Judge Not, That You Be Not Judged

Today on Summit Life, an eye-opening message from J.D.

Greer. Jesus assumes the log is in our eye. He doesn't say in those moments when you have a log in your eye.

He just assumes that it's there. Why? Because Christian doctrine, listen, teaches that we are completely and totally saturated with sin. Welcome to Summit Life with pastor, author, and theologian, J.D. Greer.

I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. I bet if you've ever gotten into a debate about morality or called out a friend or a loved one about a sin that they were dealing with, there's a good chance that the other person brought up Matthew 7, verse 1, when Jesus tells us not to judge others. But is that what Jesus really meant when he said it?

Are we really not allowed to deem anything as good or bad? Pastor J.D. answers that question today as he continues our series on the difficult sayings of Jesus. He titled this message, Judge Not That You Be Not Judged. Today, we're going to look at one of the most recognizable things that Jesus ever said.

If you have a Bible and invite you to take it out and open it to the Gospel of Matthew, which is the first gospel, we're going to be in the seventh chapter of Matthew 7, verse 1. Here's, again, one of the most recognizable things that Jesus ever said, Judge Not That You Be Not Judged. If you ask the average guy on the street to name you two verses in the Bible, this is more than likely one of the two that he is going to come up with, right? Even if they're not a Christian, this is one that they can come up with. In fact, when we typed in on a Google search, the Bible says not to, the Bible says not to, first option, eat pork. The Bible says not to judge.

That's our second one. The Bible says not to get tattoos. That is not true.

It's not true. It's a misinterpretation of an Old Testament passage. The Bible says not to worry. It does say that.

Here's my favorite one. The Bible says not to eat. Brother, I do not know what Bible you are reading. That is not the Bible that I read.

It does not tell me that in any shape, form, or fashion. This is how we do sermon research, ladies and gentlemen. I went to school for 12 years to figure out how to do that right there. Judge Not is one of the most popular verses in our culture because it seems to fit in with two of our culture's most prized and most basic assumptions. And that is that, A, religion is private and, B, morality is relative. And so what that means is that my religion is kind of a personal preference and my moral choices are a personal preference. So who are you to tell me or who am I to tell you that what you've chosen is wrong?

Right? Because we all have preferences. You know, I mean Coke or Pepsi, Coke clearly, Waffle House or IHOP, clearly Waffle House. In my book, there's a definite right or wrong to those questions. But for you, that may not be exactly the same thing. Well, the same thing that people believe about religion and morality.

I found something that works for me. I found something that brings peace to my life. So who are you and who am I to talk to the other person and say, you shouldn't believe like that? So this verse is wielded like a deflective weapon anytime somebody says something that you think that you like is, you say something that they like is wrong and they're like, oh, you know, whip it out like, oh, Judge Not. I heard Bill Maher on television the other night. Bill Maher, who's not a Christian by any means, pull this out and say, well, you know, the Bible says Judge Not so you shouldn't be saying something's right or wrong. But is that really what Jesus meant? Is that really what Jesus meant? Well, let's read the whole passage because that's one of the first ways to figure out what he meant.

Let's read the rest of the passage. Matthew 7, verse 1, Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged.

And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Verse 3, why do you see the speck, the speck of dust that's in your brother's eye, but you don't notice the log that's hanging out of your own? How could you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye? When there is the log in your own eye, you hypocrite, first take the two before out of your eye.

Then you can at least see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. And then this little jewel of a verse, do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and then turn around to attack you. All right, if Judge Not lest you be judged is music to modern ears, that last verse has to be the opposite, right? Did Jesus just actually refer to some people as dogs and pigs?

I mean, think about it. In one passage, basically Jesus says, Judge not, and be careful because some of your friends are pigs, and maybe some of you are as well. So what does all this mean? What does this mean? Well, let's see if we can make some sense out of it because I think there's a lot of beautiful truth in here.

First, let's ask a couple questions. What does Jesus mean by judging? What does he mean by judging? Well, he can't mean that you never tell somebody what they're doing is wrong because Jesus basically spent his whole ministry doing that. In fact, just a few verses after Jesus makes this statement in Matthew 7, just go down like 12 verses, Jesus says this, the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. Many are going in that way, but the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.

And those who find it are few. Then he tells them, strive to enter in the narrow gate. Now, that doesn't sound like a hey, you know, whatever you want is fine, however you want to get to God is fine.

Who am I to judge? Later in Matthew, Jesus would tell a group of people, Matthew 22, you are wrong. You're wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. This is not touchy feely Jesus. In fact, here's how Jesus would characterize his whole life. John 7, 7, the world hates me.

Why? Because I tell it that its deeds are evil. Again, this just doesn't sound like the, oh, who am I to correct? You know, Jesus, a hippie walking around in flip-flops or Birkenstocks saying, oh, it's legal in Colorado. It just doesn't fit that image of Jesus, does it?

Jesus' followers, by the way, would do the exact same thing. John the Baptist lost his head, literally, for calling out Herod's sexual sin. Herod had an alternative view of marriage. Rather than saying, hey, you know what, this is not a big deal, Herod said that's not right. It's sinful.

Herod had John the Baptist's head cut off. Paul would tell us we are to rebuke the works of darkness. Now, that doesn't fit with this idea that I'm just not supposed to walk around and tell anybody anything's right or wrong. So it can't mean that.

So what does it mean? I'll give you a couple of big ideas. I'd encourage you. I've actually got a good amount of stuff for you to write down today because I think it'll help you. Hopefully be pretty practical in your relationships.

I'd encourage you to write these things down, especially so the person next to you won't judge you and think that you're not spiritual because you're not writing things down. Big idea number one. They haven't heard the sermon, so they can't apply it yet, so you should just go ahead.

Big idea number one. You judge somebody. You judge somebody not when you assess their position. You judge them when you dismiss them as a person. You judge someone not when you assess their position, but when you dismiss them as a person. Here's what the Bible says about Jesus.

Listen. God, John 3.17, did not send his son into the world to condemn the world or judge the world. He sent his son into the world so that the world might be saved through him. Even though, listen very closely, even though Jesus very clearly told some people their works were evil and made clear to everyone that unless they entered by the narrow gate, they would not make it into heaven, even though he said those things, he still did not condemn the world.

Why? Because not, listen, not condemning does not mean not telling the truth. It is about casting a person off after you tell them the truth. Here's how I'd write that down. It's what you do after you tell someone the truth that determines whether or not you are judging them.

It is what you do after you tell them the truth that determines whether or not you're judging. What did Jesus do after telling us the truth? He brought us close. He made us his friends.

You see, the verse that precedes John 3.17 is John 3.16, which is the other verse everybody knows. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. So God looked at us in our condemnation. He told us about our condemnation, but then he didn't condemn us because he reached out the hand of friendship and called sinners his friends and gave his life so that they could be saved. That's a big idea.

Here's big idea number two. Judging reflects extreme ignorance of our own sinfulness. That's what Jesus is teaching us in this passage. It reflects extreme ignorance of our own sinfulness. When Jesus talks about the speck in our neighbor's eye and the log in our own, what's he getting at? What's he getting at? Is he just telling us not to be blatant hypocrites?

Sure. He is saying that we should not berate people for the very things that we're guilty of. This is the guy who lectures his small group about not tithing when he's cheating on his taxes, or lectures you about not treating your wife right when he's looking at porn every night. When I was growing up, there were people I can remember who would flat condemn you for smoking a cigar because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Well, they're 150 pounds overweight. I'm like, bro, why don't you get the Swiss cake roll log out of your eye before you start talking about the small leaf and everybody else's. So yes, yes, he is telling you not to be a blatant hypocrite.

That should be obvious. But I think Jesus is getting at much, much more here. I think he is confronting us for failing to grapple with the depth of our own sinfulness, which is probably the number one thing that we forget and the number one thing that causes most of our problems. Notice in this passage, listen, that Jesus assumes the log is in our eye. He doesn't say in those moments when you have a log in your eye. He just assumes that it's there.

Why? Because Christian doctrine, listen, teaches that we are completely and totally saturated with sin. Later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus would say that the human heart is like a diseased, saturated, polluted well so that everything that comes up out of it is dirty. All the water that comes out of a polluted well is unfit to drink. When I lived, I'm up in New York. The first year I went to college was in New York. The dormitory that I stayed in, the college I was at, was right beside a big lake. When you got water out of the spigot in the dorm, it smelled like some kind of fish. I don't know what kind of fish, but it was nasty.

And so because we couldn't afford bottled water because we're college students, we had to basically figure out a way to drink that water. And so my roommate and I figured out if you put enough lemonade in it, basically to the point that you gave it the consistency of maple syrup, then you would no longer taste the fish taste. Now, had we really taken out the fish?

No. All we've done is covered it up. Whatever carcinogen was causing that is still in that water, but we had figured out a way to mask it. What Jesus teaches us, listen, this is very important, that many of us, just by reason of our personalities, by reason of our experiences, by reason of parents who maybe taught us certain things, we've learned to contain and we've learned to shape certain parts of our heart, but it does not mean that the disease is not still there. Because all we've done is kind of clothe or kind of perfume something that's down deep and it's saturated. John Owen said it like this, the seed of every sin is in every heart.

I realized that that disease is fully, and while I might be able to control a few of the symptoms of my disease, that disease fully and completely saturates me. And what that means, listen, what that means is that when I approach somebody and I'm talking to them about sin, I'm not talking to them about anything that is foreign to me because the seed of every sin is in every heart, I have the same disease they have. This is Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Before we continue with today's message, I want to take a moment to tell you about a fantastic free resource that we offer our listeners. Pastor J.D. has a daily email devotional that you can receive straight to your inbox every weekday. And these devotionals are designed to help you start your day with God's word and apply biblical principles to your everyday life. They also follow along with our current teaching series so you can stay engaged with the messages even if you miss the full broadcast. It's a great way to keep your heart and your mind focused on Jesus throughout the day.

To sign up for this free resource, just head over to jdgreer.com slash resources. And while you're there, be sure to check out our full sermon archive and other resources to help you grow in your faith. We are so grateful for our supporters who make all of this possible and we know that these devotionals will be a blessing to you. Now let's return to today's teaching with Pastor J.D.

Greer here on Summit Life. The show, if some of you watched it, Breaking Bad, if you haven't watched it and you're like, what? Don't judge me. That's what this whole sermon is about. Basically the gist of the show is you got a guy who's a normal chemistry teacher and what happens over the six or seven seasons is he becomes this horrifically bad person. And one of the people that, people, comic critics love the show because what they say is what you keep seeing by means of the flashbacks is all these things that he became were always in him even before he became them.

They just never had the opportunity to really begin to show themselves. I realized, listen, the seed of every sin that has ever been committed is in my heart. So when I'm looking at someone who has made mistakes, they may never have had the opportunities that I've had to keep those things contained. I'm not looking at a fundamentally different person.

I'm looking at somebody who is just like me and that changes how I approach them. Why? Because with the judgment I pronounce, I'm going to be judged with that same judgment. What judgment was pronounced on me? Mercy.

Mercy. Should that not change how I approach others? Won't that change my tone? After telling me the truth, Jesus brought me close. How can that not change the tone with which I approach other people? The antidote to judging, verse two, is to remember the gospel, to be broken by the gospel, to consider the judgment that Jesus pronounced on your sick, depraved heart and then brought you closer and then do that the same with others.

Again, I told you I wanted to make this really practical. Let me just give you a little few things to write down, how you can know when you're judging. This is your judge-o-meter. When one of these goes off that you're judging. Number one, you know you're judging when you're more enraged at somebody else's sin than you are embarrassed by your own. You're more enraged at somebody else's sin than you are embarrassed by your own.

Whose sin are you ticked off at right now? Maybe it's other people in the church. You know Dietrich Bonhoeffer? I think I've shared this with you before. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said there's three stages of spiritual maturity in a church, generally speaking.

Listen to this. Your first stage of spiritual maturity is when you get disgusted at everybody else's sin in the church. Maybe some of you are there right now. You're like, oh, it's a bunch of hypocrites and this and the eases.

You come in and you just see how could these people and all this hypocrisy. He says, that's great. He said, but you're still a spiritual infant at that point. And just to be clear, that's where a lot of us are. And that's why you're so self-righteous, right? He said the second stage of spiritual growth is when you become more disgusted at your own sin than you are everybody else's. You're more aware of your own hypocrisy than you are anybody else's in the church.

And you're more disgusted at that than anybody's. You begin to see with Paul, I'm the chief of sinners. It's not that the other people sin goes away.

It's just that you see it and your own is so disgusting. He said, then at that point, you're ready for stage number three. And that is you re-enter the church, this time, not as a Pharisee, but as an actual Christian, a Christian who has received great grace and is now ready to give great grace. Because you have been a recipient of unbelievable grace, you begin to give it toward others. Whose sin are you more enraged at than you are embarrassed by your own? In your marriage, in your marriage, can you list out your spouse's sins quicker than you can tell me about where you have sinned against God and against them?

See, that's a sign that you're judging. Number two, you fail to forgive. You fail to forgive. You're saying to somebody, when you fail to forgive them, I will not let you all for what you did to me, even though I know, or at least I'm supposed to know, that God has forgiven me. Jesus said that is an ignorance of staggering proportions. And he would compare it to the man that has been forgiven of $10 billion, and then turns around and holds somebody else accountable for $1.50.

And Jesus would say, how in the world could you have received that kind of mercy and then not give mercy to people that way? That's a sign you've never actually received it. I know people who say, well, I can forgive, but I can't forget. I'm not even sure what that means.

That's a distinction without a difference. Because basically what that means is I'm going to say I forgive you so I don't feel guilty anymore, but I'm not going to forget, which means that it's going to kind of color my disposition towards you. And the next time we're having an argument, I'll probably bring it back up.

And it's going to affect the lens through which I see you. That's not what forgiveness is. Forgiveness is to do what Jesus did, which is, yes, I confront the wrong, but then I absorb the sting.

My wife and I call it spent ammunition. Once that sin has been confessed, I cannot put that in the chamber of my gun any longer and fire it. Because that's already, I've already absorbed, if I've forgiven, I've absorbed that. I can't use that anymore. You say, well, I can't forget.

I can't forget. Forgiving does not mean that you physically cannot remember what happened. It means that to the best of your ability, by the grace of God, and the grace of God is the only thing that can make this happen, you choose, I will not let this come back up and I will not let it color my disposition because I am pronouncing it to be under the blood of Jesus and I'm no longer going to think about it any longer. Now you judge when you fail to do that. You judge, number three, when you cut off those who disagree with you.

This is really important, so listen closely, especially if you're a church person. You cut off those who disagree with you. You're judging when you disagree strongly with somebody or something like, let's say, faith, morality, politics, and because you can't agree on that issue, you cut them off.

Basically, you're saying we can't really be friends if we disagree on this. Do you have issues like that? Do you have issues where you say, and they're important issues. Maybe Jesus is one of those issues. Politics, that's another big one. Maybe it's the pro-life issue.

Maybe it's the simpleness of homosexuality. And you're like, hey, if we can't agree on this, we can't be friends. Let me say something I do not want you to misinterpret, but I think it is exactly what Jesus is teaching here.

Listen to this. You have to love the person more than you love your position on a particular issue. I do not mean by that that you will ever compromise the position or you will ever fail to state the position clearly, just that even when there is no just that even when they disagree with it, you don't cut them off. You say to them basically, yes, this issue is important. I cannot compromise, but I love you more than I love being right. So even if you don't see things my way, I'm going to keep bringing you close and I'm going to remain committed to you. God has given each human being a certain dignity to make their choices even when they make the wrong one. And I am respecting that dignity.

You might not marry who I think you should marry. You might choose to believe in morality about something. It's not talking about church discipline, by the way, but it's just meaning in personal relationships, you are saying to people like Jesus did, even when you turn your back on me, I'm not going to cut you off. You know who the best example of this is?

That's an easy question. Jesus. So where is Jesus the best example of this? Judas. Do you remember what Jesus said to Judas after Judas had betrayed him? Remember, Judas comes to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? Do you remember what Jesus said? Judas, wherefore art thou come? Which is the King James, which I memorized that verse in. Wherefore art thou?

Who talks like that anymore? Wherefore art thou come? It's like I've told you, all these verses I memorized in KJV, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way. What's a wherewithal?

Isn't that a white shirt? That's a wherewithal, right? But no, it means something else in the KJV. Wherefore art thou? Why have you come, Judas?

Why have you come, friend? Was Jesus being sarcastic there? Was he like, oh, friend? Look what you did, friend.

No. Scholars tell us what he was doing is even in that moment when he knew exactly why Judas had come, he reached out his hand and said, friend, even though you turned your back on me here, even though you and I disagree on the most important thing ever asked, who is Jesus, I still call you friend. And to the very end, he came, listen, not to judge, Jesus came to save. And in his dying moments, he called the one who betrayed him, friend. And from the cross, he prayed for the forgiveness of those who were driving nails in his hands and his feet. It means you do not cut someone off after you disagree with them.

Disagree with them. Love like Jesus loves with abundant grace. What an inspiring challenge from Pastor J.D. Greer on Summit Life. If you happen to miss any part of today's message, you can find it for free at jdgreer.com or find us in your favorite podcasting app. And you can also hear the previous messages in this series or browse through past studies. Recently, Pastor J.D. and I talked a little bit about our current teaching series on the difficult sayings of Jesus. He told us about how he wants each of us to hear these sayings with fresh ears. There's these difficult sayings of Jesus that people have heard. And they're like, I'm not really sure what that means. Sometimes unbelievers, people who aren't in church, will know these phrases and they'll kind of throw them back.

And you're like, I'm not sure exactly how to say that. One of my old teachers used to say, whenever you see a difficulty or what looks like a contradiction in the Bible, that's usually a sign of really deep wisdom underneath it. So I had just a load of not just fun, but just personal growth pressing into the difficult sayings of Jesus. Things like, what did he mean by judge not? What did Jesus mean by the son has no idea when he will return again? Only the Father knows that.

Questions like that, that you're just like, I'm not sure what this means. What is my God, my God? Why have you forsaken me? What did Jesus actually mean by that? Along with this series, I think you'll find helpful this resource that we're pairing with it called the Gospel Flipbook. Think of it almost like flashcards that will help you drive the gospel deeper in your heart.

It takes a key insight. It'll take some helpful context around scripture passages you're reading along with it, just some historical reference points that will help the scripture passages you're reading come alive. It'll give you ways that you can think about and pray the gospel in new ways. Sometimes just having that sitting on your desk or on your kitchen counter and just glancing at it throughout the day, letting one key insight about the gospel saturate you for a day. I think you'll be blown away at how much different you think and how much different you pray and how much different you act after the gospel has soaked down deep in your heart. This resource is designed to guide you through the four gospels. It has a reading plan inside as well as background information on each book and its author, key passages and reflective prayers. So whether you're a seasoned believer or a new Christian, the Gospel Flipbook is a great tool to saturate your life in God's word and specifically the story of Jesus's life. You can receive your Gospel Flipbook with your gift to the ministry today when you give us a call at 866-335-5220.

Or you can always give online at jdecreer.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch, so glad that you joined us and be sure to listen tomorrow when we'll continue learning what Jesus really meant when He said to judge not. That's Friday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.