Daily Devotions For Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Jesus was known for asking questions to generate conversations. As we make our way through the Gospels looking at His questions, here is one that certainly hits home. It is found in Matthew 7:3, “Why do you stare from without at the very small particle that is in your brother’s eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam of timber that is in your own eye?” (AMP-C). What a comparison — a small speck versus a red wood — sticking out of your own eye. A speck in your own eye causes irritation and some slight discomfort. A beam of timber totally blocks your few of anything, including the speck in your brother’s eye. 

Jesus is using Jewish humor here to draw this distinction and comparison. Jesus’ words follow His command in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves” (AMP-C). In Matthew 7, Jesus is dealing with the sin of self-righteousness, which religious people tend to battle. Self-righteousness tends to base its evaluation totally on the external, appearance and the superficial. Look at Jesus’ words in John 7:24, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (ESV). 

I do not know anyone who likes to be judged, even people who judge others. Jesus said, “Judge with right judgment.” What does that mean? Well, let’s first look at why it is wrong to judge. First, we can never know all the facts. Only God knows all the facts. 

A good example of this is when God told the prophet Samuel to go to the home of Jesse and anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel thought any of the sons standing before him looked kingly but God told him no to each one. Samuel then asked Jesse if he had any more sons. “Well, we have the youngest who is a runt, out in the fields watching our sheep.” Well you know the story. That was the one God wanted to be king. God said this to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart?  (AMP-C).

Second, because we are fallen, biased, prejudiced and sinful people , we can never be fully objective. We prejudge based on our own limited knowledge. And third, when we judge others, we put ourselves in a position that we are capable or qualified to fill. Only God can do that. So, how do we do what Jesus said in John 7:2, judge with the right judgment. Well, maybe pastor and author Chuck Swindoll can help us here:

“What Jesus is condemning in the Sermon on the Mount is a judgmental, negative, haughty attitude that assesses others with a suspicious spirit. People who have such an attitude are always on the hunt for faults, mistakes, or imperfections in others. And they find them! There are always petty flaws and failures to be exposed. They do this out of an attitude of superiority, presumption, prejudice, and pride. The result is a destructive, condemning attitude and a blindness to one’s own faults. This is the glaring hypocrisy that Jesus emphasizes here.” 

A hypocritical, judgmental attitude can result in our own condemnation before God. By acting like we’re qualified to pass quick, merciless judgment, we’re placing ourselves in a position of moral superiority. The apostle Paul says, “Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Rom. 2:1). Those who play “Let’s Label” are equally as guilty before God as those with whom they find fault, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) — (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, The Swindoll Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 126).

Using such exaggeration Jesus lets us know that if we did have a beam of timber sticking out of our eye, the weight of it alone would make it impossible for us to move it so that we could see the speck in our brother’s eye. This means, we must first take care of the speck in our own eye before we start sizing up someone else. 

Jesus never told us not to be discerning or evaluate or criticize another believer for sin or a weakness in their own life. I like how pastor and author Charles Spurgeon defines discernment:” "Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right” (Source: https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-discernment/,) 

Jesus never said, “Live and let live” when it came to noticing a blind spot in another believer’s life that they do not see. In fact, Jesus calls us to a mutual love where we will do this for one another in love, grace, compassion, discipleship, and discipline. Take a moment and read pastor and author John MacArthur’s words below:

“The entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is to show the complete distinction between true religion and false religion, between spiritual truth and spiritual hypocrisy. Jesus places God’s perfect and holy standards beside the unholy and self-righteous standards of the scribes and Pharisees and declares that those who follow those unholy and self-righteous standards have no part in God’s kingdom (5:20). No more controversial or judgmental sermon has ever been preached.

If this greatest sermon by our Lord teaches anything, it teaches that His followers are to be discerning and perceptive in what they believe and in what they do, that they must make every effort to judge between truth and falsehood, between the internal and the external, between reality and sham, between true righteousness and false righteousness—in short, between God’s way and all other ways” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, "Matthew," p. 431).

Only God knows a person’s heart. This is why 1,000 years after David had died, God was still calling David, “A man after My own heart” in Acts 13:22. We all know the horrible sins David committed: adultery and murder. We certainly would not call a person who committed adultery and then murder to cover it up “a person after God’s own heart.” 

Maybe this is why we should leave being God to God and not to us. Two more things: One from Chuck Swindoll and one from Max Lucado.

Chuck Swindoll states in his book Simple Faith, “Christians play a lot of indoor games. Among our favorites is one we might call, “Let’s label.” Here is how it works. We find someone who is different than we are—they may look different, sound different, think different, or act different—then we start the label game, which is played in 6 steps. The first step is: we find something about them we do not like. Second, we then examine the externals since there is no way to know the internals yet. The third step is: we form negative and critical opinions. Then fourth we jump to several inaccurate conclusions because there is always an inability to know all the facts. The fifth step is: we mentally stick a label on the person in question. That saves time; it keeps you from having to verify all the details. Then sixth we freely share all the findings and identifying labels with others” (Charles R. Swindoll, Simple Faith, pp. 189-190).

Now, a word from pastor and author Max Lucado:

“One time while taking their children on a vacation to a historical city, they decided to tour an old house. Upon entering the tour the Lucado family followed a family from New York City. Max Lucado says the people didn’t have tell him they were from New York City. He could tell. They wore New York City clothes. Their teenage son had one half of his head shaved and on the other half of his head, his hair hung past his shoulders. The daughter wore layered clothes and long beads. The mother looked like she raided her daughter’s closet, and the dad’s hair was down the back of his neck. He says he had them figured out. The kid was probably on drugs. The parents were going through a midlife crisis. They were probably rich and miserable and in need of counseling. He says it was a good thing he was nearby in case they wanted spiritual counsel. After a few moments this family introduced themselves. He was right: they were from New York City. But that is all he got right. When he told them his name, they were flabbergasted. “We can’t believe it!” they said. “We’ve read your books. We use them in our Sunday School class in church. Recently you spoke in our city and I wanted to come and hear you, but that was our family night so we didn’t come.” Examining what he had done, Lucado states: “Sunday School? Church? Family night? Oh, boy, I’d made a mistake. A big mistake. I’d applied the label before examining the contents'' (Source: Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder, p. 157-158).

“We label because it’s easy.  It’s easier to talk about a person than to help a person. It’s easier to debate homosexuality than to be a friend to a gay person. It’s easier to discuss divorce than to help the divorced. It’s easier to argue abortion than to support an orphanage. It’s easier to complain about the welfare system than to help the poor. It’s easier to label than to love. Do you like it when people label you before they know you? “So, you’re unemployed?” (Translation: “Must be a lazy bum.”) “Hmm, you’re an accountant?” (Translation: "Must be dull.”) “She’s an Episcoplian.” (Translation: "Must be liberal.”) “She’s an Episcopalian who voted for the Democrats.” (Translation: “Must be liberal beyond help.”) “Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t know you were a divorcee.” (Translation: “Must be immoral.”) “Oh, I didn’t know you didn’t have any children.” (Translation: "She must be infertile.” “He’s a fundamentalist.” (Translation: “He’s a narrow-minded half-wit” (Source: Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder, p. 159).

Questions To Consider

1. Do you have a tendency to play God in sizing people up? If so, why do you assume a role that only God can fill? Do you believe God is a poor judge of character? Do you agree with Pastor Chuck Swindoll that we love to label people? Have you ever judged anyline like Max Lucado only to learn you were wrong? How did you handle it?
2. Think back over the people you judge. What labels do you put on them and why? If labels were put on you, what would you they would be and why?
3. What beams of timber would you say are sticking out of your own eyes and why?
4. If the entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is to show the complete distinction between true religion and false religion and between spiritual truth and spiritual hypocrisy, how should this affect your tendency to judge others and why?
5. Would you call someone who committed adultery and then murder to cover it up “a person after God’s own heart?” Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 15:14, “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly” (NIV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I am judgmental of others. I know I should not do this because it means I really arrogantly and pridefully believe I can fill Your shoes. The truth is: if I spent just as much time on my relationship to You that I spend judging others, my relationship to You and others would be so much better.  Please forgive me when I think I am better than someone else. I am a sinner saved by grace and that is all I will be until You take me home. Please help me to be more like You in my character and discerning in my heart about truth. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly