Seriously? 8
Don't Judge Me
Ron Wain
Part of Seriously?—Taking Jesus at His word
October 8, 2022

Matthew 7:1-5 (New Living Translation) - “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye… “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

Judging or Discerning?

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Definition of Judgement 1: discerning between things (eg. apples are NOT oranges)

Definition of Judgement 2: to be in a place of superiority in order to condemn (eg. apples are better than oranges)

Which is Jesus talking about when He says do not judge?

Matthew 7:15-20 NLT - Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

Jesus is instructing His followers to be discerning of others AND themselves. The verses about the speck and the plank show that we need to be self aware.
It’s so much easier to see (and condemn) others when we ourselves our oblivious to our own faults which could be even worse.
Jesus says it’s hypocritical to try and elevate ourselves by condemning others and not realize we too are forgiven NOT faultless

Why are we not to think of ourselves as superior to others and condemn them? By putting ourselves in a position of superiority we devalue the other person. Because we are followers of Jesus this infers God thinks of them as inferior as well.

Devaluing another person leads to injustice. We think they are not worthy of my time, respect etc. so I can treat them however badly I want.

We are all made in Gods image and worthy of His grace. Thatis why Jesus came. Not just for Jews or Samaritans BUT for everyone regardless of race, gender, religion etc.

Judging or Loving?

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Tim Mackie ~ And so this is the surprising message of the biblical story. God’s response to humanity’s legacy of injustice is to give us a gift: the life of Jesus. He did righteousness and justice, and yet he died on behalf of the guilty. But then God declared Jesus to be the righteous one when he rose from the dead. And so now Jesus offers his life to the guilty, so that they too can be declared righteous before God—not because of anything they’ve done but because of what Jesus did for them… If God declared someone righteous when they didn’t deserve it, the only reasonable response is to go and seek righteousness and justicefor others.

John 13:34 (New Living Translation) - So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

Greg Boyd ~ It’s impossible to ascribe unsurpassable worth to others when you’re using others to ascribe worth to yourself

We cannot love and judge/condemn at the same time

Reflection

  1. Sometimes we judge without intending to devalue someone. Why do we do that?
  2. The antidote to being judgemental is to be loving. Can we be discerning (telling others they might be wrong) and still be loving? When does it become judging (which is not loving)?

Resources

Bible Project Video: Justice