Attention, All Speck Inspectors!, Part 2

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a stinging rebuke to those who make sport out of judging others.

It's arrogant, even hypocritical, to spot the flaws in others and to attach labels that are almost impossible to shed. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll examines this convicting reproof from Jesus. It's found in Matthew chapter 7.

In a day when taking others down a notch or two seems commonplace, this teaching from Jesus helps us understand the damage caused by unbridled judgment. Chuck titled today's message, Attention All Spec Inspectors, and we begin with prayer. What a privilege it is our Father as your children to give to your work, and we do it not to grow nearer to you. We're already as near as he, but we do it because of the nearness and the closeness and the intimate relationship we've established with you, which you have made possible through Christ. We worship him today.

We adore him as we adore no other. We acknowledge that he and he alone is the way to you, and you alone hold the keys to heaven. Thank you for handing them to us through faith in your Son, and thank you for all you accomplished through his death that has made us as close to you as he. Make this time meaningful for us as we hear and as we give. Through Christ we pray. Everyone say, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living.

To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scripture studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck titled, Attention All Spec Inspectors. If worrying is our favorite sin, as we learned last time, then judging is our favorite pastime. Worry represents a lack of faith and trust in God, but judging is a lack of love and acceptance and forgiveness toward others. The opening lines of Matthew 7 do not represent a suggestion. They're a direct command.

It's called an imperative. It is imperative that you not judge. Now, why is it wrong? Several reasons come to mind. Number one, we never know all the facts about other people. We don't know enough to say anything. Second, we are prejudiced people by nature.

That's what's wrong with it. Third, we place ourselves in a position we're not qualified to fill. It's called playing God. When we judge others, we put ourselves in the place only God fits because he alone qualifies as a judge. Now, I need to clarify what he is not saying, just to be fair. He's not saying do not have discernment.

Everyone who has mentored me over the years has been a person of maturity, and I've learned from them the difference between a judgmental spirit and a discerning mind is a real difference. It isn't judging in the sense of censoring. It's discerning truth from error, false from truth.

What is he saying? Do not judge so that you will not be judged. In other words, the attitude you demonstrate toward others will be demonstrated back to you. You'll be known as a judgmental individual, and others will judge you for that. The second reason is because it is hypocritical.

Look at verse 3. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, please notice it's a fellow believer, your sister, let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye. I've had surgery on both my eyes, cataracts. Now, when I was a kid, people had cataracts, and they went in for surgery.

You stayed in for several days. It was pretty bloody, pretty iffy, wasn't perfected, done usually by a general surgeon back then. Sometime, eye, ear, nose, and throat.

Unheard of today because we now have a specialist in very detailed part of the anatomy. And so I was afraid. I was uneasy. My ophthalmologist said to me as he examined my eyes, he looked at me through that funny looking thing, and he said, well, hmm, you've got cataracts here. And I go, ooh! I could see the blood running already, tearing my cornea away, and dealing with my cataract.

And he said, what's the matter? First of all, you have to understand my ophthalmologist. He is really good, but he is really young.

When he first walked in, I wanted to say, does your mother know where you are today? But he is an award-winning ophthalmologist in this city and in this area. I would recommend him to anyone. Superb. Articulate. Fingers like an artist. Brilliant mind. Experienced.

He's done thousands of these surgeries. So he says to me, Chuck, you've got to be nothing to worry about. Just set a date. You'll come in. Now, it's interesting.

I didn't meet my buddy in the garage with a screwdriver, long electric drill, pliers. I went to a very special place. Clean. Everybody is in scrubbed gowns, gloves, anesthesiologist right there, superb anesthesiologist, a nurse. They'll do that day 10 of them that morning. So he does this all the time.

He's as calm as he can be. So before I know it, I'm kind of feeling great. They give you stuff that you wish you could take home with you. Makes you want to compliment everybody. How are you, Doc? How's things going today?

And before I knew it, he's in my eyeball. And so I'm starting to talk. And they're not talking.

And he's working through a scope very carefully, very delicately, getting rid of this cataract. And I'm going, I'm jabbering all about things. And I said, what are you doing right now? He said, I'll tell you what, Chuck, let us talk. You just sit there nice and quietly, OK? Which is hard for me to do because they pay me to talk. So I said, OK, I'll be quiet. And you know what?

Zip, done, column. Not one second of pain. Not one.

Not one. And I go, OK, when are we going to get this done? He said, oh, it's done. I said, well, do the other one. He said, no, we can't do them both at the same time, you dodo.

Well, he didn't say dodo, but he was probably thinking that. He said, you got to do one, make sure it's OK that we do the other. You only have two. So I let him do my work.

I do all the drops and all that stuff that goes with it. And I go back, get the other one done. Now I can see you perfectly. Before you were all a blur, I couldn't read the words on our screen when we sang songs, choruses. I even wanted my glasses. I squint because I had the cataracts. He was very, very careful. Even though it seemed pretty innocuous and rather fast, I didn't even have to stay in the clinic. I went home. No pain. Marvelous results. Because he cared.

He handled it very gently, very professionally, because he was qualified to take out the cataract. Hold your place here. Don't lose interest here.

This is crucial. Hold your place here and go to Galatians six. Here we go. Galatians chapter six. First Corinthians, second Corinthians.

There. Look at verse one. Brethren, you know right away it's the Christians. So this is Christian family talk, everybody.

This is for believers, brothers and sisters, fellow members of the family. Look, if anyone is caught in any trespass, that's a speck. That's the speck. If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who have taken the log out of your own eye, out of your own eye.

I'll talk about how to do that in a minute. You who have removed your own log, which by the way gives you real compassion for those struggling with specks. You who are spiritual.

Look at the goal. Rebuke? No, no, no, no, no. Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.

Wow. Like my physician. Just hold real still right now, Chuck.

And he takes out that cataract. In a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself so you'll not be tempted. You don't go into this barging into this thing proud and arrogant. You're not the judge. You're not wearing a robe. You too have failed.

Maybe not like he did or she did, but you too have failed. You got a soil record. You got a bunch of logs in your history.

You understand logs. That's your stuff. And because you remember what it was like to deal with the real stuff in your life, you want to restore this person in a spirit of gentleness. Verse 2, you want to bear another's burden and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Anyone who thinks he's something when he's nothing, he's deceiving himself. Look at that verse.

Whoa. You know who does that? People who look for specs when they got logs in their own eye. Come on. You know what this tells me?

It tells me people qualified to help another with specs, they're rare. They're spiritual. They're gentle. They're gentle.

They're careful. In fact, verse 4, each one must examine his own work, which brings me to the application of all of this. Back to Matthew 7. I don't want you to miss something that I missed the first several times I read the passage. Look at what it says. Verse 5, you hypocrite, here's what you ought to do. Please notice the order first, it says. A little later, then.

Those are words telling you step by step. First, then, and then last, take. You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye. Deal with your own stuff. Honestly face the fact that you got the filth in your own life and you're going to deal with it. You're going to acknowledge it. You're going to address it. You're going to seek God's grace in forgiving you of it. You're not going to strut around as though you're the authority spec inspecting.

Not your own. How inappropriate. First, take care of the log in your own eye. Then, look closely, you will see clearly. After the log is out, it's amazing what it does. Clean your life up, clean the things in your life that ought to be dealt with.

It's amazing how it gives you incredible ability with others, with wisdom, gentleness, to restore them. And then let bygones be bygones. Let him go about his business. Let's go right on. No, no, no.

No. We missed the whole point. Then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Meaning what? He needs you. I couldn't do my own cataract surgery.

I needed someone to do that. Your brother who is struggling with things that are real struggles, your sister who has fallen and is doing what she ought not be doing, may not even realize it. Delicate work, this matter of helping other people, but it's a part of accountability. We don't operate in a world all our own. See, we're believers. We're fellow Christians. We don't run our own ship. We don't live our own lives regardless of what people may say or think.

Wait a minute. We're family members. That's not how family members live. So because we're family members, we care about each other. And then we take time, very delicately, to get rid of that speck. And that brother or sister will thank you the rest of their life when you do it right.

I know. I've had people help me with stuff in my life. And I've helped others by the grace of God, and they're still saying thank you. So four thoughts, and I'll tell you a story you'll never forget. Number one, examine yourself before inspecting anyone else. Start with self-examination.

You got a log? Call it what it is. Name it before the living God. Seek his forgiveness. Come to terms with what has caused it.

Find ways to get yourself beyond it, and know the forgiveness that comes with his grace and mercy, because you're able to now go on having dealt with it. Great. Examine yourself before inspecting anyone else. Second, acknowledge your own false weaknesses and failures before even addressing someone else's. Acknowledge your own. Start with, I tell you, anybody knew the whole truth about my entire life?

Oh, my. I acknowledge the fact that this and this is true, and that and that were failures. I've gone through this, and that's been true in my life. I've emerged from that.

I struggled with this, and the list goes. You acknowledge it. It keeps you humble. It makes you contrite.

And that's what I've done. I've acknowledged it. It keeps you humble. It makes you contrite. It makes you a good physician when working with other specs.

Third, understand. Understand that person's struggle. By that, you put yourself in that person's shoes, and you deal with that individual gently rather than harsh and hurried. While my physician was efficient, he wasn't in a hurry. He wasn't harsh. He was delicate. Even though he'd done it thousands of times, mine was the only eye at that moment.

And he gave it his undivided attention and worked only with that eye, making sure he did it right. Understand the person's struggle, and be gentle rather than harsh and hurried. Here's the fourth. Remember the goal is restoration and recovery. Not probation and condemnation. The goal is to help the person get back on her feet. The goal is to help that person feel a sense of self-dignity and forgiveness and the joy of merciful forgiveness and relief.

That's the word I want. Merciful relief. Now the story.

It's hard to tell you, but I'm going to tell you. A number of years ago, I was a speaker at a Bible conference, another state, another time of year. The conference started on a Sunday evening and ran through a Saturday morning. The last meeting for me was a Friday night. So I spoke Sunday night through Friday night each night of the week. It actually began with a dinner, and I was there a neat time, and happened to be at another table, but near ours there was a couple I had not known before.

And she came over, and he kind of walked in her shadow a little and didn't have much eye contact and smile. It was very gracious, but she was the one that was effervescent saying, oh, we just so look forward to this time. And we anticipate that we'll be able to talk about it. And we anticipate a great series of meetings. We're praying for you. And my husband and I are so pleased to be here. And he shook my hand, but there wasn't much else.

That evening, I began, and I got started. And I'd been underway about five minutes, and he went sound asleep. And normally, that doesn't bother me.

I've talked to people sleep for years. And so I overlook it. For all I know, he'd had a hard night, and worked late, and got there at the last minute, and may have been weary, and that's all right. But for some reason, by Wednesday and his sleeping through every one of my messages, every single one of them, all the way through each one, I began to resent him.

And I judged him. In fact, I thought, what a shame, this great lady, so friendly and gracious, married to this guy, who obviously didn't want to be here. And here she is, stuck in a marriage that must be unhappy. And I had that kind of verified in my mind, when on Friday, before the meeting started, she said to me confidentially alone for a moment, her husband was sitting over in the seat, she said to me, could I talk to you when the meeting is over? I said, sure.

I knew. She's got a bad marriage. And I knew she wanted to talk about, how do I go on with a guy like this, insensitive to spiritual things, and how wrong I was. The lights dimmed, and most of the people had left, and she walked down slowly.

He had left. And she said, Chuck, we've loved this week. I said, really?

Thank you. I said, that's great. She said, you don't know how much my husband admires you. But you see, he has terminal cancer. And the medicine he takes makes him sleepy. And one of his last wishes was that we go to a conference where you speak. But he's too embarrassed because he knows he's been asleep. And he can't stay awake. But he wants me to tell you how much he loves you and admires you.

How much he loves you and admires you. The lights dimmed and she left. I was all alone, ashamed of myself. I had no right whatsoever to jump to a conclusion or to label that man uncaring. But I played the game. I judged the externals.

I didn't have enough sense to realize maybe there's another reason he's fighting sleep. Learn from my terrible mistake. He since died, by the way, with the memory of our conference, thankfully not knowing what I was thinking. Do not judge.

You are not qualified. Neither am I. Dear Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus, who knows us, who loves us, understands us, forgives us. Thank you for the things you teach us, often the hard way. Today, as our minds twirl around our own stories, and we deal with our own acrid tongue, appropriately rebuke us.

It will help stop us from playing this game. We will learn to be people who are easy to be with, who take others for who they are, who leave all judgment to you. Forgive us, our Father, to you. Forgive us, our Father, for the stinking pride that grows out of the logs that we live with and having rebuked us, guide us to ways that we can deal appropriately with what has disqualified us from even helping another person.

Start with me. This I pray, in Jesus' name. Everyone said, amen. A convicting message for all of us. You're listening to a presentation from Chuck Swindoll, founded on our study in Matthew Chapter 7.

He titled his message, Attention, All Spec Inspectors. This is Insight for Living, and to learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. We realize that all of us come to this daily program with different issues and at various levels of spiritual maturity. And while our situations may differ, this sermon from Jesus applies to all of us, without exception. If you're prepared to take your understanding of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to a deeper level, I'll remind you Chuck has written an in-depth book on this topic. It's a classic, and it's called Simple Faith. In Simple Faith, Chuck does a deep dive into Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7.

Through this study, we examine the shocking rebuke Jesus gave to the hypocrites of his day and the comfort he offered to people in pain. Again, Chuck's book is called Simple Faith. To purchase a copy right now, call us. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888 or go directly to insight.org slash offer. In addition, many in our listening family have been asking about the Easter sermon Chuck presented on the program last week.

It's called No Morning Was Ever Brighter. I'm glad to tell you that this Easter message was recorded, and it's available right now on CD or MP3. This is a complete unabridged recording of a message Chuck delivered, including the majestic choir and orchestra music as well. So, two resources at your disposal today.

First, Chuck's book on Jesus' Sermon of All Sermons called Simple Faith, and second, a message called No Morning Was Ever Brighter on CD and MP3. To purchase either resource or both, call us. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888 or go online to insight.org slash offer. To support Chuck Swindoll's Bible teaching ministry with a voluntary donation, we invite you to call us. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888 or go online to insight.org. Join us again tomorrow when Chuck Swindoll continues our study in the book of Matthew, right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Attention, All Spec Inspectors, was copyrighted in 2015 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.