Judge Rightly (Matthew 7:1-6)

Don’t judge me! Judge not or you’ll be judged! You don’t know me! Only God can judge me! Have you all ever heard these statements? I think it’s safe to say these phrases are becoming more and more prevalent in our society. Why? People hate being judged. In fact, I would argue “judging” is one of the worst offenses in the court of public opinion. It’s right up there with racism and sexism. No one wants to be judged, and for good reason a lot of times. As a result, how can you and I avoid wrong judgment? Is there a place for right judgment? If so, what does it look like? These are some questions we will explore as we start reading Matthew 7 and hopefully by the end of our time, we will have a better understanding of how to judge rightly. 

If you recall, up to this point in the Sermon on the Mount, we’ve reviewed a wide array of topics presented by Jesus – from the Beatitudes to the observance of the law to loving your enemy to living generously, and last time we explored how to avoid worry and anxiety in life. This morning, we will shift gears a little bit and listen to Jesus’ thoughts on the all-too-familiar topic of judging. 

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “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?  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? 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. “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 turn and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:1-6

Do not judge. As I alluded to, the word “judge” is a loaded word in our context, and it certainly had multiple meanings within the first century context. The word “judge” which is krino in Greek was used both in a positive and negative light. In fact, we can find both forms of judgment in Luke 7. One time a Pharisee had Jesus over for dinner and while they were eating a woman who lived a sinful life came in and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and perfume. The Pharisee was shocked, and he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him – a sinner. He was quick to pass his biased disapproval. In response to the judgmental Pharisee, Jesus told Peter a story about a moneylender who forgave two debtors – one who owed about 500 days’ worth of wages and the other who owed about 50 days’ worth of wages. He then asked Peter which debtor loved the lender more. Peter responded, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” Jesus replied, “You have judged correctly” (Luke 7:43). In other words, Peter had the proper thought or opinion on the matter. He rightly assessed the situation like any good judge in a court of law. 

It is very apparent in Matthew 7; Jesus is not alluding to this type of positive judgment. He spoke of the negative form of judgment – the type closely aligned with condemnation. The type of judgment the religious leaders often directed towards him. For instance, in Acts 13:27 we’re told, “The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him.” We see this scenario played out continually throughout the life of Jesus. Many people condemned and criticized him without giving him a fair assessment. They put themselves in place of God while maintaining all the wrong motives regarding judgment.

This is the type of judgment Jesus called out in Matthew 7 and with it he gave us a stern warning: the measure we use to assess or condemn others will be used on us. His words should send a chill down our backs. It does mine. Like you, I’m prone to harshly condemn those who do wrong, especially if their wrongs are directed towards me. Yet, when I do wrong, I desire a generous judgment because I want to be judged on my intentions, not my actions, right? As nice as this fantasy world is, God’s economy doesn’t work like that. There are no double standards. You reap what you sow; therefore, if you constantly write people off with wrongful judgment, guess what? You are going to receive the same kind of treatment. Furthermore, you’re going to look foolish – just as foolish as a blind man seeking to help someone else with a speck in their eye. Jesus said, “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? 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?

This scenario is laughable, isn’t it? Whether you take it literally or figuratively, it’s counterintuitive and hypocritical for a blind man to try to help with a speck. Still, isn’t this the scenario that often plays out in our own lives? We make judgments about our brothers or sisters without first taking inventory of our own lives. We look at a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye when we have wooden beams coming out of our eyes. Why is that? Why are we so prone to pass negative judgment when we ourselves have our own issues? 

Pride! It must be pride. Pride is what blinds us to our own sin, it is what compels us to call out someone else’s sin – often the very sin we struggle with. Isn’t that interesting? Ironically, this hypocrisy happens all the time. A famous example is found in 2 Samuel 12:5-7. You all know the story. King David had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed. Consequently, the prophet Nathan came to him and told him a story about a rich man who had a large flock of sheep and a poor man who had only one lamb – a lamb he loved dearly. One day a traveler came to the rich man’s house, so he decided to make him some delicious lamb chops; however instead of killing one of his many sheep, he slaughtered the poor man’s only lamb. When David heard the story, he was furious, and he desired vengeance! Nathan wasn’t having it. He got in David’s face and said, “You’re that man!” Pride got the best of David. He was blinded by his plank when he unleashed his condemning judgment.

Again, this is not the kind of judgment God endorses. He is never about unfair convictions or condemnation. He despises a judgmental attitude like any other person.

At the same time, despite popular belief, there is a time and space for proper judgment. On another occasion with the Pharisees Jesus told them, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24). We are called to judge correctly. Therefore, I want to expand our study and focus on judging rightly, so we can avoid not just one pitfall, but two. Jesus showed us how to avoid the condescending pitfall. Still, there’s another pitfall people often fall into and that’s avoiding judgment altogether. This may sound weird, but nonjudgement can be just as sinful as being judgmental. With that said, how do we go about judging fairly for God’s glory and for the benefit of those in need of help?

The Bible offers us amazing guidelines when it comes to properly assessing situations and evaluating sins - in our lives and in the lives of those around us. The guidelines I’m about to offer are by no means all encompassing; however, I believe these verses will help us make good judgments without being judgmental. To make good judgments, I believe the first step is to judge ourselves.

David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This psalm of David is very rich. He shows us how he opened his heart before God with the hopes of being evaluated and made pure. Judging yourself can be tough, yet if we open ourselves up to God like David, we are much more likely to avoid the plank of pride. 

Ask God to reveal your offensive ways. This should be your initial move. Once your heart is checked, then you can think through another filter found in Galatians 6:1-2. It reads,

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Whenever I feel compelled to confront someone, this is my go-to verse. Paul makes it clear: we must be led by the Holy Spirit when seeking to help someone caught in a sin. Why is that important? When you are led by the Spirit, you will have the right motivation – love. And when love is your driving force, you won’t sound like an annoying clanging cymbal. Instead, the people you are gently confronting will be much more inclined to listen to you since your focus is on loving them by carrying their burdens. 

We all know the difference, right? We know when someone is coming at us with a self-righteous attitude bent on piling on, as opposed to one who is humbly seeking to help us lighten our load. That’s the litmus test right there. Before engaging, simply ask yourself, “Am I confronting to add or lighten burdens?” The answer will help you know how to proceed.

Let’s look at one more guideline for judgment found in Matthew 18:15-17. Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

This passage offers up a ton of sound wisdom. Off the top, notice how he said, “If your brother or sister sins.” These rules of engagement are geared toward fellow believers. This is very important to remember considering correction outside of the church family looks different. In other words, I can’t hold non-believers to the same standard I hold believers to, which makes sense. We have some military people in the church, it would be quite awkward if someone like Glenn got in my face about skipping physical training. I’m not in the army. It would be easy and appropriate for me to yell out, “Don’t judge me.” Likewise, we can’t judge unbelievers the way we judge those inside the church. Obviously, we can encourage unbelievers to seek God, to love people, to live right, and so on, but they are held to a different standard. Paul told the Corinthian church; “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:12). 

There’s a difference in the restoration process. Regarding church discipline, Jesus presented three practical steps. First, he said approach your brother or sister one-on-one and point out their sin. It’s a great first step! Don’t gossip or put someone on a shameful, public trial. Go to someone one-on-one. This type of meeting can be very effective when you observe sin in someone’s life, especially if you have the motivations found in Galatians 6. 

Nevertheless, there will be those who don’t respond correctly even when you have the right heart and strategy, in which case, Jesus calls us to bring along one or two others to further stress the need for change. If the trend continues then we are to take it to the church. If that doesn’t work, Jesus tells us to cut ties. After a tremendous amount of grace is shown through these steps, sometimes an extreme step needs to be taken when someone continually and deliberately sins, thereby jeopardizing the spiritual health of the whole community.

We actually get a glimpse of this form of judgment in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 12-13. I want to read it as a case study and overlay the Biblical guidelines we’ve been reviewing so we have a better understanding of what it looks like to judge rightly. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord…What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Paul moved straight to the most extreme case given the extreme offense. Now, we don’t know exactly what kind of conversations or judgments took place with this guy prior to Paul’s letter. So, for the sake of our case study let’s just assume Paul wrote the church and told them to judge the man without offering his recommendation for expulsion. Let’s use Jesus’ model for judgment and explore what it might have looked like in this scenario. 

Let’s say you just got the letter and now you’re convicted. You know something needs to be done. At the same time, you know going at this guy in a rash, harsh way won’t do you any good. Thus, you decide to follow Biblical wisdom. 

You start by praying, “Search me God and know my heart. Show me my flaws and help me to see if I’m hypocritical in any way. Soften this guy’s heart and guide him back to you. Help me to balance the perfect mixture of love and grace like you, so I don’t condemn or condone his behavior when we meet. You pray this for a week or so to make sure your motivations are right. Then you invite him over for a one-on-one meeting and say something along these lines. “Hey man, something was brought to my attention, and I feel compelled to talk to you. You know, I used to think it was wrong to get into other people’s business, however Paul helped me see we must look out for each other, since we’re family. You’re my brother in Christ. Therefore, I feel led to address this relationship you’re in. As you well know, God gave a lot of guidelines for sexuality in Leviticus and he’s very specific on who we should avoid being intimate with (Leviticus 18:3). Correct me if I’m wrong. It appears you are in a relationship with your stepmother. Do you see any issue with your relationship? I know that sounds harsh. People say, love is love, all the time, and the Torah is outdated, but I think we’ve both come to see God is the ultimate form of love and he knows what’s best for us. Even if the relationship feels natural, I hope you understand feelings can be deceptive. Therefore, I want to help you avoid the pitfalls of living outside of God’s design. Remember – his ways lead to abundant life. 

At that point, the man has two options. Hopefully, he will be won over. Hopefully he would say your words hurt, but I know a wound from a friend can be trusted (Proverbs 27:6). Hopefully he would say your correction is like a soothing medicine (Psalm 141:5 NLT). Nonetheless, he does have an option to be defiant. 

If he chooses this option and fails to express a godly sorrow, then it’s time to bring in other friends and ultimately the church. Finally, if all else fails, the most loving thing you can do is say, “I’m sorry bro, we love you and because we love you, we can’t have you in this community right now. Not only are you hurting yourself, but you are hurting our community.” Hopefully, in being cut off, he would come to his senses as he experiences the consequences of following on Satan’s path.

Those are the proper steps for judgment laid out over a real-life situation. It’s a little different from what we see on a day-to-day basis in our culture – particularly with the last step. Several of you may even disagree with such a seemingly harsh punishment but if you think about it, really it’s the most loving step.

I think this is why Jesus added the part about not throwing your pearls to pigs in Matthew 7:6. At some point, it’s in vain to offer pearls of wisdom to those who are set on being unclean or unrepentant before God. They simply can’t digest the wisdom. Their only hope is to experience the natural consequences of their actions. Think back to the story of the prodigal son. He was hell-bent on squandering his father’s wealth. The father could do nothing further except hope the consequences of his son’s actions would lead him home and that’s exactly what happened. The son ended up in a pigsty asking himself, “What am I doing?” He realized the error of his ways and went home. 

All this to say, you can’t beat God’s wisdom when it comes to judging rightly. You also can’t do it properly without God’s wisdom. We’ve covered a lot of ground this morning. We’ve seen how judging can be done in a right and wrong way. Moreover, we have looked at some practical steps to aid us in making right judgments. That said, I do want to reiterate the most important point revealed in Galatians 6. To judge right, we must be led by the Holy Spirit.

I may have made this topic sound as easy as 1, 2, 3, but as you well know, it isn’t. Judging is much more nuanced than I’m making it appear because each situation is so unique. Sometimes we feel led to assess someone’s behavior, but we’re not ready. Sometimes we need to step up and say something; other times we shouldn’t. Proverbs 26:4-5 says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Which is it? It depends. We need God’s help. Again, sometimes we need to evaluate and confront. Sometimes we need to let someone else do it. Other times we need to just leave it in God’s hands. Paul once wrote Timothy: “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done” 2 Timothy 4:14 (NLT).  There are so many variables at play. How do we navigate the minefields of judgment? We depend on the Holy Spirit. We ask him for help. Consequently, that’s how I want to close this morning – by seeking help.

This morning some of you may be right in the middle of a situation where you are correctly assessing the destructive behavior of a loved one, yet you have no idea how to approach them in the right way. If that’s you, you have an opportunity to lean on the Holy Spirit.

Others of you may feel convicted as you think about the ways you’ve judged people. Maybe you’ve dished out condemnation like the Pharisees without really evaluating your own life. If that’s you, seek God’s help. Confess your sins and embrace God’s love. It’s available now. John 3:16-18 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18)

Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn you or rub your face in your mess. He came to save you through his death and resurrection. He died so you may experience forgiveness and a restored relationship with God. This amazing gift is made available to all who put their truth in him. If you’ve never done that, you have an opportunity to trust him!

You also have the choice to reject his gift. That’s how much he loves us – he gives us a choice. I pray you don’t. We just read, whoever does not believe stands condemned – they remain under a guilty judgment. As I mentioned, none of us enjoy being judged, especially in an unfair way. However, God is not an unfair judge. He is completely just and like any good judge in the court of law he must hold us accountable for our crimes regardless of how adamantly we might cry out, “Don’t judge me.” We will all stand before the perfect judge one day. The only question will be, “Did you accept the pardon provided by Jesus or did you reject the grace offered to you?” Don’t miss out on this opportunity to embrace God’s love and forgiveness. I promise he does not want to add to your burdens. He wants to take your burdens and give you freedom.