THE JUDGMENT GAME
"The folly of snap judgments of others is well illustrated by a story the late Bishop Potter of New York used to tell on himself.
He was sailing for Europe in one of the great transatlantic liners. When he went on board, he found another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see his accommodations, he came up to the purser's desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship's safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of the privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth and judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a trustworthy person.
The purser accepted responsibility of caring for the valuables, and remarked: "IT'S ALL RIGHT, BISHOP. I'LL BE VERY GLAD TO TAKE CARE OF THEM FOR YOU. THE OTHER MAN HAS BEEN UP HERE AND LEFT HIS FOR THE SAME REASON." (Source Unknown)
Pray don't find fault with a man who limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
Or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt.
Though hidden away from view.
Or the burden he bears, placed on your back,
Might cause you to stumble too.
Don't sneer at the man who is down today.
Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall, or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his, if dealt to you
In the self same way at the self same time,
Might cause you to stagger too.
Don't be too harsh with a man who sins,
Or pelt him with words or stones.
Unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,
That you have not sins of your own.
For you know, perhaps, if the tempter's voice
Should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray
"Twould cause you to falter, too." (Source Unknown)
It is all too easy for you and I to become judges.
We hear a story second or third hand and pass judgment on who's right or who's wrong, or what the motives of the person were.
We meet someone and we right away judge what kind of a person that individual is.
I find that often we as Christians form opinions about the actions and words of other Christians, and again, the motives of other Christians.
Although there are times when we need to be judges, if seems that we probably spend more time judging than we should.
When should we as Christians act as judges?
1. We should judge our own lives for sin, especially when we come to the communion table.
1 Corinthians 11:27-28 - Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. [28] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
2. We should judge disagreements between brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:1-2 - Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? [2] Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3. We should confront our brothers and sisters when there is obvious sin.
Galatians 6:1 - Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
4. When there is blatant sin, without repentance, there should be church discipline.
Matthew 18:15-17 - Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. [16] But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. [17] And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
This morning, we want to consider our memory verse for the week and those verses that surround it.
Luke 6:41 - And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
One of the major themes of this passage, Luke 6:37-42 has to do with judging others. The Lord has given me a simple, 3-point outline that will help us look at this passage.
PROPORTION Vss. 37-38
PERFECTION Vss. 39-40
PRACTICE Vss. 41-42
PROPORTION Vss. 37-38
Although there is only one way to Heaven, that's through believing on Jesus Christ as personal Savior, and one way to hell, by rejecting Christ, God does reward us in proportion to our activities.
Vs. 37 - Jesus tells us that if we don't want to be judged by others, we should refrain from judging others ourselves. It is apparent, the more we evaluate others, the more likely we are to be evaluated by others.
If a brother or sister sins, that matter should first be between you and that brother or sister. Then, if necessary, involve the church.
If our judgment involves motives, let us leave that for God to judge. If it involves use of time or methods of ministry, let us let God judge that.
If it involves success of ministry, let us let God be the judge.
1 Corinthians 4:3-5 - But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. [4] For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [5] Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Why does God want us to refrain from judging?
· For one reason, we do not know all the facts.
· Secondly, we are biased in our opinions, we are never totally objective.
· Thirdly, we are often wrong.
Here are some examples:
"In a book published in 1933, Dorothy Thompson related that it took her just 50 seconds after meeting Adolf Hitler to decide that "that formless, almost faceless man" would never become the dictator of Germany.
"Here's how the Chicago Times in 1865 evaluated Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in commenting on it the day after its delivery: "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dish-watery utterances of a man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."
"A six-year-old lad came home with a note from his teacher in which it was suggested that he be taken out of school as he was too stupid to learn." That boy was Thomas A. Edison." (Source Unknown)
And we are judged in proportion to our judgments.
Matthew 7:2 - For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
I have noticed that when I criticize someone for a specific type of failure, it isn't long before I'm tempted in the same area. It is as if God is saying, "Okay, Jack, let's see how you do in this same area."
In Luke 6:37, we are next told that in proportion to our condemning spirit, we will be condemned.
He is not talking here about eternal life.
But it is easy not only to judge someone but to condemn or censor him.
I think condemnation is a step further than passing judgment. It is more that saying someone shouldn't do something. It is pronouncing the punishment with the judgment.
We tend to condemn people who have hurt us.
We tend to condemn people who we haven't forgiven.
We tend to condemn people with whom we are angry.
The more we condemn people the more we will be condemned ourselves.
Finally we are told that the ones who forgive are the ones who are forgiven. If you truly forgive others, you will be forgiven, especially by God.
Matthew 6:12, 14-15 - And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: [15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Vs. 38 gives us our last example of proportion.
However you give to others, that is how it will be given to you.
The middle of the verse tells us how that giving should be.
Think of a measure as a bushel basket.
A bushel basket can be filled very loosely.
But if you push down on the contents, and shake the container, you can get more in.
Also, if you pile it on top you can get more in.
If you give this way, that's how you will receive.
We should never give to get.
But the more generous we are now, the more generous God is with now, and when rewards come.
PROPORTION
PERFECTION Vss. 39-40
Perfection should be our goal.
We will never be perfect in this life, but I think we should die trying.
With the enabling of the Holy Spirit we could all
be more perfect than we are.
Vs. 39 - This is a pretty obvious parable.
A blind man can not lead a blind man.
They'll both end up in a ditch!
Let's apply that in two ways.
Watch who you are following.
If you are following the leadership of a person who is stumbling in the dark, going in the wrong direction, away from the Lord, then you will stumble in the dark, go in the wrong direction and away from the Lord.
We are warned in 1 John 2:15-17 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. [17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
If you follow worldly people, you will end up in a worldly ditch.
WATCH WHO YOU ARE FOLLOWING
WATCH HOW YOU ARE LEADING
We cannot expect others we want to lead to do better spiritually than we doing ourselves. In our homes and in the church we must be able to say "Do as I say, and as I do!"
I can't expect to lead you into spiritual maturity, if I don't progress into spiritual maturity myself!
Vs. 40 - The disciple is not above his master.
Who is your master?
Is it not the Lord Jesus?
We can't expect to be better than our master.
Sometimes we try, however, by avoiding some of His examples.
Jesus prayed, but we do not pray the way we should.
Jesus trusted and obeyed His Father, but we don't.
Jesus suffered for others, we refuse.
We act like we are better than him.
But if you want to be perfect, spiritually mature, simply imitate the Lord Jesus.
Ephesians 5:1-2 - Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; [2] And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
PROPORTION
PERFECTION
PRACTICE Vss. 41-42
We often want to correct the faults we find in others.
In fact our vision is so clear that we can find a speck of a fault in the other person.
What's amazing about this is that we don't see the beam, or the 2x4, or log that is in our own eye!
We see the faults of others much quicker and easier than we see our own.
Vs. 42 - Jesus is saying, "How can you be of spiritual help to someone else, when you don't deal with you own problems first?"
Notice what Jesus calls people who do this.
HYPOCRITES!
First, we are to remove the beam from our own eyes. When we have done that, we will see clearly enough to help someone else.
I venture to say that we will find many times that the speck we saw in someone's else's eye was our own 2x4 that we were seeing!
Let us all be careful about judging. Let us make sure we practice discretion in how we try to help others.
"One of the stories told by that beloved Texas pastor, the late Dr. George W. Truett, was that of a young lady brought before the church for discipline because of a violation of the church covenant.
It was suggested that she be dropped from the roll of the church. As the debate developed the pastor said, "LET US ALSO CALL THE CHURCH TREASURER AND HAVE HIM READ THE RECORD OF THE GIVING OF EVERY MEMBER, AND LET US VOTE TO DROP EVERYONE WHO HAS VIOLATED GOD'S LAW AGAINST COVETOUSNESS."
That bombshell cleared the air of accusers, as did the reminder of Jesus: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
PROPORTION
PERFECTION
PRACTICE
Luke 6:41 - And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?