Page 29 - Demo

Kingdom Judgement: Pearls and Swine
Matt. 7:1-6
If there is one verse people hostile to Christianity know, it’s Matthew 7:1, which says, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “ But for some reason, most people know the verse in the King James translation of the Bible: “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
This verse is used any time a Christian tries to speak Biblical truth that is opposed to current societal norms. It is used to silence believers on the grounds that this verse seems to tell us to keep our big mouths shut. People who are offended at what the Christian says lash out with “Who are you to say that?”
It is important to realize that using this verse in this way is self-contradictory. It is an act of judgement to judge me for judging someone else. Or to put it another way, the Christian could easily respond, “Who are you to say ‘who are you to say that?’”
Though humorous, responding in such a way is belligerent and inflammatory and will only cause further damage to their perception of Christians. Because the truth is, source of many people’s negative view of Christianity is the judgmental attitude adopted by many Christians.
The solution is not to do what the world is telling us to do, which is to reject all value judgements and cease standing for the truth. What we need to do is learn what this passage really means so we can learn the lesson Jesus wants us to learn so that as we stand for truth, we can do so in effective ways that transform people’s lives and invite them into fellowship with us and with Jesus.
The first step in realizing what this verse means is to realize what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean no Christian is supposed to exercise their critical faculties to make judgements or distinctions between good and bad, or right and wrong. Jesus is about to tell us to be watching out for dog, pigs, and wolves. In order to recognize them, we must learn to use our critical faculties to be able to make some sort of judgement.
If we read on, Jesus shows us what He means. He wants us to be able to judge things and people rightly. What He is forbidding is condemnation and being hypocritical.
Judge but Don’t Condemn (vv. 1-2)
When Jesus said don’t judge, He meant don’t be judgmental. He is not commanding us to be blind, but rather encouraging us to be generous. He is forbidding His followers from being harsh and condemning.
Condemning means more than just pointing out a person’s mistake. Condemning tells a person that they are a mistake. It tells them they are irredeemable, bad, and to be rejected. This wasn’t true of us when Jesus saved us, and it isn’t true of others either.
Sometimes our judgementalism is a response to other people’s harsh treatment of us. In Luke 9:53-55, the disciples respond to the Samaritans in such a way: “53 But they [Samaritans] did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.” The disciples were guilty of passing a final judgement on those people and proposing to destroy them. It was the disciples not the Samaritans who got rebuked. Jesus came to save people not destroy them.
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