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Passage: Mt 7:1-6
When the world starts quoting
Scripture back at us, what is wrong with this picture? Even worse, why are
believers so quick to jump on the bandwagon with the world’s interpretation
of Scripture (cf. 1 Cor 2:14)!? I have some theories about this concerning our
hot potato subject, “judge not,” but I make no bones about this being my
opinion on why believers are quick to join the world’s attitude towards
judging. It’s easier to play dumb and keep the peace, but this is nothing but being
a HI-HO, half-in, half-out. In reality, we are either in with both feet or out.
Righteous judging promotes purity in
the body of Christ; I believe this to be seriously lacking among evangelical churches today, It seems that we are on the offensive of being non-offensive! This should not come as a surprise since Christianity in America in general is on the slippery slope of apostasy or turning away from the truth of God's Word. This is alarming given the setting that the
world has changed dramatically since 911. I believe like Henry Blackaby in our Heart Cry conference a few years back when he warned that 911 was a wake-up call, a harbinger of things to
come for America if we do not as a Church submit to God’s authority. 14 years
later we are still wallowing in depravity as a nation, and the Church is silent, impotent, and eroding from the truth.
It is reminiscent of Noah’s day (Lk
17:27, loosely interpreting here). Today, in spite of what is going on, people
are preoccupied with their “rights” and every day living with a false sense of
security. Fewer and fewer believers are heralding the message, “Come to the ark
of safety, Jesus Christ! Judgment is coming!” But it falls upon deaf ears. So
many believers are tuned out, self-absorbed, and unconcerned about personal
holiness or the plight of the lost. Once the rapture takes place, those left
behind will experience the waters of terrible judgments. All hell will break
loose during the seven years of tribulation upon the earth before Jesus Christ
returns to reign for a millennium from Jerusalem.
We can see ungodly living all around us among believers showing no remorse or shame or embarrassment! But no one wants to offend anyone or to draw attention to themselves, or to be accused of judging so they develop a “to each his own” attitude (oh my, read the problem with that in 1 Cor 11), or to get into other people’s business (what about having the body of Christ awareness, 1 Cor 12), or to defend the truth at the expense of peace, or to be accountable, or to be known as a self-righteous, judgmental person, or to be referred to as a trouble maker (the real trouble maker is being disobedient to God), or to be called “unloving” (nothing could be more loving than the truth), or to be thought of as insensitive or uncaring, or to quit wearing horse blinders, et al. It all promotes ungodliness in the body of Christ because there is no accountability, just namby-pamby Christianity where self-esteem is valued over salvation and sanctification. That's plain old humanism, not godliness.
Simply, we are in a Corinth crisis in America. If you don’t know what that means, I suggest reading Paul’s two epistles to the Corinthians. The church at Corinth is considered to be the most carnal church in the New Testament, no holds barred. The scary part is that throughout the history of the Church, it took persecution to purify her. Since we don’t have the stomach for judging ourselves (1 Cor 11:31), much less judging other believers rightly (Jn 7:24), church history would argue that some kind of persecution is heading our way in America, excluding the rapture of course. Was 911 the tipping point?
We can see ungodly living all around us among believers showing no remorse or shame or embarrassment! But no one wants to offend anyone or to draw attention to themselves, or to be accused of judging so they develop a “to each his own” attitude (oh my, read the problem with that in 1 Cor 11), or to get into other people’s business (what about having the body of Christ awareness, 1 Cor 12), or to defend the truth at the expense of peace, or to be accountable, or to be known as a self-righteous, judgmental person, or to be referred to as a trouble maker (the real trouble maker is being disobedient to God), or to be called “unloving” (nothing could be more loving than the truth), or to be thought of as insensitive or uncaring, or to quit wearing horse blinders, et al. It all promotes ungodliness in the body of Christ because there is no accountability, just namby-pamby Christianity where self-esteem is valued over salvation and sanctification. That's plain old humanism, not godliness.
Simply, we are in a Corinth crisis in America. If you don’t know what that means, I suggest reading Paul’s two epistles to the Corinthians. The church at Corinth is considered to be the most carnal church in the New Testament, no holds barred. The scary part is that throughout the history of the Church, it took persecution to purify her. Since we don’t have the stomach for judging ourselves (1 Cor 11:31), much less judging other believers rightly (Jn 7:24), church history would argue that some kind of persecution is heading our way in America, excluding the rapture of course. Was 911 the tipping point?
Some scholars believe that America
will experience persecution prior to the rapture, but that would destroy the
idea of the imminent return of Christ to say it that way. Nothing needs to take
place for Jesus to return to His beloved Church where an increasing number of
members are turning away from His Word (contrast 1 Jn 3:2-3)! Now the rapture
could happen at any moment or be years away. Let’s just say for argument's sake
it is further down the road. Then, 2 Tim 3:12 could very well be a necessary
reality in the status quo to purify the Church in America because we choose not
to judge ourselves and other believers and return to God on His terms (cf. 2
Chron 7:14; Psa 33:12, primarily for Israel but applicable to America or any
nation). Many believers around the world are experiencing terrible persecution
for their faith while we comfortably play Churchianity.
There is a pervasive attitude here in
America of no one, including believers, wanting to be accountable to anyone and
particularly snubbing their noses at God’s authority to rule in their lives. We
are self-righteous, self-centered, and stupid. I realize this is a sweeping
generalization, and there are exceptions, but this is the resume of post-modern
Christianity (which we are part of). It’s all fixable (1 Cor 11:31), but we
just don’t what to get off that slippery slope. Returning to our passage in the
Gospel of Matthew, we come to verse 6,
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs;
nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and
turn and tear you in pieces” (Mt 7:6).
This verse supports the passage that
judgments should be made, not avoided altogether! We are to discern not
condemn. The context speaks strongly against judging hypocritically, but it
does not advocate throwing the baby out with the bath water as some maintain.
Because we live in a very sinful world, distinctions must be drawn and
decisions made between good and evil based upon the teaching of Scripture. This
is what it means to judge (krino).
The caveat is it must take place in our own lives first (clearly a good idea, 1
Cor 3:11); then we will “see clearly to remove the speck” from the eye of
someone else. We cannot “remove” without making a judgment call!
“Dogs and “swine” in verse 6 were
considered unclean animals and symbolic of the wicked. Jesus is giving a
warning to His disciples in discerning who to share the gospel with. You would
think that strange in light of passages like Jn 3:16; Mk 16:15. Is there anybody
wanting to volunteer to go over to Syria right now and be a witness to members of
the Islamic jihadist, ISIS? This verse applies to such a notion.
There is no
obligation to share the good news with those who are abusive and violent to the
claims of Christ, to do so only adds fuel to the fire of a frenzy of unbelief. Such a state of unbelief can be a powerful deterrent to being receptive to the gospel. God
wants to bless the willing heart, not the forced heart. So we see discernment in distinctions being drawn and a decision
made to avoid sharing the gospel in those situations; this is the correct way
to judge (Gk, krino); be discerning, not undiscerning.
The takeaway in all of this is that hypocritical
judging is judging others with something in the eyes (sin). Judging rightly is
judging with nothing in the eyes. Clear eyes help others
struggling with sin. With clear eyes we see things differently; there is a
clearer and wiser understanding of judging rightly, fairly, justly, objectively,
honorably, righteously, and discernibly, and making the right decision that edifies
the troubled believer and glorifies God. Sin always clouds the right view and
makes a mess of things. One thing is for sure; making a judgment call with
nothing in the eyes avoids the boomerang effect of being judged by someone with
something in their eye, perhaps it’s a plank-to-plank situation!
This reminds me of how I spotted a
wise man or a fool in the workplace and outside the work environment. It is not
foolproof, but generally, how a person handles constructive (non-hypocritical)
criticism often reveals whether he or she is wise or not. Read what Solomon had
to say about it,
Prov 9:8 “Do not reprove a
scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”
Sometimes you don’t know someone is a
mocker until he is corrected. In the workforce, managers do not have the luxury
of ignoring non-compliance by employees of company policies if the manager is
worth his grain of salt. Neither do Christians, but we haven’t figured that out
yet. It seems that no matter how professional you are, some employees end up resenting
you over their failures while others will respect you for holding them
accountable.
Unfortunately, if correction becomes
necessary in the life of the church or local assembly, mockers will usually
have a strong negatively charged emotional response, quit the church, and slander
the church and everyone involved. It’s inconsequential to scoff at what
things are at stake of his negative behavior. With mockers, it makes little
difference how like Christ you are or how professional. The wise person, on the
other hand, will welcome the reproof because a wise man doesn’t want to think
or act unwisely. It should come as no surprise that doing the right thing
(judging with nothing in the eyes) can still have a backlash (cf. 2 Tim 3:12).
Jesus never avoided doing the right thing for fear of reprisal; for us, it’s the
nature of being like Christ. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to pick our
battles for us. Whatever the consequences, it is the result of obedience to the
will of God. It’s easier to live with the ripple effect of obedience than with the flesh
flare-ups.
Let’s turn this scenario around. Suppose
we have a speck in our eye, and a clear eyes believer approached us about sin
in our life. How do we react to the constructive criticism of another? Do we
respond like a scoffer (go unruly or go in denial) or receive it like a wise
person? This is part of the boomerang effect. If we practice the “golden rule”
of judging, as you would have others judge you, judge others also, we should
respond to the correction in wisdom. If we are the recipient of some
hypocritical judging, are motives are being questioned, and untrue, harsh, and
hurtful things are being said of us, do we respond like Christ or do we flesh
up and take matters into our own hands? I can think back to times when I had to
deliberately make the choice of reacting with a closed or open hand because I
was emotionally compromised. Thankfully, I made the right decision with the
Lord’s help.
And by the way, if we are judged
hypocritically, it does not automatically mean that we have in the past judged
someone unfairly (cf. Jesus). It may very well be, but this is not a boomerang
moment. It is analogous to being automatically accused of sin simply because we
suffered a setback in our lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. God
in His knowledge, wisdom, power, and presence will never allow anyone or
anything to enter into our lives without His approval or orchestration. It is a
comfortable but sobering truth (cf. Rom 8:28). Job was a prime example of being
judged heartlessly unfairly with Yahweh’s approval. Thankfully, God has a way of
setting things right in His time, boomerang! What is good for the goose is good
for the gander when it comes to judging, right? <><
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