The Peril of Judging Others
A man sat on a subway train one Sunday morning reading his newspaper. It was not a busy time on the subway, and other people sat quietly - some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene.
Then suddenly, a young father and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly, the whole atmosphere changed.
The father sat down next to the man with the newspaper and closed his eyes. He seemed to be oblivious to the ruckus his children were raising. They were yelling back and forth, throwing things, climbing over the seats, and even grabbing at people’s newspapers. It was very disturbing to say the least. And yet, the father did nothing.
The man with the newspaper began to feel extremely irritated. He couldn’t believe that this young father could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway was getting pretty fed up too. So finally, after what he felt was unusual patience and restraint, the man with the newspaper turned to the young father and said, “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?”
The young father lifted his gaze as though he were just seeing the situation for the very first time. He said softly “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I guess I should do something about the children. You see, we just came from the hospital, where their mother died about an hour ago. I’m just trying to pull myself together, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.”
Once upon a time there was a woman who was waiting on her flight at the airport. Since she had a couple of hours to kill, and she was hungry, she went to the newsstand, bought a book to read, and a small package of cookies to munch on. She found a seat back in the waiting area and pretty soon, she was engrossed in her book.
But after a while, she noticed that the man sitting one seat away from her was fumbling to open the package of cookies that lay on the seat between them. The woman was so shocked that this stranger would be so bold as to steal her cookies that she didn’t know exactly what to do. So, once he got the package open, she just reached over and took one of the cookies and ate it. Without a word, the man just reached into the package and took a cookie and ate it, too. Well, she wasn’t going to let him eat all her cookies like that, so she immediately took another one and ate it. Soon they were down to one cookie left in the package. The man reached over, broke the cookie in half, took his half and got up and left.
The woman couldn’t believe the nerve of that man, but just then the announcement came to board the plane. She found her seat, and settled in, still seething over the audacity of that character who helped himself to her cookies. She reached into her purse to get a tissue when she discovered that there in her purse lay the unopened package of cookies that she had bought at the terminal.
Two stories, one of them sad, the other funny. But both of them illustrate the tendency that we all have to judge each other. Jesus has been talking in the Sermon on the Mount about our relationships:
Our relationship to God’s Law - the danger of just observing the letter of the law and ignoring its spirit. The danger of thinking that God’s righteousness only goes skin deep - so that if we just go through the motions of being righteous, we’ll be acceptable in God’s sight.
Our relationship to God himself - the danger of becoming hypocrites in our acts of devotion to God; in our giving, in our praying, in our fasting. The danger of doing these things not for God, but for the applause of the crowd.
Our relationship with our possessions - the danger of trying to accumulate things in the hope that they will give us significance. Or the danger of becoming anxious about our daily needs, thinking that our security rests in having things instead of in God himself.
Now Jesus comes in chapter 7 of Matthew to our relationship with others, and the danger of judging others. Let’s read the passage again.
Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Matthew 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Matthew 7:4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Matthew 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Jesus tells us three things about judging in this passage:
1. Judging others brings judgment on ourselves.
2. Judging others blinds us to our own failures.
3. Judging is not the same as discerning.
1. Judging others brings judgment on ourselves.
When Jesus tells us “Do not judge..”, he is really saying “Do not condemn…” We all have a tendency to become very critical of other people. We attribute the worst motives to other people. If someone does something good, we tend to say “Well, he only did it for what was in it for him.” If someone does something bad, we tend to say “See, you can expect that from someone like her. I’m not surprised at all that she did that. It’s typical.”
We take a kind of perverse pleasure in trying to find the negative about other people. We’re quick to condemn them, we’re quick to censure them. We enjoy putting ourselves up as judge and jury over people. We’re very ready to assign blame to others. We give them the worst of motives - we say they’re lazy, or they’re careless, or they’re rude. We condemn them. This is what Jesus is talking about when he says “Don’t judge people like that”.
Because if you do, you’re going to be judged. And the measure you use to judge others is going to be used on you. You’re going to be paid back in your own coin. Tarred with your own brush. Now what does he mean?
Well, some people look at that and say that it means that if we are critical and judgmental of others, they are going to be critical and judgmental of us. And that’s very true. If you live by the sword, you’re going to die by the sword. Don’t expect to have lots of friends if you go through life with a cynical, critical attitude towards others. People will be just waiting for you to slip up. Then they’ll have their pound of flesh, and it’ll be out of your hide!
But I believe that Jesus has something far more serious in mind here when he says that judging brings judgment. He’s talking about the fact that if you judge others, you will be judged by God. Why? Because when you judge others, you are committing the worst sin possible. You are putting yourself in the place of God. You are taking to yourself a right - the right to judge people - that belongs to God alone. You are doing exactly what Satan did when he rebelled. He dared to put himself in the place of God. That’s what made him the devil, and if you do it, it will make you a devil too.
When you judge others, it reveals more about you than about the people you presume to judge. It reveals that you are not poor in spirit. It reveals that you are filled with prideful self-righteousness. It reveals that if anyone has a problem, it it you.
When you go through life with a critical, judgmental spirit, you’re saying “I believe that I am right, and everyone else is wrong. My way is the right way. I don’t need to change, everyone else does.” And that attitude becomes very quickly ingrained in a person. It can become a lifestyle without your even knowing it. Your heart becomes so seared with cynicism that you cannot see yourself as God sees you - as a guilty sinner in need of His forgiveness. This is the essence of what the Bible calls sin.
I believe that one of the least recognized truths among Christians is that a day is coming when we’re going to stand before God and give an account of our conduct. We’re going to have to answer for every harsh word of criticism, every mean-spirited remark, every unmerciful word of judgment and condemnation that we make. So for that reason alone, we should not judge others.
2. Judging blinds us to our own failures.
I want you to imagine that you’ve gone to the beach. While you were there, a tiny speck of sand blew into your eye. You rubbed your eye several times, but to no avail - the speck of sand was firmly lodged. When you returned home, you bathed your eye with eyewash, but still no success. The grain of sand was still there, causing your eye to be red and irritated. So finally, on Monday morning, you called your ophthalmologist and made an appointment for the next day.
On Tuesday morning, with your eye worse than ever, you sit down in the doctor’s waiting room. You’re dabbing at your eye with a tissue, because it is tearing profusely. That little grain of sand is giving you agony. Finally, the nurse leads you into the examining room and says that the doctor will be along in just a moment. You’re surrounded by these strange instruments that seem to be in every eye doctor’s office, but you know that pretty soon, you’ll get some relief from the pain in your eye.
Just then the doctor comes to the door. He’s carrying a white cane, which he taps on the floor in front of him. He gropes for the door frame, and stumbles into the room. His eyes are covered with dark glasses, and he looks blankly around the room, unaware of your presence. “Is anyone here?” he asks “Is there someone I can examine? My nurse tells me you might be needing some minor surgery.”
Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t let a blind ophthalmologist operate on your eye! But this is the picture Jesus gives us in verses 4 and 5. The person who dares to judge others is like a blind ophthalmologist. He can’t remove the speck from his brother’s eye because he’s got a plank in his own. And that plank happens to be his judgmental spirit. Unless he gets rid of that, he’s no use to anybody. But he can’t see it. All he can seem to see is the speck in his brother’s eye.
Critical people are self-deluding. It’s an occupational hazard! They see everyone’s faults but their own. They go around offering opinions, suggestions, and criticism about everyone and everything. But they’re blithely unaware that the person they should be concerned about is themselves. It’s not wrong to try to help your brother remove a speck from his eye. It is wrong to try to do it while you have a plank in your own eye. Nobody welcomes help from a person like that.
Because if you’re a critical person, you’re motives are suspect. You’re not acting in love toward your brother. You’re simply trying to prove that you’re right and he’s wrong. There is a great passage about love in 1 Corinthians 13. But if you take that passage and express it in reverse, you have a pretty good description of a judgmental person. It would go something like this:
1 Corinthians 13:4 A critical person is impatient, a judgmental person is unkind. He envies the success of others, so he boasts about his own, because he is proud.
1 Corinthians 13:5 A critical person is often rude, because he’s trying to get his own way. He is easily angered, and he keeps a scorecard of every wrong thing that other people do.
1 Corinthians 13:6 A man who judges others delights when things go wrong and people fall into sin, but he’s not very excited when people live according to God’s truth.
1 Corinthians 13:7 You can’t depend on a critical person. He won’t protect you, and he sure won’t trust you. He never hopes for the best because he’s always expecting the worst from you. The truth is, he’s ready to write you off at a moment’s notice.
That’s not a pretty picture is it? Do you see yourself there?
3. Judging is not the same as discerning.
Verse 6 is a strange verse.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
How is that related to what Jesus has said about judging? Well, simply this: Just because we are not to pass judgment on other people, doesn’t mean we are to become trusting and naive simpletons. We are to have discernment. We are to be aware that there are people out there whose motives are impure, who are out to deceive us, and do harm to us. This is especially true in terms of spiritual things.
Jesus said that, when it comes to their attitude toward the things of the kingdom of God, some people are like dogs, or pigs. They are wild, they are vicious, they are unclean. In Jesus day, dogs were not kept as pets. They were not pets, they were pests. They were semi-wild animals, who hung around the garbage dumps and would bite you if you tried to get friendly with them. And pigs were a symbol of uncleanness for the Jews. They didn’t keep pigs, they didn’t even eat their meat, because they regarded pigs as unclean.
Now Jesus is saying that there are certain people that you will run into who, when it comes to spiritual things, are like that. They are like dogs, like pigs. Later on in this chapter, in verse 15, he says that some of them are like wolves. He’s talking about their attitude toward the kingdom of heaven, and the truth of the Gospel. He tells us that we must be very careful around people like this.
You have probably met people like this. There are certain folks who seem to have no sensitivity at all toward the message of the Bible. You may have tried to talk to them about the Lord, but they have responded with scorn, or even worse, with total apathy. This is especially distressing when such a person is a member of your own family. What should your response be to such a person?
Well, Jesus said “Don’t give to dogs what is sacred. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs.” This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue to be concerned for these people, and pray for them, and to try to love them as best we can. But Jesus said that there is no purpose in sharing God’s sacred truth with such a person until he’s ready to receive it. And we have to recognize under the sovereignty of God that we may never see that happen.
Now that isn’t being judgmental - we’re not condemning that person for being that way. That is exercising discernment.
But there are other people who come to us in lamb’s clothing. They seem to be deeply interested in spiritual things. But, according to verse 15, Jesus says they are wolves. They are false teachers. They are cultivating a relationship with you in order to lead you astray into their false teaching. You must be alert and discerning about people like this. They may come to your door. What should your response be? Well, I take my cue from 2 John 10, which says…
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
Communicating God’s truth to members of the cults is a very difficult and demanding task. Earlier on in my Christian life, I spent numerous hours talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Mormons who would come to my door. But I found that it never did any good, because they were simply not receptive to what I was saying. The purpose of their visit was to get me to believe the false gospel that they were teaching; they weren’t interested in what I had to say. I would have had as much success throwing pearls to pigs and hoping they would make a necklace out of them.
The Apostle Paul illustrated this principle in Corinth…
Acts 18:5-6 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.
Paul wasn’t being judgmental. He was using spiritual discernment.
Now if all the dogs and pigs and wolves were outside the church, that would be fine and good. But the problem is that some of them are inside the church.
Titus 3:10-11 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
There will be some people in the church whose conduct and attitude will warrant that the church treats them like dogs. (Now don’t quote me out of context!) Would we permit a stray dog to come into this service and start howling and barking and urinating on the communion table? Of course not. We would put him out.
In the same way, there may from time to time be people who, however they get in, are in the church disrupting the fellowship, destroying the unity, causing a terrible commotion. They need to be warned, then they need to be put out.
That’s not judging. That’s discernment. There’s a big difference. The Lord doesn’t want us to become so accepting of people that we allow dogs and pigs and wolves to destroy the church.
We’ve learned three things about judging each other today:
1. Judging others brings the judgment of God on ourselves.
2. Judging others blinds us to our own failures.
3. Judging is different from discerning.
May God grant us grace that we not fall into the sin of judging each other.