This morning we come to one of the most memorized, and most quoted verses, in all the Bible. Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.”
Do Not Judge has become a mantra echoed by people of all ages, walks of life, and of every religious and political affiliation. With three words you can flip the tables on anyone criticizing you. You can get your pastor, your parents, political adversaries, the press… completely off your back. Do Not Judge has also become a way of virtue signaling, a way for evildoers to claim the moral high ground. “Jesus himself said do not judge. I’m not judging you, so why are you judging me?” What is the pretext? It’s simple: “I’m better than you. I’m tolerant. I hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil… never mind that I’m doing evil. You’ve sinned and violated Jesus’ command for noticing, for being affected, for speaking and pointing it out, for being a pastor, a parent, a true friend, for trying to do basic discipleship.”
Whatever are we to do with Jesus’ command Do Not Judge? Well, speaking of sins. . . { if you don’t mind me pointing one out. . . } one of our greatest sins is taking phrases or verses out of context and abusing them. Satan is also quite effective at quoting God out of context, to the demise of Adam & Eve & humanity!
There are a couple of safeguards we can employ to guard ourselves from being deceived. The first safeguard is to read a verse in its full context. In the next half-dozen verses Jesus qualifies exactly what he means. And in the context of the full Sermon on the Mount, and even greater context of the whole Gospel of Matthew, these words hardly mean what so many evildoers had hoped. But the second safeguard is to interpret Scripture with Scripture. The Gospel Writer Luke also records Jesus’ sermon. Luke’s version of Jesus sermon is like readers digest version of Mt 5-7, except here…!
Here is how Luke recounts Jesus’ words in Luke 6:37: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Notice how Luke uses parallelism to qualify, and amplify Jesus’ true meaning. “Judging” is equated to “Condemning” which is equated to “Un-forgiveness.” Ah, now this makes sense. Are we judging with intent to condemn a person, to write them off, to sentence them to the fires of hell. Is our attitude that a person is forever condemned unredeemable and a total piece of garbage human being because they sin?
When we put someone under the heat lamp for interrogation—what is our intent? Is it “aha, gotcha, you’re dead to me, dead to the world, dead to God.” Or is our intent restorative? Jesus was probably the most intolerant person the world has ever known, if by intolerant you mean “hear no evil, see no evil, and speak of no evil.” Jesus was the first to hear it, see it, and say something about it. But what was Jesus’ intent? Was it for purposes of “love” or “condemnation”?
One of the other most quoted verses in all the Bible, and one of the first I memorized, is John 3:16: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Sadly, the very next verses in the context are not so well known. John 3:17-18: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him is already condemned.” If you imagine you are somehow escaping God’s final judgement by being tolerant, remaining evil, and invoking Matthew 7:1 not judging… Your spiritual setting is already condemned by default. You have no hope on the day of judgement but to believe on Jesus, and be covered by his blood. No Matthew 7:1 word game is going to work with God, even if it works with everyone else.
But look again. What is God intent? God’s intent is love, restoration, salvation, hope. When people say “Do Not Judge Me” sometimes they actually mean the right thing. A child might actually be saying, “Mom! Dad! Help me! Give me a second chance! Show me some mercy! Throw me a bone! Forgive me!”
If our attitude is that of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18—who rather loved being forgiven millions by his master—but then turned around and couldn’t forgive his own servant a few pennies. If our intent is to be judge, jury, and hangman of everyone else… if our attitude is one of punitive bitterness, condemnation, then guess what? Jesus warns us, Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37 together now: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. Do not condemn. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” And now Matthew 7:2 makes perfect sense, “For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.” Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
I want to leave as much room in my heart for the redemption of others as I want them to leave me. I want to be just as gracious to others, when I show them their sin, as I want them to be with me when I sin, and they hear it, and see it, and say something about to me about it. What does the Bible teach? John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And what does Apostle Paul admonish in Ephesians 4:15? “For speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.” Notice how gospel-centric Paul is. The intent of the Law, was love. The nature of Jesus’ ministry, grace and truth. The obligation members of the body of Christ, and Christian households have to one another, is to speak the truth in love! And what is at stake? If we speak the truth in love, we become more like Jesus! So no, “Do Not Judge” isn’t a false choice between total moral silence and acquiescence or self-condemnation. So, allow me to layout some guidelines regarding the art of truth-telling.
Guideline #1 : Check Your Intent—Truth is for Redemption not Slaughter.
The harshest rebukes of God, this side of eternity, are intended to lead you to godly repentance. God wants you to be ever hearing, ever seeing, ever perceiving. When John the Baptist came preaching, he denounced the Pharisees calling them, “A brood of vipers.” John’s hope was to shock them into repentance and baptism. His intent was redemptive. When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he categorically denounced the Pharisees’ hypocritical behaviors. When the great prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah did the same, they weren’t trying to produce worldly sorrow—people beating themselves up. They were alerting them to their need for baptism of forgiveness and baptism of spirit and fire, to save their souls.
When Paul was accused being harsh… 2 Corinthians 7:8–10: "For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. Now I am glad, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn't experience any loss from us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death." The Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:12, why are we praying? It’s to get on the same page as God, “And forgive us our debt as we have also forgiven our debtors.” And Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Those who most weaponize the truth are in the gravest spiritual danger. Why? Because they imagine themselves to be without sin. Because they deny their own need for grace while also denying others needed grace. Severe judgement awaits those who deny God’s mercy and grace and forgiveness. Thus Jesus continues…
Guideline #2 : Check Your Vision—Self-Soul-Care Before Other-Soul-Care.
Matthew 7:3-4, “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye?” Your own soul-care. . . your humility to welcome the truth of God into every dirty closet of your heart. . . your humility to welcome the grace of God to wash and clean up every dirty mess in your life. . . your own humble discipleship. . . is what qualifies you to have the clarity needed to help someone else. Again, Matthew 7:5, “Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.” Oh yeah, of course Jesus, that makes sense. What good is a blind physician, or surgeon?
If I might make an observation. Those who are the most judgmental in the church… the most condemning… the most critical, bitter, and unforgiving… those who are the first to point out the faults and deficiencies of everyone else… those who get mad, and walk out on their church family, are never the most clear-eyed of believers. Just the opposite, they are almost always the most spiritually blind, self-deceived. Whatever they think they see in others doesn’t even compare to what’s in their own eye!
Here is how Luke says it in Luke 6:39-41, “39 He also told them a parable: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.” When the fullness of truth isn’t matched with a fullness of grace, there is no there-there. There is just a deep dark pit; blindness. Your own soul care… abiding in grace and truth… is what qualifies you to truly help others.
Guideline #3 : Check the Soil—Discern Receptive Soil from Contemptuous Soil.
Matthew 7:6, “Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.” Dogs and Pigs! That doesn’t sound very nice! I was trying to think of a way to reframe what Jesus is saying here. I think I’d say it this way. True Discipleship isn’t just a matter of “content” or “truth.” True Discipleship isn’t just a matter of “care” or “love.” True Discipleship is also a matter of “context.” There are times to speak the truth in love and help people.
There are times when, in Jesus own words, Matthew 10:14-15, {Jesus commission of the Twelve} “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Luke 10:10-11, “go out in the street and say, ‘We are wiping off even the dust of our town that clings to our feet as a witness against you. Know this for certain: The Kingdom of God has come near.”
Sadly, there is hardened soil. Sadly, people can have ears, but never hear; eyes but never see; a brain but never perceive. There are times where we just have to step away from people and relationships and let God’s Spirit contend with them. We aren’t God. We aren’t the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus the Son of God, more full of grace and truth than any of us could ever aspire, was rejected. The hardest part about parenting, pastoring, evangelism, discipleship, friendship, yes politics, even church life. . . is knowing when to step away and stop forcing something. Proverbs 9:8 says, "Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you."
In these instances, we can take comfort in the Beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you when they insult you, persecute you, and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Jesus. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. . .
Also, “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” The world weaponizes Matthew 7:1 to silence truth. The religious weaponize truth to execute judgment. But Jesus calls us to something higher: to bear the log-free eyes of grace, the holy treasure of truth, and a heart beating solely for redemption