossip, or a problem with lust, or a problem with bitterness, or a problem with anger, or a problem with negativity, or a problem with pride and arrogance.

-It’s the craziest thing with some Christians that they willfully choose to ignore the sin in their own life, but they try to take a spiritual microscope to everybody else’s life so they can find some sin to criticize==often in order to feel better about themselves and give themselves a sense of superiority.

-Jesus puts this in check and tells people to take care of that huge 2 x 4 in your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly enough to help somebody with their sliver. What is Jesus saying?

-You need to go through the process of repentance for yourself over your own sin, and only after you truly repent of your own sin will you then have the spiritual maturity to help somebody deal with their sin.

-You see, when you go through the process of repentance of sin, it humbles you, and you find that walking with God having repented of sin brings you freedom, so then you have the humility and contriteness enough to help someone walk in that same freedom.

-But if you are still bound up in your sin, you are in no position to help anybody else. And when someone does not want to deal with their own sin, and they are under conviction, they try to take the focus off themselves and place it on somebody else—so they become critical and judgmental.

-If you have a critical, judgmental spirit, it just means that you are refusing to deal with your own sins; they are dragging you down, and you are trying to make others look bad to make you feel better. Repent of your sin and repent of your critical spirit, and walk in freedom with your Lord.

III) Consider the One for whom you are judging (v. 6)

-in what seems to almost be a complete turnaround, Jesus warns not to give what is holy to dogs or cast pearls before swine. Well, in order to accomplish this verse, you have to make a judgment of some sort.

-So, if we’re not careful, we’d almost think He’s talking out of both sides of His mouth—DON’T JUDGE, BUT MAKE THIS JUDGMENT

-But, we know Jesus doesn’t change, so this just confirms what we said earlier that Jesus is not condemning all sorts of judgment that assist us in making assessments in life—He warns against the critical, judgmental, condemning attitudes that people let arise in their spirit.

-But what Jesus is saying here is that when you take that which is holy and valuable and you continuously put it before people who are openly hostile and blasphemous toward the things of God, you need to stop because God is holy, His gospel is righteous, His ways are perfect, and they do not need to be submitted to that kind of abuse.

-And for our purposes it is a reminder for whom we do all things—we work and minister and do all things for the glory of a Holy, Perfect, Righteous God—and this ministry we are all given requires a holy, perfect, righteous judgment==not a critical (or hypocritical, or even hypercritical) judgement of others.

-As members of God’s Kingdom, we work for God, and it is not our job to be harsh, but to love people to the gospel—it means being realistic about biblical assessments. If we are spiritually clean, then in humility we can help others in their road to that same cleanness. If someone is lost, then we lead them to the cross. But if they reject the gospel with open hostility, we don’t keep shoving it in their faces, but rather lift them in prayer to God and ask Him to prepare their hearts.

-We serve a great God, but in serving this great God we do so with humility, contriteness, and the same love for others that He has.

Conclusion

A lady who was a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.

Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, “Please God, send me an angel … preferably one with mechanical experience.” Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard, and tattooed arms. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and, without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where

he calmly continued to work on the water pump.

The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket: “Hell’s Angels—California.” As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, “Thanks so much,” and carry on a brief conversation.

Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, “Don’t judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you’re talking to.” With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.

-We’re so quick to be judgmental and critical of the way people walk, talk, or the way they do their Christianity because it is different than ours. We need to put our spirits in check and turn from this critical judgmentalism.

-Christians, pray…

-Some here need Jesus…