April 21, 2016

Judge Not

A few weeks ago, I started a new series on the Difficult Sayings of Jesus.  One of the sayings that is SOOOO prevalent in our culture is the verse that says Judge Not.  In a time when many are cowering to political correctness, it is the task of the preacher to be Biblically accurate.  I have, as I always try to do, tried to be very faithful in explaining exactly what Jesus meant when He instructed His followers not to judge.  Below is the entire copy of the sermon I preached on this topic.  I pray that the Lord would use it in your life.

Judge Not: Difficult Sayings of Jesus

At the outset, let me give credit where credit is due.  A lot of the material that I am going to share with you today comes from JD Greear, lead pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh/Durham. 

Last Sunday, we began this series on the difficult sayings of Jesus.  There are some things that Jesus said that will make many of us scratch our heads and say, “Lord, what in the world did you mean when you said that?”  Well, we are looking at some of those statements in this series and today we come to a passage that if you were to ask the average person on the street to quote something Jesus said, they would probably quote either John 3:16 or verse 1 of our text, “Judge not that you be not judged.” 

This verse is so popular because it seems to fit into 2 of our culture’s most basic assumptions:

1)     Religion is private.  You can practice whatever you want as long as you do it in private.  The only problem is that when you surrender your life to Jesus, it shapes every area of your life; public and private.  It changes you from the inside out. 

2)     Morality is relative.  Everybody’s belief in morality is different, so there is no standard of what is right and wrong.  What is wrong for you may not be wrong for someone else.  So, morals become more like a preference.  Would you prefer a steak from Outback or Longhorn? And what happens is that if you ever say something that someone doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with, this verse becomes a shield that they pull out, whether they are an atheist or Christian, and they say, “who gives you the right to say what is right or wrong?  Doesn’t the bible say not to judge?” 

But is that what Jesus meant when he said to judge not?  Let’s read the entire passage together.

Judging Others

7 “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. [1]

If verse 1 is sweet to most people in our culture, verse 6 would be the exact opposite.  Dogs and pigs represent people and you have to use wise judgement to figure out who they are.  Jesus basically says in these 6 verses, “Don’t judge and be careful because some of your so called friends are dogs and pigs.”

What in the world does this passage mean?  It can not mean that we never tell someone that they are wrong.  The word ‘judge’ is the greek word krino.  It can imply 1 of 2 things.  It can mean to analyze and evaluate or it can mean to condemn and avenge.  People who are All In with Christ are commanded to always analyze and evaluate in light of Scripture.  That’s why Jesus commands in John 7:24, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

If we believe that we are to never point out sin and say that something is wrong, how would we evaluate Jesus’s ministry?  He told people they were wrong all the time.  Look at his relationship with the Pharisees.  He said they were a bunch of snakes.

Verses 13-14 say that there is a wide gate that leads to destruction and a narrow gate that leads to life.  Would you really tell someone that anyway they want to go will be fine or would you rather use wise judgement and point them in the right way?

How about John the Baptist?  He was beheaded because he called out Herod’s sexual sin. 

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:20, “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all…”  How in the world could a church leader do that if he did not exercise spiritual discernment and point out the sins of others?

So it can’t mean that we are not to tell someone that they are wrong.  It does mean that we are not to have a judgmental attitude.  Having a judgmental attitude is a character flaw in your life that has to be corrected if you are going to represent Christ well in our culture.  Let me give you 2 thoughts to show you what unbiblical judging looks like.

First of all, you judge someone not when you assess their position but when you dismiss them as a person.  If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to see our main objective as getting people to agree with our point of view of the Bible.  That is never the objective; the goal is to always get people to come to know Christ. 

A few years ago, I found a debit card in Lacasetta’s parking lot.  I contacted the young lady and returned it and invited her to church.  It turns out, she was living with her boyfriend and the next Sunday he came.  We began to build a relationship with them, invited them into our home and eventually led him to faith in Christ and she rededicated her life to Christ.  A few months later they would marry and just this past Thursday, had another child together. 

I didn’t go into that relationship wanting them to see that living together outside of the covenant of marriage was wrong.  I wanted them to see that there was a Savior in Christ that loved them and gave Himself up for them and that if they would come to understand everything that HE did for them, then they would surrender every aspect of their life to Him. 

Did I assess their position?  Absolutely.  Did I dismiss them?  Absolutely not.  And that should be the model that we use for anyone that God puts in our path to minister to.  We do everything we can within Biblical boundaries to bring that person close to us for the purpose of sharing Christ.  You have to remember what the goal is.

Secondly, you judge someone when you point out their sin without dealing with yours first.  That’s what verses 3-5 are saying right?  Don’t try to take the speck, which is still damaging by the way (ever had a piece of sand in your eye?), without first removing the log that is in your own eye. 

Notice here that Jesus doesn’t say if there is a log in your eyes.  He assumes that it’s already there.  All of us have a bent towards sin.  Jeremiah said that our hearts are deceitfully wicked.  Paul said that we all struggle with sin.  Before we ever think about pointing out someone else’s sin, let’s first deal with our own.

Here’s what most people will throw out with this text, “What about overweight people?”  What right do they have to point out sin?  Well, being overweight is not a sin, but overeating is.  Some people eat like birds and still gain weight while others eat whatever they want and still don’t gain anything (which isn’t me btw).  But the reality is the same, gluttony is a sin and for many that’s a log that needs to be dealt with in our eyes before we can point out other’s faults.  That doesn’t mean you have to be in tip top shape, but it does mean that you need to be making strides to deal with that, especially in our culture.  But their argument underscores a bigger point.

As followers of Christ, we are called to live holy lives in every area of life.  We have no right to tell someone their wrong for adultery when we’re looking at porn; or they’re wrong for not tithing when you won’t pay your bills.  This is what it means to be a follower of Christ; to be all in.  He is Lord over every area of life. 

Ed Shaw, who is a minister in Western Europe and struggles with same sex attraction, wrote a book recently as an aid for how churches can better minister to those who struggle with homosexuality.  One of the points he made was that the church needs to stop considering herself as a bunch of sinners.  Don’t we like to say that?  “We’re all sinners here.”  In a sense that is right, but from a biblical point of view, it’s wrong.

People who go all in with Christ are no longer classified as sinners but saints.  Think about how this changes our mindsets.  If you still classify yourself as a sinner, you are going to be likely to still condone some level of sin in your life.  After all, you’re just a sinner, but if you begin to see yourself as a saint, as someone whom the bible says should be holy; as someone whom Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 that should be perfect, you begin to realize that you need to do everything you can to get rid of all sin in your life.

And once that begins to happen, you will be able to see clearly how to help others get rid of the sin in their lives.  Don’t ever try to point out the sins of others if you’re not doing everything you can to get rid of sin in your life.  And even then, we do so with the utmost humility and grace.

Here’s the best way to do that, we remember how the gospel made a difference in our lives.  Verse 2 says that with the judgment we pronounce, we will be judged.  God pronounced mercy and grace over me!!! That should change the way in which we speak to and about those who disagree with us.  We don’t speak down to people, we speak to people. 

We assess the position, and then do what we can within Biblical boundaries to show that person grace and mercy without condoning their sin because we remember that we were once where they were and we still would be had it not been for the gospel.  If you will remember the gospel, here’s how you’ll begin to practice this lifestyle:

1)     You’ll be welcoming to those who disagree with you.

One of the worst forms of being judgmental is when you say things like, “We can’t be friends because we disagree on this issue.”  Jesus brought Judas close to him even though He knew that Judas was going to betray Him.  The gospel will allow you to love the person in spite of your differences.

2)     You’ll pray for the person more than gossip about him.

Often times we’ll mask our gossip as prayer requests or say something like, “bless so and so’s heart.”  EM Bounds said that we shouldn’t talk to a person about God if we don’t talk to God about that person. 

3)     You’ll be willing to humbly correct someone’s position.

If you see a person living in habitual sin, a person that persist in sin and isn’t bothered by it all, if you remember the gospel, it will allow you to humbly correct that person’s position.  If you’re not willing to do that, either you don’t really believe what the Bible says about the sin or you don’t believe it’s worth the pain. 

Not being willing to humbly confront sin would be as unloving as refusing to warn someone about a deadly disease.  Think about it, if you fail to humbly confront someone’s sin, aren’t you judging him or her?  Going a step further, you’re really condemning that person because if someone isn’t willing to help them deal with their sin, then we’re all just condemning everyone to hell. 

If you’ll remember the gospel, you’ll remember what Christ did for you and the forgiveness and grace you received, and you’ll want others to experience that same thing. 

Let me close with this summary.  Grace and truth.  WE should be full of both.  If all we show is grace, we come closer to this idea of universalism where we believe that you can live however you want to and still receive the forgiveness of Christ.

If, on the other hand, if all we show is truth.  WE practice this judgmental fundamentalism that pushes everyone away and we will never build a relationship to share Christ with anyone.

But if we will show both grace and truth, we practice the gospel. 

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Mt 7:1–6). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.