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Strange Ideas: Part 4

Here is another verse that is frequently misunderstood and taken out of context. Sadly, it is Jesus' own words in Matthew 7.1: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Taken out of context like this, it appears that Jesus is giving an all-encompassing command. Never, never, ever, ever, judge people or you will be judged. The next move is then to turn this around and point our fingers at others and say, "Jesus says you are not allowed to judge me!" We then use Jesus' words in a sinful way, which is to avoid accountability.


So, what did Jesus mean? Well, let's add the context of the full passage. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way that 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."


What is the real issue here? Jesus is not saying judgment is bad. Jesus actually assumes that we will judge others, because we all have something in us in need of judgment. One person has a speck and another person has a plank. None of us is perfect. We continue to sin. We continue to need transformation so that we become more and more like Jesus. We need each other to point out and help us with our sins. That is what 'judgment' is.


What Jesus is going after in this passage is hypocrisy. This is what he constantly dealt with in the Pharisees, who believed that they were the only ones faithful to God, when in fact they broke God's commandments by being faithful to their own rules. The commandment to not judge is a command to examine our own hearts and confess our own sins before we go and help someone else with their sins. In fact, Jesus is painting a picture of a community that can confess their sins to each other, which is what James instructs in his letter (James 5.16).


In other words, Jesus is commanding us not to judge in the wrong way. We are not to think of ourselves as better than our sisters and brothers. We are not to walk around pronouncing judgments from on high. We are to recognize that we all sin and that we all need correction, forgiveness and help. And because Jesus, who alone has the authority to condemn us for eternity for our sins, does not judge us but forgives us, we ought to do the same.


Let us, therefore, be grateful that God has forgiven us through the death of Jesus on the cross. And let us express that gratefulness by judging each other appropriately: with humility, with gentleness, and with thanksgiving to our merciful God.


Blessings on you!

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