LOST RIVER CHURCH OF CHRIST

Wisdom To Judge

by Lawrence Kelley

7:1-12

Should you judge other people & If so, how should you go about it? Jesus answers these questions for us in this passage. The section culminates with the golden rule. The first 11verses show us that if our judgements are to be consistent with that rule, we must seek divine wisdom.

Making Righteous Judgments (V. 1-6). These are undoubtedly the most oft quoted words of Jesus. In fact, non-believers will frequently quote the words, Judge not that you be not judged, whenever they feel they are being judged. But Jesus is not telling us never to render any judgement whatsoever. In this way of thinking, judge not becomes an isolated absolute. This must be rejected for several reasons. First, it ignores the context. In verse 6, Jesus requires us to identify dogs and swine, and in verse 15, false prophets. Second, it is self-contradictory. It is impossible to quote judge not at someone without judging him. Third, it contradicts what Jesus requires elsewhere (John 7:24). But knowing what a passage does not require is not the same things as obeying it. What is Jesus telling us here?

Refrain from using a standard of judgment on others which would condemn you. For the judgment you use will be applied to you (vv.1-2). We tend to have a very strict, handling of the rules when it comes to the behavior of others, while being lax with ourselves. Christ teaches that those who apply a strict measure to others will have it applied to them. Like Haman, they will be hung on a gallows they thought they were building for someone else. These false standards of judgment include the person who: delights in finding fault, majors in minors, judges motives rather than deeds & jumps to conclusions before hearing all the facts. All such judges have this in common - they don't trust God to do His job (Rom 14:10-13).

Avoid hypocritical judgements (vv 3-5). A judgmental spirit often arises from a sense of guilt. We take the spotlight away from our guilt by focusing it on the faults of others. Judging others is more pleasurable and easier than critical self evaluation, but self evaluation is infinitely more profitable for all concerned.

When the standard you use has been fully applied to yourself, then help your brother (Gal 6:1).

Know when to make the decision to walk away. Some people are pigs and dogs so be discriminate with what is holy, and don't waste your time. Save your breath for walking uphill. As someone once put it, "Never try to teach a pig to whistle. It is a waste of your time, and it annoys the pig." Two examples that come to mind are Jesus before Herod (Luke 23:9) and Paul at the synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:6).

Asking, Seeking & Knocking for wisdom to make judgements according to the golden rule (vv. 7-12). This verse must not be isolated from its context. The context is the whole sermon up to now, but especially the immediate context of making righteous judgements. If you are not continually asking God to give you an uncondemning heart and to provide you with wisdom to rightly evaluate the lives of others and for words to use in approaching them then you will never be able to fulfill the golden rule. It is impossible on the basis of human effort and human wisdom. It comes only from God through prayer. Notice the parallels in James. James says if you need wisdom - ask of God who gives it freely, he later describes this wisdom from above this way: it is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (Js. 3:17-18). The goal of this prayer is not to bend God's will to you, but to bend your will to His. The last thing we need is for God to come around to see things our way. Jesus invites us to come to our Father with our shortcomings (maybe in being harsh or judgmental or maybe in being unable to make righteous judgments) and pray passionately, persistently and confidently and watch God work in your life to make you what you want to be. The outcome of this kind of prayer life is the ability to fulfill the golden rule. Which is not, "don't do to others what you don't like," or "do unto others so they will do good to you." The golden rule is not a policy that pays good dividends, but a principle that fulfills the intent of the law and the prophets and is essential to life in the kingdom of God.

Prayer - "God of all wisdom and love, how exalted are your ways above our ways and your thoughts above our thoughts. We come to ask for wisdom to judge righteously. Help us to judge ourselves, to find the unseemly things that are hiding in the recesses and corners of our hearts and to drive them out for your glory. Help us to view each other less critically and more charitably. Deliver us from the evil of fault finding and harsh judgmentalism. Purge us from the tendency to see the worst in people and assign low motives to others actions. Help us to believe all things, hope all things and endure all things. Give us a heart to ask for such spiritual blessings, even to seek them and knock at Heaven's door continually to receive from you what we will never attain by ourselves alone. Make your reign over our lives complete. In our savior's name - Amen.

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