Judging Others

One day a woman was waiting on her flight at the airport. She had a couple of hours to kill, and she was hungry, so she went to the newsstand, bought a book to read, and a small package of her favorite 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 a man who was sitting one seat away from her was fumbling to open the package of cookies that lay on the seat between them. The woman couldn’t believe her eyes! She was so shocked at this stranger’s boldness 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 helped himself to 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. But then, so did he! Pretty soon, they were down to one cookie left in the package. Still they hadn’t said a word to each other.

The woman wondered what would happen next. As she watched out of the corner of her eye, the man reached over, broke the last cookie in half, took his half and got up and left.

The woman was flabbergasted! She just couldn’t believe the nerve of that man helping himself to half her cookies.

Just then they announced that it was time to board the plane. The woman gathered up her things and boarded the airplane. She found her seat, and settled in. But she was still seething over the audacity of that character who had helped himself to her cookies.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more upset she became. Tears of anger and indignation began to well up in her eyes. She reached into her purse to get a tissue and that was when she discovered the unopened package of cookies that she had bought at the newsstand.

How quick we are to judge others! When people disappoint us; when they don’t measure up to our expectations—as often happens—we all have this tendency to rush to judgment. We question their motives, we criticize their character, and we condemn their actions. And when we do so, we actually reveal more about ourselves and the condition of our heart, than we do about them.

Jesus teaches us about this in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:1–6…

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

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? 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? 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.

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.

There are three lessons about judging that Jesus has for us in this passage:

1. When we judge others, we bring judgment on ourselves.

2. When we judge others, we become blind to our own failures.

3. We should not judge, but we should learn to discern.

1. When we judge others, we bring judgment on ourselves.

When Jesus says “Do not judge, or you will be judged..”, he uses the Greek word “krino”. It’s one of those all-purpose words that can have quite a few meanings, and you have to look carefully at the context to understand which meaning it has.

But at its root, the word “krino” means to separate, or to divide. It comes into English as the word “critic”. A critic is a person who claims that he knows how to divide good from bad. Whether he is an art critic, or a movie critic, or a food critic, or a people critic, a critic is someone who assumes that he knows how to make that distinction between what’s bad and what’s good.

Now in this context, when Jesus says “Do not judge…” he really means “Do not become critical of other people”. Do not set yourself up as an authority on people’s character and motives and behavior. Do not presume to be a judge who has the power to condemn people for what they do. Do not go around putting people down for what they do.

Why not? Because judging is a function that is reserved to God Himself. When we become critical and judgmental toward others, we are actually putting ourselves in the place of God. We are usurping a role that we have no right to. We are wrongfully taking to ourselves authority that does not belong to us. And that is a very dangerous thing to do.

Jesus tells us “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Now what does he mean by that?

Does he mean that if we are critical and judgmental of others, they, in turn, are going to be critical and judgmental of us? Well, that is certainly true.

You’ll never have many friends if you go through life with a critical attitude towards other people. And everyone will be just waiting for you to slip up, so that they can point the finger at you. Nothing delights people more than seeing a self-appointed critic stumble. If you live by the sword, you’d better be prepared to die by the sword.

But Jesus has something even more serious in mind here when he warns us that if we judge others, we will bring judgment on ourselves. He’s talking about the judgment of God. God is going to judge us for judging others. And he’s not going to go easy on us.

You see, when we judge others, we are actually committing the worst sort of sin possible. We are putting ourselves in the place of God. We are taking to ourselves a right—a prerogative—that belongs to God alone. We are setting ourselves up as little gods.

Now you may be saying “Oh come on, pastor. Surely, it can’t be that serious. Just because I get a little critical of other people now and then doesn’t mean that I have any ambition to replace God.”

Ah, but sin always starts small. And it has a way of growing without us even knowing it. It’s like building a wall. First you take one little brick—nothing too imposing about one little brick, is there? But then you take another, then another, and soon you have a great big wall—a wall that gets built one brick at a time.

You sow an attitude; you reap an action. Sow an action; you reap a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character; you reap a destiny.

The spirit of criticism that we begin to lay down in our lives brick by brick by brick soon becomes a monstrous, ugly wall that blocks out our view of God, and alienates us from other people. And we stand alone in our fortress of criticism, wearing our pathetic little judicial robes—alone and lost.

Indulging a critical spirit is 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 we do it, it will just as surely make us into devils too.

One of the forgotten doctrines of the Christian life is that a day is coming when we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ 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. When we judge others, we become blind to our own faults

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? 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? 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.”

Let’s imagine that this afternoon, you drive to the Jersey shore for a beautiful day of walking on the beach. But while you are there, enjoying the salt air and the surf spray, a tiny speck of sand blows into your eye.

You rub your eye several times, but to no avail - the speck of sand is firmly lodged. So you drive home, with your eye bothering you more and more. When you get home, you bathe your eye with eyewash, but still no success. The grain of sand won’t budge and your eye, by now, is red and irritated.

So finally, on Monday morning, you call the ophthalmologist and make an appointment for the next day.

On Tuesday morning, your eye is worse than ever. It is swollen almost shut. And as you sit in the waiting room, you’re dabbing at your eye with a tissue, because it is running profusely. That one tiny, little grain of sand is giving you agony.

Finally, the nurse leads you into an examining room and tells you that the doctor will be along shortly. You sit there quietly, surrounded by all those strange instruments that seem to be in every eye doctor’s office. But you know that pretty soon, you’re going to 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. In the other hand, he’s got an ice-pick. He gropes for the door frame, and stumbles into the room, bumping into a counter.

His eyes are covered with dark glasses, and he looks blankly around the room, not sure of your presence. “Is anyone here?” he says. “Is there someone I can examine? My nurse tells me you have a grain of sand in your eye and might be needing some minor surgery. Just let me probe around a bit with my ice-pick and I’ll have it right out.”

Sound ridiculous? I’m sure that you wouldn’t let a blind ophthalmologist with an ice-pick operate on your eye no matter how badly it was bothering you!

This is the picture Jesus paints for us in these verses. A person who dares to judge others is like a blind ophthalmologist with an ice-pick. He can’t remove the speck from his brother’s eye because he’s got a plank in his own. He is incapable of seeing properly to perform the delicate surgery necessary without hurting and crushing the patient.

Do you know what that plank represents? That plank is our judgmental spirit. Unless we get rid of that spirit of criticism that we all seem to struggle with, we’re no use to anybody. That spirit of criticism prevents us from having the skill, the sensitivity, the clear vision to help people who are in pain.

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

Pray not to find fault with the man who limps or stumbles along the road,

Unless you’ve worn the shoes he wears or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt though hidden away from view,

Or the burden he bears, placed on your back, might cause you to stumble too.

Don’t sneer at the man who’s down today unless you’ve felt the blow

That caused his fall and left the shame that only the fallen know.

You may be strong, but still the blows that were his, if dealt to you,

In the self-same way at the self-same time would cause you to stumble too.

Don’t be harsh with a man who sins, or pelt him with word or stone

Unless you’re sure, yes doubly sure, that you have no sins of your own.

When the Pharisees dragged the woman caught in adultery out into the public square to stone her to death, Jesus said “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

If a judgmental spirit makes me blind to my own faults, then how can I know if I have one? How can I evaluate myself on this question? How can I discern my true feelings toward other people? How can I know if I have a critical spirit?

Well, fortunately, God has designed a very accurate eye test for us. It’s found in 1 Corinthians 13—the love chapter. And the way to get the most out of this spiritual eye test is to take the truths of that chapter and turn them around. Express them in their opposite. Read them from the New Reversed Version!

And if you find, when you do that, that you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, then you’ll know that you have a critical spirit. Listen to the love chapter expressed in reverse.

1CO 13:4 = A judgmental person is impatient, a critical person is unkind. He envies the success of others, so he often boasts about his own accomplishments, because pride is what’s driving him.

1CO 13:5 = A critical person is often rude, and desires to get his own way. He is irritable and easily angered, and keeps a running scorecard of every offense committed against him.

1CO 13:6 = A judgmental person takes great satisfaction when things go wrong in other people’s lives—especially when they fall into sin. He’ll be the first to spread that kind of news. But he’s not very excited when people live for God.

1CO 13:7 = You cannot depend on a critical person. He will not be quick to come to your defence, and he’ll never give you the benefit of the doubt. He’s a pessimist about people—he’s not hoping for the best for you because he’s anticipating the worst. And when it happens, he’ll be the first to say “I told you so.” Don’t look for a critic to be there for you when the going gets tough. The truth is, when the chips are down, he’s out of there.

Not a very pretty picture is it?

3. Do not judge, but learn to discern.

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 does that relate to the subject of judging? Well, some people have taken this teaching about judging others to its opposite extreme. They think that, because we are not to pass judgment on other people, then we should just trust everybody. And they become trusting and naive simpletons—ready to believe the best about everyone.

The fact is, we live in a world in which there are some very wicked people. We have to develop the ability to discern. Jesus said in Matthew 10:16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

We need 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 spiritual matters.

Jesus said that, when it comes to spiritual matters, some people are like dogs, or pigs. They are wild, they are vicious, they are unclean.

In Jesus day, dogs were not pets, they were pests. They were semi-wild animals, who hung around garbage dumps. They would bite your hand off if you tried to get friendly with them.

And pigs were a symbol of uncleanness for the Jews. They didn’t raise pigs, and they didn’t even eat their meat, because they regarded the pig as an unclean animal.

Now Jesus is saying that there are certain people that you will encounter who, when it comes to spiritual matters, are like that. They are like dogs, like pigs. Later on in this chapter, in verse 15, he says that some of them are even 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 discerning when we encounter people like this.

These people seem to have no sensitivity at all toward the message of the Bible. You try to talk to them about spiritual things, but they show only apathy or scorn in return. What should our attitude be toward such people?

Well, Jesus said “Don’t give to dogs what is sacred. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs.” He didn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue to be concerned for these people, and pray for their salvation, and to try to love them as best we can.

But Jesus said that there is no purpose in sharing God’s truth with such a person until he shows some evidence of being ready to receive it. That isn’t being judgmental - that is exercising discernment.

Some of these people come to us in sheep’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 us in order to lead us astray into their false teaching.

We have to be alert and discerning about people like this. They may come literally knocking on our door. What should we do? Well, 2 John 10 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. There was once a time, earlier in my Christian life, when I felt that it was my duty to spend hours talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Mormons who would come to my door.

But I began to realize that all that talking and arguing never seemed to do any good, because those people were simply not receptive to what I was saying. They were there to get me to believe their false teaching—they weren’t interested in anything I had to say. I was 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. The Jews were not receptive to his message, so he went to those who were.

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 have gotten 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.

Imagine if a stray dog were to walk into this service right now and start howling and barking. Imagine if it came up the aisle and began to urinate on the communion table? What would we do? Would we permit it to continue? Of course not. We would put it out.

In the same way, in any local church, there may from time to time be people who come into the church and begin to act like wild dogs, or pigs. They begin to disrupt the fellowship, they destroy the unity; they cause all sorts of disturbance and strife. Paul says people like that 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 today:

1. When we judge others, we bring judgment on ourselves.

2. When we judge others, we become blind to our own failures.

3. We should not judge, but we should learn to discern.

May God grant us grace that we not fall into the sin of judging each other.