Sunday
30Aug2009
Jesus on judging!
Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 11:26PM As a follow up to my last post, I want to address Jesus talking about judging others. Many people will tell you that Jesus would never have us judge anyone, but that is simply not true. They take this from Matthew 7, but they take it out of context. Here is the majority of the passage:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces . . . . . . So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets . . . .
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them (make a judgment). Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Judge them by their actions, not their words)
So what does all of that mean? The clear command of the teaching is to take the speck of dust out of your brother's eye - it is hurting him. But the warning to the Pharisees was not to try and attempt this act of love while you have a beam in your own eye. Judge yourself first, then you will be in a position to judge your brother fairly. It is just a teaching that says we are to judge others fairly, we are to judge them with the same standard that we want to be judged by, and we are to judge them by their deeds, as our deeds really reveal who we are. Those are the keys to this passage.
So as I said in my earlier post, I need and want my brothers to take the specks of anger or apathy or lack of reverence out of my eyes, I don't want those things inside of me. I will be greatly offended if they try to do this with a plank of anger or apathy in their own eye, but if they judge themselves first and allow God to clean them up, I am more than happy for them to come to me, as a brother who has my best interests at heart, and help me get the specks out of my eyes.
So be careful before you adopt the mantra of our culture: NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE ANYONE. We have an entire system of justice built around us judging people, we would have a lot more integrity among our clergy if people in the churches judged their leaders lovingly instead of turning a blind eye to their "indescrepancies." Judging is not a bad thing when it is done fairly, appropriately and with the motivation of helping a brother or sister, not embarrassing him or tearing him down. So go ahead, judge me, it will only make me better if you do it as Jesus commands.
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