WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, 00:00:02.339 --> 00:00:30.120 chapter 7, verses 1 through 6. when all the time 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.859 there is a plank in your own eye. You hypocrite, 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:36.759 first take the plank out of your own eye, and 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:39.159 then you will see clearly to remove the speck 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:42.640 from your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.399 is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:48.500 If you do, they may trample them under their 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:52.619 feet and turn and tear you to pieces. The word 00:00:52.619 --> 00:01:00.240 of the Lord. Order, I say. Order. Order. We're 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:04.019 going to begin this, call this service to order. 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:08.420 Order. These are awesome. Does anyone have one 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:11.120 of these? These are fantastic. Order. You're 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:14.159 out of order, Ted. Ted, you are out of order. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.019 Bailiff, remove this man. Remove this man. These 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:20.959 are way too fun. I think I want to take one of 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.459 these to the next advisory board meeting and 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.420 just take it over, just start hammering away 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:29.299 at that thing. I think the truth is we all love 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:33.560 to play the judge, right? We all love the idea 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.599 of having the gavel in our hand and making decisions 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:38.739 about what's right and what's wrong and what's 00:01:38.739 --> 00:01:41.680 good and what's bad. But the question, of course, 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:46.319 is are we supposed to be? The ones with the gavel 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.159 in our hand? Are we supposed to be people who 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.140 judge? Now that is the question we're going to 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:54.799 attempt to tackle today. Because we're in the 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:56.319 middle of this teaching series, which is called 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.040 The Bible Doesn't Say That. Where we're looking 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.299 at some verses that are in the Bible. At least 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:04.159 we think that they're in the Bible. But they 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.739 might actually not be in the Bible. But even 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:09.240 if they are in the Bible, maybe they don't mean 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:13.400 what we think that they mean. And today we are 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:17.199 coming to this one. Of course. Don't judge. Just 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:20.379 about everybody believes, assumes, and knows 00:02:20.379 --> 00:02:23.860 that the Bible says don't judge. And it's not 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:25.960 just that we think the Bible says that, but we 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:29.099 like to say that too. We live in a culture where 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:30.979 we're always saying, don't judge. Don't judge 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:35.580 me. You can't judge me. You know, somebody decides 00:02:35.580 --> 00:02:39.020 to eat a whole family -sized bag of potato chips 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:41.979 in one sitting. And they look at you and they 00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:45.569 say, don't judge me. right? Or they decide, you 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:47.409 know, they're going to walk in 10 minutes late 00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:50.110 to church with Starbucks in their hands, and 00:02:50.110 --> 00:02:55.330 they say, don't judge me. Or maybe you, you know, 00:02:55.349 --> 00:02:59.669 you still like to listen to Nickelback, and you 00:02:59.669 --> 00:03:01.569 say, no, don't, don't judge me, don't judge me. 00:03:01.569 --> 00:03:04.129 My kids tell me this, you know, at the dinner 00:03:04.129 --> 00:03:06.150 table, sometimes if we're sitting down, hearing 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:09.270 about their day, and if I say, oh, if I do that, 00:03:09.289 --> 00:03:12.620 then, oh, dad, don't be so judgy. Right? That's 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:15.419 the language of the day. And celebrities, if 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:17.060 they get into trouble and they do something that 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:18.699 they shouldn't do, they just say, hey, you can't 00:03:18.699 --> 00:03:20.900 judge. Don't judge me. Right? It's like a get 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:24.520 her to jail free card for their conscience. Right? 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.080 So we need to talk about this phrase because 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.659 we're always talking about this phrase. The other 00:03:31.659 --> 00:03:34.719 reason we need to talk about this is that it 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.210 is... Believed, I think, by a great many people 00:03:38.210 --> 00:03:42.389 that in the church, Christians do way too much 00:03:42.389 --> 00:03:45.210 judging. In fact, there were two researchers, 00:03:45.409 --> 00:03:49.580 David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. And I don't know, 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:51.520 10 or more years ago, they wrote a book called 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.620 Un -Christian. The book was based on lots and 00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:58.259 lots of research. They asked like tens of thousands 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:02.319 of people who weren't Christians. They asked 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.939 them just one simple question. And the simple 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:09.860 question was this. What words best describe your 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:13.360 impression of Christians? That's what they asked 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.400 10 ,000 people who weren't Christians. And the 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:20.139 answers were very sobering. The top three, I 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:23.000 only listed the top three, but were anti -homosexual. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.120 That's what came to their mind right away. Second 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.220 was judgmental, and third was hypocritical. Now 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:32.879 again, those numbers don't reflect the actual 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.040 behavior of every Christian or their actual beliefs, 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:38.639 but this is the perception. This is the perception. 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:44.839 Judgmental is right up there at the top. So we're 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:49.199 known. As the gavel people. Christians are known 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.980 as the people who wield the gavel. We're judgmental 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:55.899 according to their impression. And you can check 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:58.199 out some quotes from this book. It's actually 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:00.720 got some pretty telling quotes. One is, we have 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.180 become famous for what we oppose rather than 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.439 what we are for. It's interesting because Jesus 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:09.519 was famous for how he extended compassion and 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.620 welcomed to sinners. But now Christians have 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:16.129 become famous for their disapproval. of others. 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:19.370 Another quote was, the primary reason outsiders 00:05:19.370 --> 00:05:22.269 feel minimized and rejected by Christians is 00:05:22.269 --> 00:05:23.829 that they believe Christians are too focused 00:05:23.829 --> 00:05:26.410 on pointing out other people's faults. That kind 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.569 of speaks for itself. Or this one, they say we're 00:05:29.569 --> 00:05:33.550 judgmental, not because we tell people that they're 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:36.990 wrong, but because we act as if we are right. 00:05:37.129 --> 00:05:40.329 So it's not just what we say, but it's our posture, 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:44.329 it's our tone, it's our attitude. Here's the 00:05:44.329 --> 00:05:46.870 deal. On the one hand, you've got a culture that 00:05:46.870 --> 00:05:48.870 loves to go around and say, don't judge. You 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:51.170 can't judge. On the other hand, you've got a 00:05:51.170 --> 00:05:55.949 church who is known for judging. So we've got 00:05:55.949 --> 00:05:58.550 to talk about this, right? To judge or not to 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:02.060 judge. To hold the gavel. Or not to hold the 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:03.839 gavel? That is the question. And so what we're 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:05.879 going to do today is we're just going to go through 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.100 that passage that J .P. just read for us. It's 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.399 like literally the most famous passage on the 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.660 topic of judgment right in the Sermon on the 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:19.230 Mount. Matthew 7, verses 1 to 6. And this is 00:06:19.230 --> 00:06:21.509 the thing. I know we're looking for easy answers 00:06:21.509 --> 00:06:24.610 for questions like this, but you're not going 00:06:24.610 --> 00:06:26.329 to get an easy answer with this one. In fact, 00:06:26.350 --> 00:06:29.189 when you come to this passage and you ask, should 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:32.709 we judge others? I think this is actually the 00:06:32.709 --> 00:06:35.069 answer that you get. You get this answer. Should 00:06:35.069 --> 00:06:38.129 we judge others? Should we judge? No. But in 00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:41.589 some ways, yes. But seriously, Jesus says no. 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:45.870 But then again, he says yes. But then in the 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:49.439 end, he says, maybe not. No, I'm not trying to 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.560 be silly. I'm not trying to be cute or funny. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.759 I actually think that if we read this, we'll 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:55.600 see this is not a simple yes or no. This is not 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.259 a simple either or. There is a tension, a back 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:01.459 and forth in this passage that we have to wrestle 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:03.660 with. I've given you some sermon notes if you 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:07.300 want to follow along. Let's dive right in. Should 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:11.379 we judge? The first answer is no. Simplest answer 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:14.360 is no. Most straightforward reading of this passage 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:19.620 is no. Jesus says in Matthew 7, put the gavel 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:23.660 down, put the gavel away. He says right off the 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:28.339 hop, do not judge or you too will be judged. 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:31.759 Sounds conclusive, sounds open and shut. And 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.480 at first glance, it's like Jesus saying, never 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.079 judge, ever judge. He actually goes on to say, 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.639 don't judge or you too will be judged. Now that 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.149 I find is interesting. Because Jesus doesn't 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:49.569 actually tell us who will judge us if we are 00:07:49.569 --> 00:07:53.029 the type of people who judge. Who exactly is 00:07:53.029 --> 00:07:54.730 this person who's going to judge us back? Well, 00:07:54.769 --> 00:07:56.930 I think there's probably a couple answers that 00:07:56.930 --> 00:07:59.209 you could support from the Bible. The first is 00:07:59.209 --> 00:08:01.670 that other people will judge you back if you 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:04.209 judge them. If you're harsh, critical, and cynical, 00:08:04.410 --> 00:08:06.810 if you're always pointing at other people's faults, 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.269 then guess what? It's not a surprise when it 00:08:09.269 --> 00:08:12.939 comes back. to you, right? People are going to 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:16.379 respond in kind. And you know what? People will 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:19.259 start to avoid you. They'll be defensive. They 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:22.480 might retaliate. Because there's this thing about 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.360 human relationships that you kind of reap what 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.660 you sow. I'm not saying it's karma, but you reap 00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:31.019 what you sow, Jesus says, right? So Jesus actually 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.320 adds on to this. He says, because with the measure 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.730 you use, it'll be measured to you. Now this is 00:08:36.730 --> 00:08:39.029 interesting because this is actually language 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:42.409 from the marketplace. When you went to the grocery 00:08:42.409 --> 00:08:44.669 store in Jesus' day, when you went to the market, 00:08:44.730 --> 00:08:48.870 you didn't buy pre -packaged goods. You would 00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:51.580 buy... stuff in bulk. And so it would have to 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:53.440 be weighed out. It would have to be measured 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:57.039 out and poured out. And the trouble was, some 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:00.139 vendors were really shady. So they'd have a little 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:03.019 scoop. They'd say, oh, I'll give you three scoops. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.940 But in the bottom of the scoop, there was a bump. 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:06.919 So the scoop didn't actually hold as much as 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:09.059 you thought it did. Or, you know, they would 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:11.960 have scales that had weights, counterweights 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:13.960 on them. But the counterweights didn't actually 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:16.580 weigh what the counterweight said that it weighted. 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:19.620 Or vessels that were deceiving. You know, you 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:22.320 thought you got a liter of oil, but instead all 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.419 you really got was about 800 milliliters of oil. 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:28.779 And the point is you got less than was fair. 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.899 You got less than you deserve. And if you got 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:34.580 caught doing that kind of thing in the marketplace, 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:38.620 then actually other vendors would start doing 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:40.919 the same thing to you. They'd start ripping you 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:43.460 off. They would cheat you right back. And so 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:45.919 the image that Jesus is kind of using here, he's 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:49.029 saying, listen, if you short measure, people, 00:09:49.049 --> 00:09:51.250 then you know what? If you judge and criticize 00:09:51.250 --> 00:09:55.070 other people, don't be surprised when that same 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:59.049 measure gets used against you. So don't judge 00:09:59.049 --> 00:10:02.750 or you too will be judged. Okay, I think it's 00:10:02.750 --> 00:10:05.269 safe to say yes, we will be judged by other people 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:09.970 back. But I think it is also true that Jesus 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:12.490 could be meaning that if you judge others, you 00:10:12.490 --> 00:10:17.139 will also be judged by God. harshly in return. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:21.740 So Paul seems to say stuff like this in some 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:23.779 of his letters. He says, you then, why do you 00:10:23.779 --> 00:10:25.440 bother to judge your brother or sister? Or why 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.200 do you treat them with contempt for... We will 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.779 all stand before God's judgment seat as if to 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:34.220 say, like, listen, if you're going to be real 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:36.320 harsh on the people around you and treat people 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:39.440 around you with contempt, you better be worried 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:41.580 when you step before God's judgment seat because 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:44.559 God will judge you back with the measure that 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.500 you judged. Is that where it's going? You know, 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:51.860 then, therefore, judge nothing before the appointed 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:56.860 time, Paul says. Wait until the Lord comes. Judging. 00:10:57.389 --> 00:11:01.950 is his job. That's Paul's point here. You don't 00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:03.629 know someone's whole story. You don't know what's 00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:05.629 going on in their lives. You see their actions, 00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:08.409 sure, but you don't see their motives, right? 00:11:08.830 --> 00:11:12.590 Only the final judge, the real judge, God, can 00:11:12.590 --> 00:11:14.909 make those kind of judgments about a person. 00:11:14.970 --> 00:11:17.289 So you put the gavel away. It's not your gavel. 00:11:17.389 --> 00:11:21.289 It's God's gavel. God is the one who gets to 00:11:21.289 --> 00:11:24.830 judge. And he will judge you. in the way that 00:11:24.830 --> 00:11:26.590 you judge others. And by the way, I should just 00:11:26.590 --> 00:11:29.889 state that this inclination that we have to judge 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:34.190 goes right back to the Garden of Eden. This, 00:11:34.230 --> 00:11:37.210 you could say, the original sin was that we wanted 00:11:37.210 --> 00:11:39.850 to be the ones to decide what is good and what 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:43.070 is bad, what is evil and what is true, right? 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:45.490 Adam and Eve were told, don't eat of the tree 00:11:45.490 --> 00:11:48.279 of the knowledge of good and evil. But they couldn't 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.360 resist. They wanted to be the ones to know what 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:52.080 was good and evil and to decide what was good 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:54.840 and evil and to make those decisions. And so 00:11:54.840 --> 00:12:00.340 whenever we judge others, it's the same temptation 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:03.899 that happened to Adam and Eve. We're trying to 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:07.200 play God. We're trying to do God's job. So there 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.460 you go. It should be an open and shut case. Should 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:13.460 we judge? No, Jesus says. No, no, no, no. But 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:16.730 actually, It's not that simple, because in some 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:20.330 ways, yes. Yes, of course, in some ways we should 00:12:20.330 --> 00:12:23.190 judge. You might be like, Rob, what do you mean? 00:12:23.350 --> 00:12:25.029 You can't just do that? Yes, you can actually, 00:12:25.090 --> 00:12:27.909 because if you look at the Greek word for judge, 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:31.149 which is the word krino, it's like the English 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:33.730 word for judge. It's got all sorts of different 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:37.549 meanings to it, right? So at a basic, basic level, 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:43.769 to judge simply means to decide, to make a decision. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.860 To look at two options, oh, there's this and 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:48.980 this. Which one will I choose? And to choose 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:53.840 one is to krino. That is to decide. So let's 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.620 give you a few examples. If you had to choose 00:12:55.620 --> 00:12:57.539 between chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream, 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:00.320 how many would choose chocolate? How many would 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.080 choose vanilla? You just judged. You guys are 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:09.460 so judgy. Or how about this one? You're trying 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:11.440 to replace your phone. Are you going to go with 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.600 an iPhone or an Android? How many say iPhone? 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.519 How many say Android? Trevino, you're not even 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:19.179 answering. Come on, what's going on? All right, 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:21.220 get in there. This is supposed to be interactive, 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:25.379 right? So yeah, you guys are so judgy. You're 00:13:25.379 --> 00:13:28.480 always making these judgments. You're crino -ing 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:32.279 all the time. That's what judging is. It's just 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.200 making a decision. I'll give you another one. 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.360 Dogs or cats? What do you think about this? How 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:41.990 many say dogs? Hey, how many say cats? Yeah, 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:44.570 so you gotta make a good judgment. Some of you 00:13:44.570 --> 00:13:48.029 have impaired judgment, apparently. But see, 00:13:48.110 --> 00:13:51.389 we're always making these judgments. And this 00:13:51.389 --> 00:13:54.529 kind of judging, Jesus is not saying, don't judge, 00:13:54.710 --> 00:13:56.830 don't be a thinking person. No, no, no. I mean, 00:13:56.889 --> 00:13:59.529 there's a way we're supposed to judge, to decide 00:13:59.529 --> 00:14:02.309 things. Then, of course, there is the way to 00:14:02.309 --> 00:14:04.990 understand a judge is just like a judge judge. 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:07.250 Like when you're watching TV and there's these 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:09.570 people on stage and they're singing. and they're 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:11.870 dancing, and they're throwing flaming batons, 00:14:11.870 --> 00:14:14.409 and there's this group of people that are staring 00:14:14.409 --> 00:14:17.269 at them, and they're, what are these people? 00:14:17.350 --> 00:14:21.250 They are... They're judges, right? So they're 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:24.090 trying to decide. Do we give them the golden 00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:26.370 buzzer? Do we pass them? Do we fail them? Do 00:14:26.370 --> 00:14:30.009 we say yes? Do we say no? Or you go maybe to 00:14:30.009 --> 00:14:32.570 the Aaron Fall Fair, and at the Fall Fair, there's 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:35.029 this guy in a ball cap, and he's taking these 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:37.129 tastes of these butter tarts, and he's making 00:14:37.129 --> 00:14:39.529 notes in a little piece of paper. Oh, this one's 00:14:39.529 --> 00:14:42.070 flaky. This one's burnt. This one is the winner. 00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:45.350 He's a judge. He's judging. Or, of course, everybody's 00:14:45.350 --> 00:14:48.330 favorite judge has got to be Judge Judy. right? 00:14:48.490 --> 00:14:53.090 My favorite Judge Judy line is, don't pee on 00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:57.250 my leg and tell me it's raining. Isn't that great, 00:14:57.350 --> 00:15:00.750 right? Now, she's actually a judge. She's a judge, 00:15:00.950 --> 00:15:03.909 and we need judges to exact justice and to have 00:15:03.909 --> 00:15:07.389 a society that works. My point is, I'm just trying 00:15:07.389 --> 00:15:11.700 to say, this word, crinno, To judge has all these 00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:14.340 different meanings. It's not always bad. And 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.539 in fact, sometimes judging is really, really 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:22.019 important. In fact, in the Bible, judging is 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:25.159 often associated with discerning, making a wise 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:27.720 and careful decision about something going on 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.720 in your life. It's the same Greek word. So for 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:36.519 example, when Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:38.879 to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, 00:15:38.889 --> 00:15:41.070 for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem. Paul, 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:45.210 that's the same verb. Paul crinoed. Paul made 00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:49.370 a judgment about where God was calling him as 00:15:49.370 --> 00:15:52.929 he went about his missionary work. Or the early 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:55.129 church leaders were trying to decide how to welcome 00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:58.470 Gentiles into the church. And James stood up 00:15:58.470 --> 00:16:01.830 and he said, it is my crino, therefore, that 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:03.909 we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles 00:16:03.909 --> 00:16:06.149 who are turning to God. Again, an important, 00:16:06.250 --> 00:16:09.730 godly judgment. had to be made there. In fact, 00:16:09.769 --> 00:16:12.649 let's just throw this whole thing on its head. 00:16:12.750 --> 00:16:15.870 Jesus goes so far as to basically say, you guys 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.690 need to judge correctly. Judge, go ahead and 00:16:18.690 --> 00:16:20.549 judge. He says, stop judging by mere appearance. 00:16:20.570 --> 00:16:24.750 Instead, judge correctly. So there you have it. 00:16:24.909 --> 00:16:30.450 Jesus just told us to judge, but to do it correctly. 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:35.429 He's encouraging a kind of judgment, right? but 00:16:35.429 --> 00:16:38.029 do it wisely. So that's why I say, that's why 00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:44.230 I said that to judge can also mean just to discern. 00:16:44.830 --> 00:16:47.769 To discern, to do the right thing. And actually, 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:51.570 as followers of Jesus, we need to be very discerning. 00:16:51.629 --> 00:16:54.710 As we grow in our discipleship, as we grow in 00:16:54.710 --> 00:16:56.389 our following of Jesus, we have to be able to 00:16:56.389 --> 00:16:58.190 judge between what is good and what is bad and 00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:01.070 what is true and what is evil and what is better 00:17:01.070 --> 00:17:05.190 and what is best. Jesus wants us to grow that 00:17:05.190 --> 00:17:11.069 way by crinoing, by judging wisely. Okay, so 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:14.720 should we judge? No. That's Jesus' first word. 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.339 But in some ways, yes, we have to learn how to 00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:20.579 discern between good and bad. But he's not done. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.559 Because then Jesus says, actually though, seriously? 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:29.680 No, you should not judge. And what Jesus is saying 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.839 here is he is talking about a certain type of 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:35.940 judgment that we must never do. This is the type 00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:38.859 of judgment that makes people look at Christians 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:41.599 and hate the way that they act. Because what 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.099 he is talking about is not, good discernment 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:47.099 or wise decision making. No, no. He is talking 00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:52.559 about self -righteous condemnation. That is serious 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:56.019 And that is a serious no -no. Whenever we claim 00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:59.660 a position of superiority and we make a decision 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:01.779 about someone based on their actions or based 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:07.240 on their appearances, or even we make a decision 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.799 on where they stand before God, often judging 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:14.220 them way more harshly than we would ever judge 00:18:14.220 --> 00:18:19.000 ourselves, Jesus says, no. Seriously, no. That 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:24.000 type of judging is off limits. And to get his 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:27.500 point across, Jesus has this absurd sense of 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:30.079 humor. He tells this little parable. He says, 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:33.019 why do you look at a speck of dust in your brother's 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:36.640 eye and pay no attention to the plank in your 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.750 own eye? Some translations would say beam. In 00:18:39.750 --> 00:18:43.349 your own eye or log in your own eye. How can 00:18:43.349 --> 00:18:45.069 you say to your brother, let me take the speck 00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:47.130 out of your eye when all the time there is a 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:50.710 plank in your own eye? Jesus says, don't you 00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:53.410 dare try to do microsurgery with tweezers on 00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:56.069 your brother's eye when you have got a two by 00:18:56.069 --> 00:19:00.329 four sticking out of your face, right? This is 00:19:00.329 --> 00:19:04.769 silly. It's exaggerated. It's funny. But don't 00:19:04.769 --> 00:19:07.009 laugh it off because there are two things in 00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:10.109 here. The implications are huge, okay? Here's 00:19:10.109 --> 00:19:12.910 the first implication. The first implication 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:16.890 is if you see someone doing something that seems 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:20.430 wrong or self -destructive from your point of 00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:25.009 view, you need to assume that you do not see 00:19:25.009 --> 00:19:28.970 it clearly, right? Because you've got a two -by 00:19:28.970 --> 00:19:33.339 -four. in your eyeball, right? You think you 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:36.539 can see, but you can't see. So you've got your 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:38.920 own issues going on. You've got your own blind 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.420 spots, your logs, your beams, your planks. You 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:43.799 have impaired vision. You might be able to see 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:45.259 their behavior. You might be able to see what 00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:47.680 they're doing, but you cannot see their motives. 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.660 And human beings are really, really complex creatures. 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:53.400 So Jesus says, here's what happens. Just assume 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:55.619 you're missing something. Oh, you see someone 00:19:55.619 --> 00:19:57.440 and they look like they're doing something destructive. 00:19:57.539 --> 00:19:59.920 Just assume you saw it wrong, you're seeing it 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:04.019 wrong, that your vision is distorted, right? 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.579 That should be your first thought. That's normally 00:20:06.579 --> 00:20:09.039 not our first thought. Our first thought is condemnation. 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:12.259 Our first thought should be, I must not be seeing 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:16.269 this right, right? What Jesus is saying through 00:20:16.269 --> 00:20:18.210 this parable. You've got a log in your eye. You 00:20:18.210 --> 00:20:20.190 can't possibly be seeing this right. That should 00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:22.769 be your first assumption. Your second assumption, 00:20:22.930 --> 00:20:27.390 though, is even maybe more convicting. You have 00:20:27.390 --> 00:20:29.369 to assume not just that you can't see properly, 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:31.690 but you have to assume actually that your own 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:35.609 problems are bigger than theirs. I mean, look 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:38.529 at Jesus' language. There is a speck in your 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:41.509 neighbor's eye, but you have a two -by -four 00:20:41.509 --> 00:20:44.240 in your eye. Who has the bigger problem? You 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.400 do, right? He doesn't say you both have logs 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:49.539 in your eyes. He doesn't say you both have specks 00:20:49.539 --> 00:20:52.619 in your eyes. He says this deliberate reversal. 00:20:52.900 --> 00:20:58.839 You are the one with the bigger problem. That 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:03.019 totally flips your feeling about judgment. It 00:21:03.019 --> 00:21:07.019 means that if I am ever tempted to judge someone, 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.900 I should actually start by assuming they are 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:13.440 doing way better than I am doing. And that the 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:17.779 issues and the sins in my life are actually way 00:21:17.779 --> 00:21:24.119 worse than in theirs. In other words, we are 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:28.960 not called to condemn. We're called to deal with 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:34.349 our own plank first. We're not called to prosecute 00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:37.509 people's faults. We're called to do the hard 00:21:37.509 --> 00:21:40.750 work we have to do and humble ourselves to deal 00:21:40.750 --> 00:21:43.630 with this thing that's in my life, this thing 00:21:43.630 --> 00:21:48.869 that's in my eye. Start with yourself. Do honest, 00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:54.269 hard reflection because it is only when you recognize 00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:59.559 the depth of your own need and your own need 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:02.420 for grace that you will actually stop swinging 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:06.779 the gavel and you will instead start reaching 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:11.259 for the cross, right? That's a huge shift in 00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:14.000 thinking. So let's go back. So should we judge? 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:17.619 No. But in some ways, yes, we have to be discerning 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:20.200 as we grow as followers of Jesus. But seriously 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:24.839 though, no. No, no condemnation, no self -righteousness 00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:29.539 is allowed. You think that would be the end of 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:30.920 it, but it's actually not the end of it because 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.039 Jesus kind of continues to say, but then again, 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:37.880 then again, yes, there is a time, there is a 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:41.960 place for you to still speak truth into the life 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:44.400 of one of your brothers or sisters if you think 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:46.640 that their decisions are harmful, if you think 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:49.319 the decisions they're making are misguided. Let's 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:51.160 just go back to the reading. Go back to the reading. 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:56.240 Did Jesus say we should never say anything? To 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.500 someone else. Let's read it together. Is that 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:01.559 what he said? No. He said, first, take the plank 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:06.140 out of your own eye. And then you will see clearly 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:11.299 to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:15.019 Okay? So, actually, you can remove the speck 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:17.500 from your brother or sister's eye. But it's only 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:21.569 after... You've dealt with your own issues. So 00:23:21.569 --> 00:23:24.410 yes, you can help others. Yes, you can speak 00:23:24.410 --> 00:23:26.950 truth to others, but only from a position of 00:23:26.950 --> 00:23:29.690 humility. Only when you've admitted you got your 00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.049 own two -by -four. Only when you see that there's 00:23:32.049 --> 00:23:35.430 a telephone pole coming out of your own eyeball. 00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:40.599 It's only when you admit. That you are a person 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.519 in desperate need of the grace of God and that 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:47.440 you have serious, serious issues. It's only after 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.539 you have gone to Jesus and you have said, Jesus, 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:52.900 I'm messed up. And it's only after you've heard 00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:55.519 Jesus say to you, I don't condemn you, I love 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:57.680 you, I forgive you, I've got lots of grace for 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.119 you. It's only after you've heard that and it's 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:03.559 only after that grace has transformed your heart 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:06.759 and transformed your life that it's only then 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:12.019 only then and only then do you have the ability 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:16.220 to go to another person and say with the same 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:18.680 grace and the same compassion that Jesus just 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:21.559 showed to you, friend, I need to talk to you 00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:24.180 about something. I'm worried about you. Can we 00:24:24.180 --> 00:24:28.660 have a conversation? That's the only way it can 00:24:28.660 --> 00:24:32.460 be done. And that's why I actually think it is 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:34.339 really important that every week here at Trinity 00:24:34.339 --> 00:24:38.230 we... we do this thing called communion. Because 00:24:38.230 --> 00:24:40.650 when you come forward to communion, do you know 00:24:40.650 --> 00:24:42.829 what you're saying? You are not saying, I'm better 00:24:42.829 --> 00:24:47.069 than anybody else, or I've lived a more holy 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:49.549 life than anyone else. No, all of us come to 00:24:49.549 --> 00:24:52.250 communion basically admitting I'm guilty as charged. 00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:55.680 I've got a plank in my eye. I have blown my life. 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:58.240 My life is totally a mess. I cannot live my life. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:01.299 In fact, my life is so shot that I actually need 00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:04.380 somebody else to live my life for me. I need 00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:07.900 Jesus. I need the grace of Jesus. Jesus had to 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:12.980 die for me. Things were that bad in my life. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:14.920 That's what you're saying, actually. Every time 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.559 you walk up here and take the bread and the wine, 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:20.380 you're saying, my only hope in this life is Jesus. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:23.819 If we all do that every week, then you know what? 00:25:23.859 --> 00:25:26.700 That changes us. Because pretty soon, we realize 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:29.279 we're not a community where one person is set 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:32.619 over and against another. No, we are all with 00:25:32.619 --> 00:25:36.579 each other. And we all needed Jesus to die for 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:40.279 us. We all needed his grace. That's the way forward. 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:42.579 It's the way forward. It's the only way forward. 00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:45.180 Once we've been humbled, only once we've been 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:49.119 humbled to that degree, can we help others with 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:54.140 their speck. Will these conversations we have 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:57.660 with people be tough and messy? Absolutely. But 00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:01.400 we can do it. We can do it. In fact, your neighbor 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:04.220 needs you to point out the speck in their eye. 00:26:04.299 --> 00:26:07.519 And you need your neighbor to point out the speck 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:12.039 in your eye too. But it only happens in a community 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:16.619 where there are less gavels and more mirrors, 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:21.680 more self -reflection. So, That should be it, 00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:23.859 right? You think that's where Jesus should probably 00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:26.859 end with, but he actually doesn't. He says, should 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:28.859 we judge? No, we should not judge. But in some 00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:30.460 ways, of course, yes, we have to judge to discern. 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:32.779 But seriously, no, no self -righteous condemnation. 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:35.339 But then again, yes, once you've done that humbling 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:37.700 work, then you can, in fact, go to your brother 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:39.880 and sister and talk to them about the speck in 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:43.880 their eye. But Jesus says, but actually, in the 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:47.160 end, in the end, maybe it's still not a good 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:49.900 idea. to have that conversation. Because even 00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:51.980 if you've removed the log from your eye, and 00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:53.859 even if you've humbled yourself, and even if 00:26:53.859 --> 00:26:56.019 Jesus has gotten right to the heart of you, and 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:58.359 even if your wisdom is right and what you have 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.519 to say is important, even then you may not want 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:04.960 to say anything to them because they're not ready 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:08.740 to hear it. They're not ready to hear it. Jesus 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:12.799 says, don't give to dogs what's sacred. Don't 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:15.170 throw... your pearls to the pigs. If you do, 00:27:15.210 --> 00:27:16.569 they're just going to trample them under their 00:27:16.569 --> 00:27:19.490 feet and they might even turn and tear you to 00:27:19.490 --> 00:27:23.450 pieces. What a strange story that is. What is 00:27:23.450 --> 00:27:27.390 he talking about? This is important. Jesus is 00:27:27.390 --> 00:27:32.559 making a serious point that pearls are... A pearl 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.480 and sacred things are the wisdom you have to 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:38.920 offer someone else. It's the hard -earned insights 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:41.299 that you have learned through a life of discipleship 00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:43.099 and spiritual growth, and you want to share that 00:27:43.099 --> 00:27:44.559 with your brother who has the speck in their 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:47.259 eye. You want to, but Jesus is warning, don't 00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:51.140 share it with people who just aren't in a place 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:55.859 to hear it yet, right? There are times... When 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:57.559 people aren't ready to hear it, they're too hurt 00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:00.220 still, or they're just too defensive, or they 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:02.380 don't trust you enough, frankly, to hear it from 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:05.400 you. And if you push that conversation, if you 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:08.900 push too far, too fast, it can go very badly, 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:11.259 like dogs and pigs ripping you to shreds very 00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:14.200 badly. It can go very badly for you and for the 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:17.000 church community if we're not ready to have those 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:20.519 conversations. It can backfire. So that's why 00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:25.569 the take -home here is that even truth, must 00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:29.730 be shared with wisdom or else it gets trampled. 00:28:29.849 --> 00:28:32.390 Wisdom isn't just knowing what to say. It's knowing 00:28:32.390 --> 00:28:35.369 when to say it. It's knowing how to say it. And 00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:37.809 it's knowing that sometimes the most loving thing 00:28:37.809 --> 00:28:43.150 you can do is actually stay silent. Keep praying 00:28:43.150 --> 00:28:47.670 and wait for the right moment. Timing is everything. 00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:55.690 And trust takes time. So, what? does the Bible 00:28:55.690 --> 00:29:01.029 say? Should we judge? No. But in some ways, yes. 00:29:02.390 --> 00:29:07.890 But seriously, no. But then again, yes. But in 00:29:07.890 --> 00:29:13.109 the end, maybe not. And somehow, if we as a church 00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:17.069 can learn to live out that messy, complicated, 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:23.180 tensioned way of life, then it will be messy, 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:27.160 but it'll also be beautiful. It'll be beautiful, 00:29:27.180 --> 00:29:29.660 and maybe then the world will actually start 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:33.400 to see Christians not as judgmental people, but 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.180 as gracious people, and as good people, and as 00:29:37.180 --> 00:29:43.640 people who reflect Jesus himself. So thanks be 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:45.559 to God. Amen.