Don’t Judge Me! | Sunday, May 8, 2022

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye"; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

When the whole nation is shouting "Don't judge me," Jesus shows us that the real issue is the plank in our own eye.

Judgment in the Headlines

Without a doubt, there is nothing bigger in the news this week than Monday's leak of a draft majority Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. This is truly historic and monumental news, and it brought the concepts of courts and justices, judges and judgment, into the forefront of our national mindset in a spectacular way. As is often the case, the news fits perfectly with what we are going to consider in the Scriptures today. I didn't plan it this way — I couldn't have planned it this way — but I couldn't have planned it any better either.

The reason the court's decision is such huge news is that abortion is the major political dividing point in American society, and has been for all of my life. For those with strong religious affiliation, especially Christians, a candidate's views on abortion are often at the top of the list when making voting decisions. For those who are ideologically left-leaning or progressive, it is often no different. If you're on the right, it is highly likely that you are pro-life; if you are on the left, it is equally likely you are pro-abortion. I'm not sure there is a more inflamed debate in America.

You Hate Women! You Hate Babies!

As soon as the leak hit Monday evening, social media lit up and the condemnations began flying. Some on the left said, "You hate women and want them to die. You want women subjugated and enslaved." Some on the right responded, "You hate babies and want to kill babies. You don't care about life." In such an environment it is virtually impossible to have a calm, coherent conversation with someone who believes differently than you do. The chaos I anticipated at the beginning of 2020 just continues, and the months leading up to the midterm elections will be crazy once again.

When divisive issues like these come up and people line up on the right or the left, pointing the finger of condemnation and shouting "You hate women" or "You hate babies," I don't think the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7 could be any more appropriate: "Judge not, that you be not judged."

The Most Well-Known Least-Known Teaching

This is a favorite verse of a lot of people who have never read the Bible. My friend David Guzik says that among those who seem to know nothing of the Bible, this is the verse that seems to be the most popular. In 2008, when the debate over same-sex marriage was at a fever pitch here in California, this verse was thrown around frequently by people who were not necessarily Christians. More than a few times I have heard non-Christians say to Christians, "You're not a very good Christian, because Jesus said thou shalt not judge."

This is perhaps the most well-known least-known teaching of the Bible — right up there with "God helps those who help themselves." I call them that because the Bible doesn't teach either one. I love when I hear someone say, "How dare you judge me, you bigot!" — they don't recognize that they just did the very thing they're condemning. In actuality, it is impossible for us not to judge. We would not survive as individuals, or as a species, if we did not make manifold judgments continuously. We judge foods we should or shouldn't eat, places we should or shouldn't go, people we should or shouldn't associate with. Every single day you and I make judgment after judgment.

The problem is that our prejudice — which simply means our pre-judgment — is not always valid, accurate, or true. So does Jesus teach "thou shalt not judge"? No. And ultimately this passage isn't entirely about judgment as much as it is about humility, self-examination, and our own personal transformation.

The Context: A Righteousness That Exceeds the Pharisees

It's important to remember the context. This teaching is in the Sermon on the Mount, and we're in a short series called Unmasking Jesus, looking at passages that are sometimes overlooked and sometimes misunderstood, but very applicable for this moment. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, Jesus speaks to his followers about the importance of true righteousness.

The religious leaders of his day — the scribes and Pharisees — considered themselves righteous and were considered righteous by others. But Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." I think this was a shocking statement. Most of his followers were common people — farmers, fishermen, carpenters, tax collectors. They were not the hyper-religious, yet he told them their righteousness needed to be greater than the most religiously righteous people of their day.

While the Pharisees were considered righteous, what they actually had, when you deconstructed it, was a superficial self-righteousness that was only skin deep and not kingdom-worthy. In Matthew 23, Jesus says exactly that:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence... For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Notice the poetic back-and-forth: on the outside you look good to everybody; on the inside you're full of wickedness. If you are going to be right before God — which is far more important than being right before men — you must have a righteousness that exceeds the superficial self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

The Path Into True Righteousness

This entire teaching points us to true righteousness in Christ. A couple of weeks ago we considered the path into righteousness, which begins by acknowledging our poverty of spirit — recognizing that in ourselves we have no righteousness before a holy God. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Notice that the Pharisees had a righteousness that would not get them in, but the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom.

That recognition leads to the next verses: we humbly mourn over our deficit and lostness. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And finally, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" — a righteousness not manufactured by our own keeping of rules and rituals. That is the path into a true righteousness greater than the religious self-righteousness of the Pharisees.

Last week in Matthew 6, we considered the contrast between superficial self-righteous devotion and truly righteous devotion before God. The Pharisees gave, prayed, and fasted to be seen by people. It was about them and who they were in the eyes of others, not in the eyes of God. This week we continue that contrast with a call to a wholly different kind of righteousness.

The Fastest Path to Self-Righteousness

The primary path to superficial self-righteousness is hypocritically judging other people — which never engages in self-examination and is the opposite of humility. But true righteousness requires the humility and self-examination of personal judgment. That's the key focus of this passage, seen in verse 5: "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Personal judgment — judging myself — requires humility and self-examination. One counseling and discipleship program called this biblical self-confrontation, and Matthew 7:5 was its core verse. I went through that six-month class about twenty years ago when I was 22 or 23, and it was transformative. It challenged me to look at my own life through the lens of Scripture, to examine myself, and first to remove the plank from my own eye so I could see clearly to help others. That is precisely what Pharisees don't do. And don't miss it — all of us can easily become what my friend Larry Osborne calls accidental Pharisees if we are not very careful.

Measured By the Same Standard

Jesus says, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Just ten verses later comes the Golden Rule: "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." It's the simple truth of what I call Thumper theology — remember Thumper in Bambi? "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

We can't not judge. A life without judgment might sound nice, but it isn't possible. So if we must judge — and I think we must — then my judgments of others must be humble and not hypocritical. For that, I must recognize that I will be judged by the same standard I use on others. David Guzik notes that according to some rabbis in Jesus' time, God had two measures: justice and mercy. Whichever measure you want God to use with you, you should use the same measure with others.

Self-righteousness is always arrogant and hypocritical; it compares the best part of us with the worst part of others. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:12, "We dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." It's easy to find someone worse off than us, but the plumb line isn't the other guy down the street, or even the person sitting next to you. The plumb line is Jesus Christ. His perfect righteousness is the standard, and when we measure ourselves by it, we are driven right back to Matthew 5:3 — to recognize our own poverty of spirit.

The Plank and the Speck

Jesus continues, "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' and look, a plank is in your own eye?"

It is important in the Christian life to help others see clearly so that they can change. But we need to engage in humble introspection before we try to help, so we're not hitting them with the plank in our own eye while reaching for the speck in theirs. I am no help to others if I have not first examined and judged myself. We love to say, "I'm only trying to help," "I'm just being honest" — but have we honestly looked at ourselves through the mirror of God's Word?

Hypocrite!

If not, then the first word of verse 5 matters: "Hypocrite!" If you judge others by your self-righteous standard without first judging yourself by a truly righteous standard, then you are a hypocrite and have Pharisees' righteousness. We don't like to hear that. It bugs Christians when non-Christians say the church is full of hypocrites — and the reality is that's probably often true. You might even ask, "Pastor, why are you judging me?" But I'm not the one judging you. Jesus is the one who says, in red, "Hypocrite."

You might feel good about yourself because you can find people worse than you, but you might also be a Pharisee. You might be a good church-goer, drive the right speed on the freeway, carry the right version of the Bible, have the right stickers on your car, vote for the right candidates, read the right news sites, watch the right movies, drink or not drink the right beverages — and yet still be a Pharisee.

Seven times in Matthew 23, Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Woe is an expression of grief that means, "How disastrous it will be for you." These were hyper-religious people everyone looked up to, yet Jesus says it will be disastrous for them unless there is repentance and transformation, because their righteousness was foe righteousness — barely skin deep, cleansing the outside of the cup while inside is corruption and lawlessness.

The Cure for Log-Eye Disease

Jesus says "judge not, that you be not judged" — not because judgment in itself is bad, since we cannot live without judging — but because unself-critical judgment is hypocrisy. He teaches it so that we won't be numbered among the hypocrites and condemned with them.

So what is the answer? "First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." The self-deception of what a friend of mine calls log-eye disease is dangerous, and the cure is humble self-examination and personal judgment using the truly righteous measuring rod of the Word of God. Jesus is the standard. Once we have examined ourselves in light of his Word, confessed our sinful failings, and hungered and thirsted for his righteousness (back to Matthew 5:3-6), then we are able to see clearly to help others. We do need each other on this disciples' path of sanctification. When my glasses are clean, I can see clearly to help others see clearly.

Six Ways We Break the Command

American culture in May of 2022 wants to shout "Don't judge me!" while condemning and judging everyone else — and Christians are just as guilty of this as those outside the church. Something's got to give, and would to God it would begin with the church.

I was talking with David Guzik this week, and he shared notes from his message on this passage. He lists six ways we break the command "Judge not, that you be not judged." First, when we think the worst of others. Second, when we speak to others only of their faults. Third, when we judge an entire life only by its worst moments — I'm guilty of that. Fourth, when we judge the hidden motives of others, assuming we know what was going on when we don't. Fifth, when we judge others without considering ourselves in the same circumstance. And sixth, when we judge others without being mindful that we ourselves will be judged.

We need one another on this path of sanctification — but only as we have a proper view of ourselves and are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I will be no help to anyone if I'm clothed in my own self-righteousness. Clothed in superficial self-righteousness, we will only cast stones at sinners and crucify the truly righteous. That is exactly what the scribes and Pharisees did, and hopefully we won't be numbered among them.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that you would cause us to think about this passage in Matthew 7 today and this week, because I believe there is a work of transformation and sanctification you want to do in me and in my brothers and sisters. You want us to be a light to this world, but we will not be a light standing in our own hypocritical, superficial self-righteousness — we will only be a light as we reflect your righteousness, with which you have clothed us. So God, if there needs to be confession and repentance as it relates to the things we've looked at, would you do a work in us, that we would be known by our fruits — love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Would that be what is abundant in our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.