Summary
In today’s sermon, we explored the profound and often misunderstood teaching of Jesus on judgment. We delved into the heart of Matthew 7:1-4, where Jesus instructs us not to judge, lest we be judged by the same measure. This scripture is not a call to abandon discernment but a warning against the human tendency to be judgmental and critical based on superficial observations or personal biases.

We began by examining a real-life example of misjudgment, where a pastor was wrongly accused of infidelity simply because he was seen enjoying the company of a woman who turned out to be his sister. This story illustrates the damage that can be done when we judge others without seeking the truth. We are all guilty of this to some extent, often criticizing others while overlooking our own faults.

Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7 is a powerful reminder that we all have sin in our lives, and there is no hierarchy of sin in the eyes of God. We tend to underjudge ourselves and overjudge others, justifying our actions while condemning others for similar behaviors. This is not the way of Christ. Instead, Jesus calls us to first examine our own hearts and lives, to remove the plank from our own eye before attempting to remove the speck from our brother’s.

The Apostle Paul echoes this sentiment in Romans 2, where he warns against the hypocrisy of judging others while doing the same things ourselves. God’s judgment is based on truth, and His kindness leads us to repentance. We must be careful in how we judge, remembering the gentleness with which God deals with us in our own failings.

We also discussed the importance of being patient, loving, and kind when dealing with others. Whether someone is a new believer or has been in the faith for decades, we must approach each individual with grace and understanding. People are not cookie-cutters; we cannot treat everyone the same because we are all unique creations of God.

Finally, we addressed the concept of the fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to justify our own actions based on circumstances while attributing others’ actions to their character flaws. This cognitive bias reveals our own need for growth and humility.

Key Takeaways:

– Judgment is not about superficial appearances or quick conclusions. It is about seeking the truth with a heart of love and a spirit of discernment. Before we pass judgment on others, we must remember that we too are flawed and in need of grace. This humility allows us to approach others with compassion rather than condemnation. [01:15:40]

– The measure we use to judge others will be the measure used against us. This principle should cause us to pause and reflect on the standards we apply to others. Are we being fair and just, or are we allowing our own biases to cloud our judgment? Let us strive to use a measure of grace, knowing that we too are dependent on the grace of God. [01:16:18]

– We must be introspective before we are corrective. Jesus’ command to first take the plank out of our own eye is a call to self-examination. It is only when we have dealt with our own issues that we can see clearly to help others with theirs. This process is not about self-condemnation but about self-awareness leading to personal growth and better service to others. [01:17:34]

– Being judgmental is a reflection of our own inner struggles. When we find ourselves being critical of others, it may be an indication that there is something within us that needs attention. Let us look inward and ask God to reveal any areas where we need to grow and change. [01:24:43]

– Grace should be our default response to others’ failings. As we recognize our own need for grace, we become more inclined to extend it to others. This does not mean we ignore sin or condone it, but rather that we approach others with the same kindness and patience that we hope to receive. [01:28:58]

In conclusion, let us be people who reflect the heart of Jesus in our judgments, full of grace and truth. Let us be slow to judge and quick to love, remembering that we are all in need of the Savior’s grace.

Transcript
We’ve got this natural amphitheater, and Jesus would get up there and he’d be able to talk, and he had all these crowds listening. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, he just gave this great teaching to this crowd. And in the middle of it, in Matthew 7, chapter 1, Jesus said this: “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.”

It seems kind of straightforward, “Do not judge,” right? Do not judge someone, or if you do, you will be judged yourself, and the same measure that you judge someone will be judged to you. So right there, you’re like, okay, we’re not supposed to judge, we’re not supposed to judge, we’re not supposed to judge. But then you’re like, but wait a second, there’s a lot of other verses that kind of tell us that we’re supposed to judge, right? In fact, Jesus, say a little bit later, just a few verses down, says this in Matthew 7:15-20: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by your fruit you will recognize them.”

So you’re kind of, this is the same teaching, “Do not judge, or you will be judged,” but then you need to pay attention and watch out and discern what’s going on and look at people’s, the fruit of what’s going on in people’s lives. So I had to chew on this this week, and you know, I think, I wish, you know, I wish he would have used a little bit different word than “judge.” If I was to rewrite this, I would say it this way: “Do not be judgmental.” There’s a difference between being a judge and being judgmental, right? A judge is discerning truth based on facts, right? You know what a judge, right? The judge gets all the information and gathers as much information, and then they make a decision based on all the information they’ve gathered. Being judgmental is being critical of someone based on a personal feeling, right?

Have you ever, you know, when they say, uh, first impressions, that in like within the first seven seconds, you’ve already formed an opinion on someone. You’ve maybe never heard them talk, you’ve never listened to their story, you don’t know what has happened in their life or their upbringing, and you’ve already formed a judgmental opinion upon the person, seven seconds, right? You see someone sitting there reading a, god, you see a 35-year-old guy reading a comic book, and you’re already like, “You need to grow up,” right? You’re criticizing, you might be criticizing that, you might have no clue that the guy owns, that might be the store that he, you know, he’s in that profession, right? Or, and by the way, it’s okay for adults to read comic books, right? You know, just, it’s just okay for you to just read something lighthearted, you know. But you know, if he, you know, if you look at the same guy instead of a comic book, he’s reading the Bible, or he’s reading a, you know, some other book, you form an opinion based on what you see, just like that.

What if the guy has a face tattoo? You, a lot of people form an opinion saying, “Oh man, you’re lacking judgment,” you know what I’m saying? And you’ve never even listened to the person’s heart, right? At all. We form critical judgments based on things that we see instantly instead of gathering together the information. You hire someone, you hire a painter, right? You hire a contractor or some, a landscaper to do something on your yard. What do you do? You go online, you look at their website, you read the reviews, you try to gather as much information that you possibly can about them because you want to make sure that the contractor you’re hiring is going to be a good contractor. Maybe a friend told you that they had them and they did a great job, right? That’s you’re forming an opinion based on, you know, trying to get as much information as you can, right?

But contractor shows up, that you’re going to have a bid to do on your house, and you’re looking, he’s Hispanic, and someone might say, “Oh, I don’t want hisp-, I don’t want, I don’t even know if this guy can speak English that well,” and you automatically say, “I don’t want to do this.” Because my dad owned the landscape company, I worked with hundreds of Hispanic guys, and you know who the worst workers were in our landscape company? The white guys that might, that were sitting in church on Sunday morning, that was having a hard time finding a job, and my dad said, “Oh here, I’ll help you out, come and work for me.” I couldn’t stand working with my dad’s church friends because there was a reason why they weren’t working. There’s a reason why they were sitting there unemployed, no one was hiring them because they had a horrible work ethic.

Church, I’m just, this a totally different subject, but God, God, the Bible tells us, have a good work ethic, have a good attitude, you know. I had never had a bad experience in working with a Hispanic guy, never. And you know how many times, I’m there, I’m the, I’m growing up, I’m a teenager, and I’m working, and let’s say I’m working with two or three Hispanic guys, the owner comes and talks to me. I’m the youngest guy there, and they want to talk to me because I’m white, you know. We form judgment based on our appearance so fast, right? And I’m like, this guy here, he knows so much more than I do. This guy’s been doing it 10 years longer, he is the nicest human being I’ve ever met in my life. Go talk, go talk to Gabriel. They don’t want to go talk to Gabriel because they form these prejudices based on appearance.

Can I tell you what, that’s evil, right? It doesn’t have to be race, you know, it’s, it’s age, it’s sex, right? It’s, it’s just, we form these judgmental mentalities based on appearances, right? What if Jesus picked the Apostles based on their looks? I’m not just talking physical looks, they could have been very good-looking guys, but they had, most of these guys had professions that made them unclean, right? Did you know that in the fishing in the Sea of Galilee, they would bring up their nets, and in the Sea of Galilee, there’s this fish called a catfish. There’s also tilapia, and there’s other fish, but a catfish doesn’t have scales, and you know what happens when you touch a fish without scales in the Jewish faith? You’re unclean, and you have to actually go through a whole ceremonial process to be clean again. But you know what happens for a fisherman that does that, and then the next night they go out and they touch catfish again, and they throw them overboard, or they take them in, and they sell them to the Romans, or, you know, for someone that will eat them, right? They’re constantly unclean, and Jesus is working with guys that are, they’ve given up on going to the temple because the Temple’s two days’ walk. They’ve given up on going through all the ceremonies of becoming clean. They just go day to day to day, and the people recognize them as, “You are not the good Jew.” And these are the guys Jesus is picking, not because of their appearance, but because he knows what’s going on in their heart, and there’s a huge, huge difference for us to not look at people based on their appearance.

There’s a pastor, he’s driving down the road, and he’s going out to lunch with his girl in his car, and the girl’s not his wife. This woman sees it and sees how friendly and talkative they are, sees them going out and doing some stuff, and so she goes on social media and starts spreading some, “I can’t, I saw the pastor, and he’s so friendly with this girl, it wasn’t even his wife.” And so words start spreading through social media in the community. Didn’t know that that was his sister that he hasn’t seen for 5 years from the East Coast, right? And yes, they’re touching each other, yes, they’re laughing all the time, they’re having a great time because they’re reconnecting in person for the first time in ever. But this woman spreads this word on social media, so five years later, he still hears the word from people in the community that he meets, right? “Hey, I’m the pastor of this church.” “Are you the one that had that affair, or was that a different guy?” The damage was already done because someone judged something based on appearance without ever looking for, looking beyond the deeper issue of what’s going on in a bigger picture.

We do this, by the way, all the time. We judge and criticize people all the time. Let’s look at the rest of what Jesus says here because I’m just picking out that one verse. Jesus continues to go a little bit further with it in Matthew 7, chapter 1-4: “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, then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus is really good at taking it right back to the heart of the issue because here’s the thing, we all have sin, every one of us in this room. But we like to think that other people’s sins are worse than ours. We like to think that they’re in a worse place than I am, and we don’t realize that there is no, nowhere in the Bible that really gives you a hierarchy of sin. Says all, we are all unrighteous, we are all, we all stumble. In fact, James says that we all sin and stumble in many ways, every one of us. And no one, no one in this room has a worse sin than the other because it all separates us from God.

I know in our culture we have more acceptable sins, right? Some of you have addictions to caffeine, right? And we would look at that as more acceptable than other addictions, right? But it’s just because it’s more socially acceptable, right? It’s the same with sin. “Well, my sin, I’m not hurting others with my sin. I’m just being critical and honest,” and you know, that’s, that could be pretty hurtful. James 2 says this: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

We all have sin. We don’t like to talk about it, and what we do like to do is we like to point out other people’s sin because there’s something within us that when we point out someone else’s sin, it kind of makes us feel better about ourselves. And Jesus is saying, “No, no, no, look at yourself first.” In fact, when we point fingers, what we do here’s what we do, is we underjudge ourselves and we overjudge others. You understand what I’m saying? We underjudge ourself, we justify, we make excuses for ourself, “Ah, it’s okay,” you know. But for others, we overjudge them, right? “I’m in a hurry, so it’s okay for me to break the speed limit, but when someone else breaks the speed limit, how dare they do that,” right?

Have you ever been around someone that blames everyone else for their problems? They’re the victim, it’s always someone else’s fault, right? It’s kind of exhausting being around that person. And their whole life, they just make excuses, it’s about other people, and the reason this happened, it’s someone else’s fault, and the reason this happened, it’s someone else’s fault. It’s kind of exhausting. Jesus said, “Wait, wait, wait, slow down, slow down. Before you start trying to be judgmental and critical of someone else, let’s look at ourselves first.” Because what we realize, instead of blaming other people for where our marriages are at, or how we didn’t get the job promotion, or why other people don’t like us because there’s an issue with them, sometimes you got to look around and say, “You know what, maybe I’m the problem.”

We don’t like that. We need to become introspective. And so that’s what Jesus is saying here, is how do you make right judgment? Well, look at yourself first. Look at yourself first and examine what’s going on in your own heart, your own issues, your own life, and then be humble, patient, be kind and loving. And you know, ultimately, what Jesus is saying here, that last verse, says this: “First take the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” You know, ultimately, Jesus wants you to be a person that helps others. God wants you to be able to help others with their problems and their issues. He wants you to be able to help them with those stumbling blocks or things in their eyes that they can’t take care of on their own, maybe. But he’s saying this, first look at yourself. He wants you to be a blessing to those around you, but first, you got to check in with what’s going on inside of yourself.

So when he’s saying, “Do not be judged,” “Do not judge,” I think the word should be, say this, “Do not be judgmental,” because we’re supposed to form judging opinions based on, he says it, “By their fruits you will know who they are.” We’re supposed to observe and listen and ask questions and get to know people. And when you get to know them, then you can start formulating your opinion, right? I have people coming to church that don’t always have the perfect Christian lifestyle, right? But I try to sit back, and I watch, and I listen. And you know what, sometimes I discover, this is their first church experience they’ve had in 20 years, right? They’re still a baby Christian. You know what babies do, they have diapers for a reason, right? Now, we don’t put diapers on people around here, and I don’t know how you put a spiritual diaper on someone, haven’t figured that one out yet. But you know what, people that are spiritually immature do, they still make messes. And you know what, I’m very gracious, and we’re very kind and accepting of that when someone’s a young believer.

But if someone’s been coming to church for 40 years and they’re making messes like a new believer, then you’re like, “Wait a, okay, now, now I, I look at that situation a little different, right?” And I, you know, and Paul even addresses that. “It’s time to grow up,” and Paul even says, you know, “You, you’ve been coming to church for a long time, you should probably be a teacher by now, but instead, we’re having to start over. Let’s get on with making the right choices, stop being foolish,” right? Paul’s very direct on that. “Believer, you’ve been doing this for a long time, let’s grow up.” But if someone’s been, they’re new in it, it’s like, we got to be so, two people could be making the same choices, but you handle a situation differently, and that’s okay.

Did you know that people aren’t cookie cutters? You can’t handle the same person the same way as someone else because we’re all different. And that’s part of being patient and loving and kind. A judge is going to get all the information, listen to people’s story first before you start forming those opinions. So God wants you to help others, he wants you to be able to help people with their struggles, but Jesus is saying this, “Take examination of what’s going on inside of you first.”

Paul said the same thing to Romans, very succinctly says this: “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment,” I’m glad he used the word “judgment,” “on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” Right, so be careful on how you judge.

I remember my sister when she was young, we were at the beach, and she was throwing sand up in the air, having fun, three years old, not realizing what happens when sand gets in your eye, right? And so she gets sand in her eye, and she’s crying, my parents are off, you know, we’re, my parents are off ways, so I’m being the sensitive 10-year-old boy that I was, and I’m trying to just, you know, just wipe everything away, and every time I touch it, see, it’s getting worse, right? And I watch my parents, I watched my mom get the bottle of water and how gently she poured water on it. I’m like, “Oh, as a 10-year-old, wow, that’s a good idea, I never thought about that,” right?

Yeah, when you have issues going on in life, you know what you want? You want someone to be gentle. I go to a dentist called Gentle Dental. Maybe some of you have known that dental company, you know, or you’ve heard of it, right? I don’t want to go to Old School Dental. Has anyone here done the string in the doorknob? I’m asking seriously. Have you? Needle nose, that was the second one I
You can do the dentist thing however you want. I’m just letting you know how I prefer to do my dentist stuff. Yeah, I let my teeth fall by… You let… Exactly, I let the… Yeah, exactly. I remember the first tooth that I remember losing. You remember that candy bar, the Sugar Daddy? It’s just like a stick of caramel, right? And I went, and it came out with it. So anytime I had a loose tooth from there on out, I told him, “Dad, I just need a Sugar Daddy. Just give me a Sugar Daddy because I always… It’s gonna help me because candy makes everything better when you’re seven years old.” Yeah, it’s good for your teeth too, that’s exactly right. Fortunately, though… Yeah, anyways.

Um, so here’s how we should do it. Look at ourselves, don’t be afraid to be introspective, recognizing we all… We have issues, we have things that we need to… And here, if I could say it this way, um, really as a final statement: Be concerned with your own sin and have grace with others about theirs, right? If that… If that… I think that’s what Jesus is saying. Be concerned with your own sin, don’t just underjudge it. Recognize I got something I need to work on, and I need to put effort towards, and I might never get perfect with it, but I’m going to continue to try to get better. And then be gracious with others when they are struggling with something, same something different, doesn’t make a difference because we’re all… We all… We all sin.

I see it this way. Here’s the way you see it in the Christian world. Have you ever heard the homeschool versus public school argument? Homeschoolers think public school, you know, you guys are just being unholy and reckless with your kids, and then public school families are like, “Well, you guys are just being too controlling, and your kids are lacking relational skills because they’re not out there with all the other…” Right? And we could judge each other on just… Just where… To… I had a family as a youth pastor, they had seven kids, right? They had some kids in a private school, they had some kids in the public school, and they had one kid homeschooled. I’m like, “How do you do that?” They’re like, “Well, we judge each kid based on where they’re at.” I’m like, “That’s so good, but that’s not easy.” And they’re like, “No, it’s not, but you know what? Parenting is not easy.”

And so when you have a family that’s homeschooling, you know what? You don’t judge them because, first of all, those aren’t your kids, and you’re hoping that they’re the ones listening to God saying, “God, what’s best for my children?” You know what? Some kids aren’t supposed to be in public school, some kids are supposed to be in private school, and you know what? Some kids aren’t supposed to be in public school; they’re supposed to be that light in their community. Um, we could… So we… We do this all the time. Someone that’s an introvert can criticize someone that’s an extrovert, and vice versa, right? Um, we… So we got to be careful that we’re not judging.

You got someone at work, and they’re a hard worker, man, 100 miles an hour, they’re getting everything done, and then this one’s more methodical and well thought out, and this hard worker guy is saying that person’s lazy. No, no, no. You got a sprinter’s mentality, and they got a marathoner’s mentality, right? Chances are the marathoner is going to be there for longer than you, but you say, “Be careful on creating judgment on people.” Listen to their story, be gracious, be kind, and recognize, you know, when I’m critical of others, I need to… That’s coming out of something within myself, and maybe there’s something inside myself that I need to deal with. So, amen.

Claire, you have a thought or… Appreciate us all jumping in and handing you that, so nice. Oh yeah, thank you. Yes, yes, I do. Um, just what you’re describing, it’s called fundamental attribution error. Uh oh, that’s a big word. Wait, fundamental attribution error, okay, so cool. Okay, so when, like, when we… When we feel under stress or we’ve done something wrong, then your brain thinks it justifies what you have done based on your circumstances. Yes. “Oh, the reason I was late today is because I forgot to update my car,” or “The reason I’m speeding is because I have to get to my kid’s sports game,” right? But then they watch what your brain does, same exact situation, and I can say, “Oh, the reason they’re late is because they don’t care.” Yeah, and it immediately puts labels on the other person, and they say that’s common in kids, but then… And you still see it, like, they say some adults, that’s the… What you’re saying, realize, don’t have… So it’s one more area that we’re all messed up in. Our brain is what you’re saying. Yeah, which fortunately, we can all grow, you know? And our brains are an amazing creation from God and a gift from God that we can grow through all these things we sing.

And then I want to… I want to pray. Some of you in this room might… And I don’t want to pick on you, but being judgmental and critical might be one of your big weaknesses, right? And you have probably demonstrated that your entire life, and you’ve probably gotten very good at formulating opinions. I’m not even saying that your opinions are wrong, right? You’ve just gotten very good at it. And instead, I think we need to have a mind change. What was that word again? Fundamental attribution error. And uh, we need… We need to get rid of the fundamental attribution error, and Jesus, the word… We need to be gracious and be considerate and recognize and be gentle and recognize that we have some stuff to deal with too, as we’re called to help others. We also got to recognize that we ourselves are in the same boat.