PLAY REVOLUTION BUMPER VIDEO, right before I get up to speak.
It is in the shared Google Drive Folder (HCC Sunday AMz/Technology Sunday AM-z)
Be sure it is NOT on loop and the sound is up at the start.
THANKS
Rondel Ramsey
HCC Minister
Ever say this to someone?
When has someone said this to you?
DON’T JUDGE ME!
It’s meant to shut down any criticism. Why do people say this?
They don’t like being judged and condemned. OR
They might get mad that who ever is judging them isn’t seeing the whole picture? OR
They may say, “What gives you the right to say anything, ‘Karen?’ Stay in your own lane and out of my life.”
And, you know, they may have a good point, at times.
After all, doesn’t the Bible say not to judge?
So shouldn’t we just keep quiet about the bad choices others take or the train wreck of how they are living their lives?
Welcome, to HCC. We, as a community of disciples, are studying through the Sermon on the Mount in a series, entitled, �“Revolution: (Living in) The Upside-Down Kingdom Reality in the Sermon on the Mount.”
And in today’s passage, Jesus is teaching his disciples, his students or apprentices, how to have difficult conversations with others. We will be exploring this topic for the next 3 weeks.
As always, there is a QR code on the screen or in your bulletin to access my slides, the video, and tons of resources on the SOTM. I hope you take advantage of that on your own during the week.
The SOTM is in the gospel of Matthew, and Matthew has so creatively arranged these 3 chapters as Jesus’ radical reinterpretation (or extension) of Torah (Mosaic law) and wisdom for His kingdom people, aimed at internal, heart-level righteousness, rather than merely external conformity to God’s laws. Jesus cares about what is going on deep inside of us.
Jesus speaks of a radical kingdom ethic that critiques (and yes, Judges) the posture of the scribes, Pharisees, and other Jewish religious authorities.
He is saying let’s explore the deeper issues of life as opposed to just looking at life on the surface level or even doing just the bare minimum of what it means to be my disciple. & it applies to us today
Pharisees’ focus: outer
Follow the rules and laws but no deeper
Jesus’ focus: inner
Motivations, intentions, desires, allegiances, convictions, character
BUT I TELL YOU…
You’ve heard that it was said
We are still in the main body of the SOTM, which has been arranged into 3 main sections. We are in the middle of the final main body section.
However, you have to see how this middle section of teaching on judging relates to what Jesus said earlier in the first section about our relationship with money that we looked at the last two weeks.
It’s easy to miss.
The Sermon on the Mount Organization
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
I didn’t realize the connection between these two teachings until this week after my study from the Bible project guys and my other research. I just have to confess that these next couple of sermons are heavily influenced by the Bible Project podcasts on the SOTM, which I highly encourage you to listen to.
At the end of chapter 6, Matthew 6:19-25, we explored the section that started with “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy….” Remember that?
There were five small teachings in total that all related with each other, culminating with the main command to SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Matthew’s organization of Jesus’ Teaching
Relationship with Stuff/God
(Love God)
Matthew 6:19-25
There were 5 sections.
And now we turn to what Jesus teaches in chapter 7:1-12 for the next couple of weeks about how we relate with people and have difficult conversations.
We can overlay this text, or compare it side by side with his teaching on how we relate to wealth in chapter 6:19-34.
And we can see the design Matthew has in crafting his gospel. This is so helpful for an dominant listening audience. We can see the same 5 sections.
Look how both sections compare.
Matthew’s organization of Jesus’ Teaching
Relationship with Stuff/God
(Love God)
Relationship with People
(Love People)
There were 5 sections.
Got it? Go back and study it. It’s pretty cool.
For now, let’s tackle the first section, which I have titled this sermon as Judging Wisely instead of Do not judge!
“Judging Wisely”
Matthew 7:1-6
Let’s read our text for this morning
“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.
Matthew 7:1-6
Dishonest merchants were known for using two sets of weights, a lighter one when selling (so they could give less) and a heavier one when buying (so they could get more).
The Torah includes many passages about judging fairly, not perverting judgment, and instructs Israel not to show partiality or favor in judgments. In fact, the writers of the Jewish Bible talked about this fair measurement when buying and selling grain, oil, flour, or other goods.
A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight” (Proverbs 11:1).
“Do not have two differing weights in your bag — one heavy, one light” (Deut 25:13).
So when Jesus says “the measure you use” when judging others will be the same set of weights used against you. There won’t be a lighter set for you and another heavier set for everyone else.
That is not how kingdom people deal with other people. We love one another; we are fair. we don’t use a different set of standards to judge others, and when it is done this way, it is with the desire to put them in their place or condemn them. NOBODY LIKES THAT.
—------------
We see this natural tendency of humans to do this in psychology because we are susceptible to mental shortcuts called cognitive biases. There are over 150 different ways that our brains make potential mistakes when interpreting the external world.
A bias is a built-in tendency to see, interpret, or respond to things in a certain way — often without realizing it.
Everyone has them because our brains are wired to make quick judgments and conserve energy.
Biases can quietly distort truth, warp fairness, and blind us to our own inconsistencies.
COGNITIVE BIASES
“A Mental Shortcut”
And we have to be aware of our own biases in order to change them. And we have to be aware of our biases to better heed Jesus’ teaching in today’s passage.
Here is the deal: We tend to be much easier on ourselves than we are with others, overall. We have to watch ourselves: We humans don’t judge others and ourselves in the same way. We use lighter weights for us: We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge others by their actions. We just can’t do that.
This is called the Actor-Observer Bias: This bias preserves our self-image while explaining away our failures, and it justifies our negative judgments of others. But it’s not right and Jesus says that we can’t fall into that trap as HIs disciples.
Let me explain. This is what it looks like in a comparison chart
In this chart, we are the actor and when we judge others, we are the observer to them and focus on the external.
In this chart, as the actor we are softer on our own actions but when we observe others we focus on the external, and we don’t know the WHOLE Story.
And, it’s simply not fair. It’s using a different set of weights.
Scenario/ Dimension | Actor: How I View Myself | Observer: How I View Others |
Primary Lens | By intentions & circumstances | By their character or personality |
Typical explanation | I had a good reason. I was tired. Didn’t mean it. | They have a bad attitude. They always do that. |
Focus of blame | External (situation, stress, other people) | Internal (they are rude, lazy, selfish) |
Moral framing | I made a mistake. Good motives | They did something wrong. Bad motives |
Response to failure | Ask for understanding, grace, and mercy | Give harsh judgment & no grace. Condemn |
Basically, We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge others by their actions. We can’t do that. It’s hypocritical and it’s not living by a kingdom righteousness that Jesus has been calling for us to adopt as his disciples.
In the Jewish world, there were many traditions around judging, rebuking, restoring, and community discipline (e.g. in the synagogue, in the Torah, in prophetic rebuke). You break the law, there were plenty of finger pointers tattle-tales to condemn.
The Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, had developed a reputation of harsh, self-righteous judgment (often public, condemning, with hypocrisy) that elevated themselves over others. Jesus is critiquing or judging their externalism and hypocrisy. They played with a different set of rules
“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.
Matthew 7:1-6
Here are a few examples where we are encouraged to judge or examine or evaluate… but we must heed the warning of Jesus, don’t judge without first judging yourself
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you” (I Corinthians 5:12-13).
“If someone is caught in sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently” (Galatians 6:1).
“Test everything; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).
But all of that can only happen IF YOU JUDGE yourself first.
And then Paul gives us a general instruction on how we must discern.
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…,”
Philippians 1:9-10
Judge, in Greek is krinō, literally means “to separate or sift,” as in separating good from bad. The root of words form our word crisis (a decision point) and criterion (standard of evaluation). In other places in the NT, it means to distinguish, decide, evaluate, AND to condemn. The context determines the meaning.
In Matthew 7:1, the sense seems less about forbidding all sifting, discernment and evaluation and more about prohibiting a condemning, hypocritical posture.
Therefore, what Jesus is saying is when you judge, DON’T CONDEMN OTHERS.
When judging, you are to discern and weigh, but not to condemn. We are not God. That isn’t our job at all.
DON’T CONDEMN OTHERS
THEN Jesus tells a riddle about an eye, and this riddle of an eye is similar to the last section of teaching on money.
He is telling his disciples how to rightly judge, discern, assess, or evaluate others, but do so with caution.
“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?
Matthew 7:1-6
Use the 2x4 and explain. Interact with the crowd.
Many years ago, a comedian named Paul Aldridge wrote a funny song called, “Log Eye.”
It’s written in a western twang… you’ll have to imagine with me.
“Log Eye”
by Paul
Aldrich
There once was a man who came way out west
Who always told everyone what was best
If anyone ever tried to cross his path,
They were sure to receive the deadly wrath of Log Eye. Log Eye.
Well, he thought it was his job to enforce the law.
Telling all the people about the evil he saw.
Trying to turn the bad guys into good.
But he never could see with that big chunk of wood. Log Eye.
He saw evil in almost everyone’s eyes
when he tried to reform those bad guys.
He was just helping out, makin’ wrong things right,
and he was never one to run from a fight. Log Eye. Log Eye.
Folks used to hide when he rode into town.
He never understood why they weren't around.
And his heart grew cold as time went by
Because it's hard to make friends with a tree in your eye. Log Eye. Log Eye.
“Log Eye”
by Paul
Aldrich
Then Jesus finishes the riddle with application.
“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.
Matthew 7:1-6
Sometimes, all it takes is to put ourselves in another’s position. God did that when he came to be born as a baby, to walk on the earth as a human. We call that incarnational. In the flesh.
We might say, we need to walk a mile in another’s shoes before we speak up. You know that might help a lot.
—---------
Then Jesus offers another riddle, one that deal with the incompatibility of two examples. We might call it an oxymoronic teaching. And it calls for wisdom; it’s not simple or clear how and when to do apply this in real life.
So, once you decide that you are going to judge someone else, you then need to consider how it would be received, how well will it be received?
“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 turn and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:1-6
When, after examining one’s self and you have taken the log out of your eye, you feel you need to say something of someone else’s behavior or choices, you MUST be discerning who you are sharing this wisdom with. Jesus is saying not everyone will take it well.
Don’t force truth and wisdom on those who have no desire for it. YET. They may just take your caring critique or advice and trample on it AND may even turn on you and devour you, destroying the relationship you have with them and burning any bridge you had built.
It’s about timing. It’s about wisdom. It’s about knowing how and when to step in and judge. Just because you feel the need, doesn’t mean that it is wise. Don’t be a Karen; it’s not a good look for disciples of Jesus. That isn’t how you change someone.
But sometimes you DO need to say something, you do need to judge another disciple’s action and speak up. Because you genuinely love and care for them NOT because you want to put them in their place and condemn them. That simply isn’t helpful.
So how do we go about this?
Judging Wisely
We will learn more about how to go about this in the next couple of weeks.
For now, understand…
Kingdom people carry both a mirror and a scale: the mirror keeps us humble about our own faults, and the scale helps us weigh when and how to share the truth wisely.
But for now, let’s reflect.
Putting it into Practice
Let’s pray.
PREACHED THIS SERMON