Should You Judge Others? | Matthew 7:1-6; 15
Series: All: All Authority, All Nations, All Allegiance
Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6; 15 (Main); 2 Samuel 12:1-7; John 7:24; Romans 14:1-4; Romans 2:1; 2 Cor 5:10-11
Title: Should You Judge Others? (Darien Gabriel)
(See below for bibliography)
Summary Matthew 7: Jesus teaches us to ask God for what we need, how to treat others, and how to live as a true child of the Heavenly Father. (Outline Bible)
Bottom Line: While we need godly discernment and confrontation in the body, we must avoid hypercriticism and judgmentalism. Otherwise, we’ll be establishing the standard by which God will judge us. There’s a way to judge that is biblical and there’s a way to judge that is not. It’s a matter of the heart.
I. What do I want you to know? Jesus taught that we’re to exercise discernment (judge) without a spirit of judgmental-ism or hypercriticism. “Judge the fruit, not the fruit” comes to mind.
Why? Because one is dangerous, foolish and unhelpful while the other is wise and protective. And you’ll be judged by God the way you’re judging others.
II. What do I want you to do?
Deal with the sin in your own life at least as aggressively as you deal with the sin in other people’s lives.
Avoid judgmental-ism and hypercriticism.
Use discernment in who, how and when you share the gospel with others.
Why? Because why bring unnecessary harm onto yourself and those around you? Why waste resources on those hostile to God when there are many ready to receive the good news enthusiastically?
Discussion questions for group and personal study.
1. In what areas of your life are you most likely to be judgmental of someone (e.g., finances, work, health, spiritual disciplines, parenting, marriage, emotions, etc.)?
2. What is the difference between church discipline (cf. Matt 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5) and sinfully judging a brother or sister?
3. Why would you not want to be judged with the same standard you judge others (7:2)?
4. What aspect of the way God has treated you in the gospel should compel you to be humble and patient instead of judgmental?
5. Why do your actions toward other people affect how God acts toward you?
6. Jesus, like you, would have been tempted to judge sinfully. What are some examples in the Bible where you see Jesus not being judgmental when it would have been tempting to do so?
7. Unlike you, Jesus judges perfectly. Where in the Bible do you see Jesus giving grace and not judging when he has the right and the authority to judge?
8. Are you more sensitive to the sin of others than to your own sin? If so, how can you swap this sensitivity?
9. This chapter teaches that "some things are right and wrong, but some things are just different." What are examples of things that are culturally different and not proper reasons to judge someone?
10. Does social media increase or decrease your temptation to judge others? How do you use social media without sinfully judging someone?
Final Questions (optional or in place of above)
What is God saying to you right now?
What are you going to do about it?
Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast
Intro
Our world is a criticizing world. You cannot escape it. And we’ve moved from being critical to canceling people now. It’s out of hand.
And yet that’s the world we live in. But we don’t have to be that way.
This passage contains one of the most misused verses in the Bible. Don’t judge. Jesus will explain it to us today. Today’s message is “Should you judge others?” Jesus weighs in and gives us guidance on judgment, discernment, and criticism as it relates to others in the world as well as in the church.
I. Don’t be judgmental to others. (7:1-2)
A. Don’t judge refers to not being judgmental to others.
B. That does not mean we don’t judge. Reasons this cannot be made to say we a never to judge include:
V. 6 Shows we cannot obey Jesus’ command here without exercising judgment (discernment). You must judge whether or not a person is a dog or pig metaphorically.
V. 15 “Jesus warns us to ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.’ This requires subtle, discriminating judgment on our part.” -Hughes
John 7:24 says, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
C. Discerningly critical vs hypercritical; constructive vs destructive
D. Warning against pettiness on secondary issues found in Romans 14:1-4.
E. There are 2 eternal judgments:
Bema seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10-11)—not guilty + rewards
The Great White Throne (20:11-15)—guilty
The point: God will judge us as we’ve judged others (7:1) (Romans 2:1)
II. Don’t be hypercritical to others. (7:3-4) A crazy and sarcastic picture.
A. Plank/log = huge piece of wood (bring a 2x4 as a visual)
B. Speck of sawdust = tiny dust of wood
C. Impossible, comical, and, unfortunately, common
D. Illustration: King David, 2 Sam 12:1-7
E. Illustration: So easy to turn a Microscope on others vs wrong end of the telescope ourselves
F. We can be “log-toting speck inspectors” = hypocrites (Hughes)
G. This is where church discipline is possible. It requires humble judgment to know how best to discipline church member. (18:15-17)
What are we to do instead?
III. Be brothers and sisters to each other. (7:5)
A. Judge yourself—“take the plank out of your own eye.” Only then will be begin to see clearly enough to help someone take the speck out of theirs.
B. “We then see ourselves as we are, and we see others as they are.” -Hughes
C. “Instead of being critical, we weep for ourselves and them.” -Hughes
D. “Jesus does want us to discern the sins and shortcoming in others, but he wants us to see them through clear, self-judged eyes—eyes that are tender and compassionate.” -Hughes
E. How do we remove a speck from the eye of another?
Carefully! Nothing more sensitive in the human body than the eye. In the spiritual realm, nothing more sensitive than the human soul.
Therefore, “we must be humble, sympathetic, conscious of our own sins, and without condemnation.” -Hughes
Conclusion by D. Akin:
“I want to be both helpful and practical as we conclude our study on being judgmental. How can those of us who have been redeemed from all of our sin by the precious blood of Christ rightly make judgments without wrongly being judgmental?
1. CHECK YOUR MOTIVES. Ask yourself, Why am I doing this? Check your heart, knowing that ultimately only God knows the motives and intentions of the heart (Prov 16:2; 1 Cor 4:3-5).
2. EXAMINE YOUR OWN WALK WITH THE LORD FIRST. Ask, Am I walking in the Spirit, characterized by a gentle spirit, careful to monitor my own sin (Gal 6:1-2)?
3. SEEK OUT THE WISDOM OF GOD’S WORD AND GODLY COUNSEL BEFORE ACTING (Prov 10:13-14; 11:14; 15:22).
4. PRACTICE THE GOLDEN RULE. Think about how you would want to be treated if you were on the receiving end of correction (Matt 7:12).
5. BE CAREFUL NOT TO MAKE A SNAP DECISION OR QUICK JUDGMENT. Take the time to get the facts, and listen before taking action (Prov 18:13).
6. PRAY FOR THE ONE WHO APPEARS TO BE CAUGHT IN SIN BEFORE CORRECTING HIM OR HER. (Jas 5:15-16).
7. DO NOT FORGET THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS, WHO HELPED AND MINISTERED TO SINNERS. Jesus was condemned and ridiculed for the way he cared for and loved sinners, tax collectors, pagans, and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11).
8. SPEAK THE TRUTH BUT DO IT IN LOVE. (Eph 4:15).
9. KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME THINGS ARE RIGHT AND WRONG, BUT SOME THINGS ARE JUST DIFFERENT. (Rom 14:1-6,13-23). Be careful not to judge someone because of personality or cultural differences.
10. NEVER FORGET THAT ULTIMATELY EVERYONE MUST GIVE AN ACCOUNT TO THE LORD, BUT NOT TO YOU. (Rom 14:7-12; 2 Cor 5:10).
Conclusion
There’s no shortage of criticism in our world and even in the church. Let’s pray for God to purge us, our churches, and our world of hypercriticism and judgmentalism.
Pray
My Notes:
Akin’s outline
Main idea: “To judge others without examining and correcting oneself first is hypocritical and foolish, but it is biblical and wise to discern kingly judge those who abuse God’s message” (and messengers).
I. Jesus warns us about being judgmental towards others. (7:1-5)
A. It is foolish. (7:1-2)
B. It is prideful. (7:3-4)
C. It is hypocritical. (7:5)
II. Jesus counsels us to judge those who live wickedly. (7:6)
A. Some tear up God’s precious truth.
B. Some trample God’s precious truth.
Hughes’ outline
I. We are not to relate judgmentally to others. (7:1-2)
II. We are not to relate hypercritically to others. (7:3-4)
III. We are rather to be brothers and sisters to each other. (7:5)
Sinclair’s outline
I. Seeing More Clearly (7:1-5)
II. Seeing others more clearly (7:6)
III. Seeing God more clearly (7:7-12)
References/Bibliography:
“Preaching the Word” Commentary, Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Edited by Kent Hughes
“Matthew” by RC Sproul
“Sermon on the Mount” by Charles Quayle’s
“The Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom Life in a Fallen World” by Sinclair Ferguson
Bible.org https://bible.org/seriespage/12-maintaining-peaceful-relationships-matthew-521-26
“CSB Christ Chronological,” Holman
“Jesus Manifesto” sermon series, by Darien Gabriel: https://youtu.be/x65i2tqFrXk
“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)
“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)
“Exalting Jesus in Matthew” by David Platt (CCE)
“Exalting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount” by Daniel Akin (CCE)
Outline Bible, D Willmington
NIV Study Bible (NIVSB)
ESV Study Bible
ESV Gospel Transformation Bible (GTB)
"Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes" by Kenneth E. Bailey