Join us on Sundays:
Classes @ 9:00am
Gathered Worship @ 10:00am
You're Not The Judge Of Me!
June 8, 2011 by Matt Herron 0 comments
I used to say that all the time when I was a kid…but then went on to a life of doing just that (judging others) all of the time. I do not know about you but I am still shell-shocked from Jesus' words in Luke 6:37-42:
"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."
Just a few reminders about the application of this passage:
- True biblical discernment actually tells you that there are areas you are not qualified to discern in (matters of the heart - 1 Cor. 4:3-7; matters of conscience - Rom. 14:1-4).
- God's judgment falls to those who dare to judge (vs. 37).
- Jesus' ethic of love calls us to stop judging/condemning people but to go even further…start forgiving and giving to them (vs. 37-38)!
- Ask God to show you YOU! You don't know what you think you know (vs. 37-38), you can't see as well as you think you can see (vs. 39), you can't do better than your Teacher (vs. 40)…you are self-righteous and you don't even know it (vs. 41-42)!
- Pride blinds, self-righteousness blinds and the result of that blindness is often a judgmental spirit.
You must see that God is the ultimate judge and he has already made His declaration about you at the cross. No one could ever say anything worse about you than what God said about you on the cross and yet, on that same cross, you see that no one could ever love you more than God does! He offers a rescue but that rescue is not a self-rescue, it is a rescue from outside of you…Jesus Christ.
And if/when you grasp that, then you are freed from needing to perform or to appear better than others. You are freed to truly forgive and give instead of judge and condemn.
At the end of Sunday's service we observed the Lord's Table. What an incredible reminder of the only reason that we are accepted at God's Table. As we held the juice in our hands I was struck by how crazy it sounded that regardless of my "works", Jesus' work on the cross is the only way that I am accepted by God. It sounded crazy then, it sounds crazy now - actually, it is the craziest thing I have ever heard…and it is entirely true!