Judging Others - Message Study Questions

Message Summary

Tolerance is no longer enough. Culture insists that you accept everyone for everything and actually approve by accepting. They say anything less is judgmental and, therefore, wrong. That sounds great. But it is impossible to practice total acceptance and not have lawlessness resulting in every sort of evil and injustice. The push for acceptance is actually the cause of the moral decay that is taking place all over America.
In Matthew seven, Jesus teaches not to be judgmental of others while ignoring your own actions. For He says: “The measuring stick you use on others will be used on you.” Jesus’ point is to examine yourself against the Word of God before you judge others. When Jesus said, “judge not lest you be judged,” he had no intention of prohibiting all moral judgments, but merely hypocritical judgment, a critical spirit with an unholy sense of moral superiority. It is our Christian duty in love to help other believers stuck in harmful behaviors. However, we can only make right judgments and actually help if we first see our own shortcomings clearly. A mature believer will see himself as accurately as he sees others. He will recognize his own sinfulness and need for God’s mercy—a need he shares with his brothers and sisters in Christ. Then we can “take the speck out of our brother’s eye.”

1. Are you ever tempted to think that laws or rules only applied to other people and not to you?

2. Can you think of a time when someone corrected you and you found it helpful and were grateful? What was it about that person’s approach that helped you to be open to correction, open to learning?

Consider This

“I have heard the argument that Jesus tells people not to judge and therefore he teaches acceptance. Jesus never rejected people. This is true. He accepts all people as they are, but he doesn’t want people to stay as they are. He wants them to grow in righteousness and Christ-likeness.” – Pastor John

1. Read Matthew 7:1-5.

   • How will we be judged (v 2)?

   • What type of flaws do we often notice in others (v 3)?

   • What does it mean to have a log in your eye? (v 4)? What flaws do you tend to overlook in yourself?

   • How does Jesus describe people who ignore their own flaws and point them out in others (v 5)?

   • Should we still try to “remove the speck in our brother or sister’s eye? (v 5)

2. What is problematic in judging actions without knowing the motive or even the background, according to 1 Corinthians 4:5?

3. What does Galatians 6:1 teach you about helping a brother or sister “overcome by sin?”

4. In the Bible, judgment means to accurately discern and punish, or to discern only. What are some contexts where believers should accurately discern the actions of others? (Consider Matt 7:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, 5)

5. What are some examples of the “right judgment” mentioned in John 7:24?

6. Read Matthew 7:6 and 1 Corinthians 5:9-12. How does judging apply to unbelievers? And yet how do you balance that with love for everyone, love enough to confront error, including that in unbelievers?

Moving Forward – Application

People judge themselves by their intentions and others by their actions.

1. “First cast out…” Our first responsibility is to purify ourselves. What do you need to purify in yourself this week in order to better help, teach, and correct others in your sphere of influence?
   

2. Consider ways you can make examining yourself a habit before criticizing another?
   

3. How can you become more merciful this week?