5 Mistakes When Judging Someone Biblically

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

A Perfect Example

Do you ever find yourself searching for something bigger? For a community to be a part of? A place founded on truth and love? A place to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God? Welcome to Founded in Truth, where we're more than just a fellowship. We're a family, so welcome home. Who wants to learn how to judge someone else biblically? Biblically, right? Yeah, this is great. I wanted to start this message with a perfect example. I came down with the vid the second time last week. Which, praise God, I think the first time had no temperature or anything. I barely had a runny nose.

The only reason I tested is because my son had a little temperature. So we got the vid, and my mother had invited our whole family over to her house, bless her heart, for a nice, quiet setting while we're having some home projects done. So we stayed at her house for a day or two, and the next day, Ben has a temperature positive. I have a temperature positive. And all my mom can do is just put on a mask and look at us. No good deed goes unpunished, right? That's the saying. And so I wanted to wear a mask as well and no one else got infected. So I walked over to her door where she had the masks, right?

And there were the masks that my late grandmother, Cynthia, Cynthia Wood, had bought for herself before she passed away last year. She bought a big pack of them. Put the mask on, just smiling. That's when I realized, man, that would be a perfect way to start out the message this week. And so Cynthia, she was a firecracker for sure. An amazing, incredible woman. Very bold in many aspects of her life. But when she wanted something, she just got it. And she was her own thing. She didn't let people's opinions about stuff really bother her. And she got these masks. And we said, "Cynthia, why would you buy those?"

She's like, "Because they're pretty. I like colors." And we said, "Okay." She's like, "I like colors. I don't know what's wrong with them." Nothing.

Assumptions and Narratives

These are the masks that my grandmother bought when she was going into hospice care in her final days. She had no idea of any assumptions or assessments or judgments that she might get. She had no idea. It was off her radar, and I just thought that was funny. But we have a bad habit as human beings. We have a bad habit of not simply making assumptions about other people, but turning that assumption and allowing it to grow into a narrative about that person in which we can criticize and judge. Yeah, when we see someone, we typically make an assessment and we never know enough about them, but we fill in the gaps with things, sometimes. And we judge people. Have you ever judged someone? No. You ever justify judging someone? Sure, yeah. There is a clearly defined example right there about that person, and I'm going to build a critique about it. In doing so, lower their status below mine so that I can be the judge over them.

The Teaching on Judging

And Yeshua talks about this in Matthew 7, verse 1. I'm just going to read this section of Scripture because this is going to be our orbit, I guess. It says: "Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your own eye when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." In the final days of my grandmother, I got to speak to her a few times, one very specific time. We spent about an hour and 45 minutes speaking about death because what else do you talk about in hospice care?

And she was kind of a believer. She was asking me, so what should I expect? And we talked a lot about it. I did the best I could. I told her what I would like to believe about what we should expect. And we just had a great dialogue with each other. And the thing that tore my heart up the most is when she questioned God in her final days, just had a bit of a doubt that came out. And she said: "I believe in God, I believe the word, I believe I've seen God move, but I don't see his impact on the people of the world. And the people that say they follow God, they're hypocrites. Like, that's just been my experience.

It's hell on earth. It's still here. Why, if this God exists?" And it was just her being vulnerable with her doubts. And that was actually the sermon. The sermon I preached at her funeral was about that. But she's not wrong. We're hypocrites. I mean, I certainly have been. I'm sure I will be at another point in my life. We tend to justify carrying God's name as a way to elevate our own status and belittle others.

We Wear Masks

And I say we—don't get offended if I say we. If that's not you, that's awesome. You're amazing. But generally, it's kind of what we do. Man, I thought this was going to be a message of how I could justify judging people the way I want to. Nah, man, we're going to preach the teachings of Yeshua here. So, judge not. Yeshua has a huge problem with judgmental people and people who are quick to condemn. Listen, what's that word? Quick to condemn. People who embody the spirit of judge dread. Yeah, okay. So boomer generation, probably nothing. Gen X, millennials, yes. Gen Z, okay. Judge Jed— judge, jury, executioner, right?

Just Sylvester Stallone walking around and he would make a quick judgment about someone putting a crime. He would—yeah, I'm the judge, I'm the jury. You're guilty. And then he would fine them. And when Yeshua himself calls out people, he calls them hypocrites. The word means to be an actor, to wear a mask, right? To wear a mask, to cover and kind of be deceptive in some way, shape, or form, like Satan, if you will. And in Matthew 5, his target audience here in the Sermon on the Mount are the scribes and the Pharisees, the ones who study the Bible, who sing praise and worship songs on Shabbat, who obey the commandments of Torah, and post that they're a follower of Yeshua all over Facebook.

The religious people. Yeshua had a huge problem with how people lived out their lives carrying the name of God and yet lived out the kingdom of their father, the devil. Reference from John 8, 44.

Drawing the Line

So how do we navigate this topic of judging? Because on one hand, we're not supposed to judge, right? But on the other, we are supposed to evaluate certain circumstances and situations with our brothers and sisters. We have to make judgments on how to help or heal people who are struggling. People are struggling with sin or X, Y, Z. We have to make assessments and judgments on how to proceed, right? And there is definitely a line in the sand that Yeshua draws that distinguishes the two. We just like to move it around, if we can be honest. And so we have to be careful when it comes to making assumptions about other people. Because assumptions build the foundation for the narrative that we fabricate about others. Because many times, when we make assumptions about others—which is not a bad thing— assumptions help us give an identity to the vacuum of not being familiar with someone. Does that make sense?

The Pete Wilson Example

Pete. Pete Wilson has tattoos on his arms and legs, and he has a big beard. Must be from Portland, right? Right? Right? That's an assessment. Making an assessment is good. Must be from Portland. But here's the trap where we can get into big trouble—allowing those assumptions or assessments to create a self-manifested narrative that is set up as a target that we can then shoot judgments at. Pete must be from Portland. And Portland is full of liberals. And the devil's grass is legal there, too. I mean, for medical purposes, but I'm sure that guy probably paid his doctor a little tip to give him one of those cards.

Yeah, he's probably just a pothead liberal that loves Joe Biden and wants America to fail and hates patriots and hates God. I don't know. No one has ever manifested a narrative about that just by looking at someone, right? Something like that. Change the words, whatever, right? I'm coming from my background as a conservative, so that's what I need, right? But the reality, apart from my artistic, fictional expression of Pete, is that Pete is from Portland. Got it right. Nailed it. And he went to Bible college in England and he became an expert in the life of David and the books 1 and 2 Samuel. And he was employed as a youth pastor and took the ministry of Yeshua to the streets in inner city gang outreach.

And he is the most generous, patient, and humble person I think I've ever met. And he does not drink or smoke the devil's grass. And he doesn't really like Joe Biden.

Why We Judge

Why did I make these assumptions? One reason and one reason only. I needed to reinforce the self-actualized fact that I am better than other people and that I have more worth than others.

How do I do that, though? By constantly taking the posture or positioning myself apart from people who are less moral or righteous or good or as valuable as I am. When we do that, it is an echo of eating the fruit of the garden. See, God in the garden had a prohibition of eating the fruit from the tree of discerning or knowing good and evil. He had a no trespassing sign on it. You don't go here. You don't cross here.

Eating from the Tree

You don't go here. It's prohibition. You eat of every other tree, but this area is a place where you must depend on trust in God instead of your own understanding. But the beast came into the garden, the serpent. And what was the temptation? For God knows. When you eat of the fruit, you will be like God, knowing or discerning good and evil for yourself. You will make your understanding and navigation of good and evil autonomous from God and God's wisdom. You will depart from having to trust in God. Instead, you will pretend and step into the position of God, being like God in the judgments you make towards others.

And we know the next scene of the story. Cain determines, you could say he's better than Abel. His jealousy is driven by a sense of superiority and arrogance. Why does he become angry? God accepted his brother's offering and not his. But he felt like his should have been accepted and that his brother was undeserving in comparison. That's why it was such a big deal. And I draw this framing because Cain actually had a conversation with God, and then with Abel, after this incident. And he said, Abel, come with me into the field, where Cain devalued his brother to a place where death was the only acceptable option.

Then Cain goes and he does what? He creates a city and violence erupts onto creation. Why does violence erupt? Because you have all these people who think they are God when it comes to judgment. And they're making judgments about everyone else. Who is good? Who is bad? Who is evil? Who is not valuable and who is?

The Pattern Repeats

We see the same thing. I think I mentioned this a few weeks ago. We see the echoes of this throughout the entire Old Testament. But one of the most obvious is in Genesis chapter 16 with Abram and his wife Sarah. Starting in verse 1, it says, Now Sarah, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said to Abram, Behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Remember, the Lord had promised she would have children. It's not happening. Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of his wife, Sarah. So after Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Sarah, Abram's wife, took Hagar, his Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife, and he went into Hagar. Striking similar language to what took place in the garden when Eve took some of the fruit and ate it, and she gave some to her husband, and Adam was condemned because he listened to the voice of his wife. Instead of trusting God, Sarah assumed herself.

Negative Interpersonal Judgments

And that is exactly what we do when we make negative interpersonal judgments. Here are the words I'm using. Negative interpersonal judgments toward others. We yield to the words of the serpent. And we see how good it is for food. And it becomes a delight in our eyes and we bask in our self-defined status of now having wisdom. When in reality, all we've done is told God that he's not dependable enough for us to trust when it comes to the value of another human being. And the worst part is, the worst part is we tend to justify it by imagining God is standing next to us like agreeing with us. Yeah. He's totally, totally, totally a sinner.

Like he's totally beneath all of us. Value is dropped greatly. Some of us have sharpened our Bible to become a dagger that cuts throats instead of a sword that divides soul and spirit. And we hate the idea of trusting God with the ultimate judgment of people. And we hate being slow to make judgments when it comes to community affairs regarding justice and repentance or offense as well. Yeshua talks a lot about judging people. Paul speaks a lot about judging people. Most of the time, it's in the form of condemning judging. But other times, he's condoning it, which makes the line blurry for many of us.

But why do they condemn? Why do they put so much emphasis on you better just evaluate before you knee-jerk judge? Well, because as a human being, we're prone to eating the fruit because we're selfish. And as a naturally selfish person, you tend to minimize the bad things in your own life while exercising judgment toward things you perceive bad in others. More times than not, we are incapable of making judgments without devaluing another person as not being as valuable as we are in the eyes of God. It's just the facts.

But there are also times when we need to make judgments. Beware of false prophets. You will recognize them by their fruit. You need to make judgments so you recognize who is prophesying falsely, right? Had a lot of false prophets pop up on YouTube in 2020. Remember that? Everybody was up there. Sometimes you need to be prepared to make judgments. 1 Corinthians 5, Paul makes stern judgments toward the church for destructively parading sin around in their community. And so the question is, how do we navigate this? And I'd submit grabbing hold of the love of Yeshua instead of the fruit of the tree is the only way we can adequately make a judgment in this world of any kind, primarily when it comes to people doing harm to others or destructive influence that harms the body. Love seeks reconciliation. Love seeks the betterment of someone. Love seeks healing. Love does not seek destruction, harm, or demise. That's the message, guys. There you go. We could sum it up in that.

Will You Trust God? Are you going to trust God when he puts a no trespassing sign up? And are you going to represent Yeshua whenever you do see no other choice but to open your mouth and make a judgment?

Five Mistakes We Make When Judging

So today we're gonna talk about five mistakes we make when we judge someone else. And we'll just start with number five. Number five, we fail to realize how terrible we are at judging people. We suck at making judgments. But when it's convenient for us, we forget it. John 7, 24. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. When we judge, it almost always, and even that's debatable, it almost always comes from a place of ignorance. We simply don't have all the information about someone else to rightly judge them. Like we don't have security camera footage of every aspect of their life.

We might have a little bit of information, and sometimes that's all we have when we absolutely need to make some form of judgment about destructive situations. But typically, when we make judgments over someone else, we do it from a place that has as little information as possible. And again, I know, and I have to reinforce this, because whenever you talk about, guys, we need to not be so quick to judge other people. Of course, we have a crowd that is always like, yeah, but we do need to judge. We just need to judge in a good way. I know, and what I'm doing is I'm mainly trying to address the casualness of when we judge people at the supermarket and whatever people we've never met on Twitter, because that's not even a real place, and the people in our lives that we yearn to devalue and make negative interpersonal judgments against. Okay, everybody good?

You've Learned From Experience

Yeah, so how many of you have ever made a judgment about someone on a whim and then were extremely humbled when you were exposed to more information? A couple people have developed some wisdom in life. All right, all of you will have your opportunity, I promise. It's rare that we actually ever judge with right judgment. I said what I said, and we're gonna explore that shortly.

My Own Judgment

Jenny and I—story time, though against her will—earlier this year went to see Neil deGrasse Tyson speak in Asheville back in February. If you don't know who that is, he's an astrophysicist that's also an entertainer, and I love him. I think he's hilarious. I love science. It's cool. Don't judge me. If a couple of you don't like him, that's fine. Don't judge me. Because you don't have all the information. You have no idea why I like him. You have no idea whether or not I disagree with him on certain stances or certain things he says. Don't judge. But went to go see him because I enjoyed the show. And he was speaking about how science is portrayed in different movies and what movies got it right and what movies got it horribly wrong.

And the results were very surprising. Out of the plethora of two and a half hours of discussing movies, the two movies that got the most right were A Bug's Life and Mary Poppins. Surprising, right? Yeah. I learned that Mary Poppins, her handbag, is actually a tesseract, a gateway into the fourth dimension. And it is scientifically accurately portrayed. Kind of neat. And a bug's life, the way they represented water tension, was accurate. So, anyway, we went down in this auditorium and we sat down and there was a man beside me and he was on his phone. And he was speaking in a different language. Yeah, speaking a different language.

And I begin to do my assessment, right? He was dressed in a modest suit and he was black. I assessed the situation as everyone should. Just kind of, okay, what's going on? It's fine, cool. I only had enough information to make the assessment that this guy was likely from another country. That is all the information I had. That's it. Maybe from another country.

But I wanted the fruit, I wanted the fruit, and it happened so fast that I didn't even realize I was committing the sin of gluttony, shoving it in my mouth. Just didn't even realize it. Happened so fast. It happened so easily. After my assessment that this man might be from another country, I began painting the absolute story of this man's life in my head. And even worse, I did it from such a stereotypical white American man point of view. And you'll understand here in just a second. Just totally, And the story in my head that formulated in about five and a half seconds was this man was from Africa.

Obviously, because of his skin color and the dialect of his language he spoke. Because I am an expert in all languages that are spoken in Africa. And he's an immigrant here, right? Likely freshly arrived, probably still settling in. And he's likely very poor, modest suit, whatever. Struggling to understand the robust American culture around him. Likely has a modest job, something modest, cool. Has dreams of the farce American dream he was sold, likely allowing him to come over, motivating him to come over. Poor guy, poor guy. I created such a story in my head about this man that by the end of it, I ended up having sympathy for him.

Very American thing to do. That's just a whole new level of messed up. And I say this because I'm so ashamed of it. I conveniently ignored the fact this show, seeing an astrophysicist speak on science, was not cheap. It was not a cheap show. So when he got off the phone, he struck up a conversation. Very, very nice man. In the conversation, I said, where are you from? And I believe he said, Ethiopia. Nailed it, right? Nailed it. But then it went all downhill for my arrogance from there.

The Stories We Create

He moved here in the 1970s and studied chemical engineering at Harvard, I believe, where he graduated. He then went to Los Angeles to teach chemistry at an esteemed university there. He moved over to the Carolinas because he wanted to raise his family over here in the south instead of out there. Good choice. Y'all, come on. We've got plenty of room. He wanted to raise his daughters here. His oldest daughter is studying to become a lawyer at an esteemed private university in Washington, D.C. Ginny's eyes widened when he said the name of the university. And his other daughter has already become a doctor. He was there because he loves listening to Neil Tyson on his podcast, StarTalk, every single week. Because he himself is a scientist.

He then asked me what I did. I was not a professor of chemistry or physics. I didn't graduate from some esteemed university. And I really don't know a ton about science, just enough to make it a hobby thing. I'm not that smart. And I haven't accomplished a fraction of the achievements that he has. So now I must reveal to him, a man who did not seem to make any assumptions or judgments about me, what I do. I'm a pastor. Not that being a pastor is something to like be, like not to be proud of, whatever. No, it just made the entire moment even worse. Again, not only am I not a professor of chemistry and physics, not only have I not sent my kids to all the best schools in the country, chiefs, all these things. No, after judging this man with a narrative that made me feel like I had more status, I then had to tell him that I am a pastor.

We Stink at Judging People

We suck at judging people, and we forget that all the time. But Matt, what if someone is a sinner? Okay, here we go. We can justify stuff now. That's fine. That was a different situation, a sinner. You still stink at judging because you don't have all the information about someone? I knew a man who was constantly getting into arguments, abrasive, always about division and dividing relationships. He was actively tearing down every single relationship he had outside of his marriage. It was sacred to him. And he seemed to act like a jerk all the time—here's the accusation—always lashing out whenever the slightest opportunity presented itself.

And when the opportunity did not present itself, he would make assumptions to build a hill so he could die on it and swing his sword around. He even recognized he did this, but never sought to resolve it. He only had the excuse that, sorry, man, I'm a fighter. I just, I'm a fighter. What an unrepentant, arrogant jerk that isn't kind and always wants to make himself feel powerful, right? It's a fair judgment based on the actions. Yeah, sure. Now, come to find out he was placed in foster care at the age of 10, abused throughout his entire time in the foster care system until he aged out, I believe. Never feeling safe, never feeling protected, and he assumed the identity of a fighter that just had to keep punching as he took the hits.

He found he felt more in control if he became an equal or greater aggressor rather than being the victim. He was 50-something years old but still lived as that 10-year-old every single day in his life. He never knew safety. He never knew security. And when things were safe, when he was around safe people, he felt like his identity was slipping away. So he would sabotage it to reinforce the only thing that made him feel secure.

A Different Lens

After having a little bit more information, is our judgment so quickly to say, what an arrogant jerk that isn't kind and always just wants to put others down? No, we have more information about this destructive situation. And that's still not even all the information. But now we have a different lens, a completely different lens of what's going on. Apply that to everyone because everybody is different. You don't know the experience people in this room, much less people out there, have gone through in their lives. You do not know the trauma someone has gone through that has literally developed who they are today.

You do not know what people were taught or the perspectives that they have grown up with. It's rare that we rightly judge. We're called to do it. We strive to do it. But we need to make more effort in doing it right. But it's rare because we like to ignore the fact that we stink at this. Number four, another mistake we make when it comes to judging people. We forget that we don't have to have an opinion about everything and everyone. You are not required to have an opinion about everything in the world, about everyone in the world. You're just not. You're not. You don't have to formulate judgments. You don't always have to choose a side on everything the world throws at you.

You Don't Have to Participate

No matter how many people have a problem with that, you don't have to participate in every single situation. You're not called to participate in every single situation. There is a quote here, and I love it. I'm going to quote a pagan guy. Paul sure did, and so did Proverbs. And his name is Marcus Aurelius. He was known as the last great emperor of Rome. If you've ever seen that movie Gladiator, again, Gen Z, you guys missed out. Gladiator with Russell Crowe. You remember the old guy at the very beginning? He was real nice. That was the portrayal of Marcus Aurelius, and he was known for his wisdom in his ramblings and meditations.

And here's something that he just happened to say. This is 2,000 years ago, 1,700, 1,800 years ago: You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. They're not asking to be judged by you. Leave them for your own well-being. Stop going crazy over nonsense. Turn off the TV. You don't have to. You don't have to. When we see someone else in the world doing something we don't like—and I'm not talking about a destructive situation or someone being hurt—just doing something we don't like.

Maybe they're making a mistake. Maybe they're living in a sinful life, and there is never a world where you would ever approach them about it. We don't have to have an opinion other than that this is a child of God who has overwhelming value in the eyes of God. And I'm speaking about those of us who feel we must nitpick and constantly find faults with everyone and everything in life. You can be freed from that. You don't have to participate. I'll be misquoted for saying we don't need to call out everything, but yeah, you don't have to in every situation, in every person.

Look at Someone That Way

Someone can just be someone who has insurmountable value in the eyes of God to you. Dare to look at someone that way. The world, influenced by Satan, teaches us that we must always be on a side. False dichotomies everywhere. And so we choose a side, and then we view everyone who doesn't agree as them, or that side, or the opposition, or the enemy, or involved in evil or wicked. And we become the very people that Yeshua warns us about becoming. You don't have to have an opinion about everything and everyone. Random people you see on TV or at the grocery store are not asking you to judge them. Why are you?

Old lady in a wheelchair wearing a rainbow mask. My grandmother. What has caused you to become so critical about everyone and everything in the world? And then we get worked up because we feel like you have no choice because this person is doing something you don't like or you have an opinion about. You don't have to tell everyone your opposing opinion about them or what you think. You are not entitled to have people as an audience for your opinions. I'm going to repeat that. You are not entitled to have people as an audience for your opinions. And that comes with the journey of choosing to grow up and be mature.

It comes with the journey of learning how to be slow to anger and patient. Mistake number three, we forget who we are and who we are not. James chapter four, verse 11: brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Is that you? We like to pretend it is, don't we? But you, who are you to judge your neighbor? So when you judge someone, and again, please hear me, I'm not talking about a destructive situation where harm is coming to people or a judicial setting where something needs. No, I'm talking about you know exactly what I'm talking about. You know exactly who I'm talking about and what I'm talking about and how we judge other people and condemn other people for no reason.

When You Judge, You Speak Against the Law

When you make a negative interpersonal judgment about someone, you speak against the law and you judge it. Now, likely this is referring to what James referred to in chapter 2, verse 8, the royal law. He says, if you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. So that's kind of what the Torah teaches—yes, but that's the hyperfocus here, loving your neighbor. Now, James here is speaking about judgment, and again, yeah, some situations we're supposed to discern. And when we're called to actually make a judgment, and we have to, and we're forced to, and we have to step into that sphere...

Yeah, we're called to do it for the sake of others and healing and protection and reconciliation. But James here is speaking about judging other people. And look what else James does here. He uses some other words to help give a clear context of what he's talking about. Slander. Slander. You're speaking poorly. You make an assessment about something or someone. Cool. It's natural. It's part of thinking, right? Make an assessment based on information you have. But then you go further and you develop a judgment approach. And then we think we know all about them and have all the information. And you know exactly why they do the things that they do or in the situation that they are in, right?

Naturally. You want to be in that position of petty arrogance in your life that you've now established yourself in. You want it to be reinforced. And what's the fastest way to reinforce something in your life? Have other people agree with you. So you mark it—your judgments—and you advertise your judgments because if you can get other people on board, then it just reinforces everything that you've just told yourself and made yourself to be. God. Anyone familiar with walking that out? Yeah. Oh yeah. That's why we like to gossip. It's because we don't feel comfortable in the position we're in. We don't feel secure and we need that reinforcement from other people.

And it's too easy. Too easy.

There Is Only One Lawgiver and Judge

But look what else it says. There is only one lawgiver and only one judge, God. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor? Who? You. James recognizes and knows full well that we do this 2,000 years later. And he goes on to explain why it's so inappropriate. And it is absolutely inappropriate behavior as a believer because you have taken it upon yourself to assume the position of God. You are building the tower of Babel to exalt yourself. You are like the king of Tyre in Isaiah 14. That is a metaphor for Adam. You said I will make myself like the most high. That's the temptation of eating the tree. Understanding that God is the only one that has all the information to make the best judgment should be something that we can find comfort in. It's not something we have to do. It's not our job. It's not our job to go around and criticize everybody and condemn everybody. When it's not destructive, it's not a judicial setting. Joe Schmo on the street. Insurmountable value in the eyes of God. Image bearer equal to me.

Unmeasurable worth as a human being just like me, not less. That's all you got to do. Easy, easy,

What If They Offend Me? What if they offend me? Someone did something to offend you, hurt you. It's a safety issue, get to safety. But don't use revenge as an excuse to feel wicked judgments. God will be the judge and justice will prevail. That's a comfort that's given to us.

Judge Not, For You Shall Be Judged

Number two. Mistakes we make. We ignore the rotting corpses in our closets. Judge not for you shall be judged. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye when you don't notice the log in your own eye? Man, if you do not believe Yeshua liked to laugh, you are missing out on so many different areas of the teaching. Yeshua is totally and intentionally going way over the top here. He's using exaggerated imagery in this metaphor, just like he does several other times—the camel that goes through the eye of a needle. And no, there's no evidence to think that there was a gate in Jerusalem named needle that a camel walked through. No evidence supports that. It's just something that someone made up to try to get you to smile when you read this. What a needle. Yeah, love it.

The Speck in Your Brother's Eye

He's painting this picture of what it means to understand what he's saying when he says, judge not, for you yourself will be judged. There's a speck in your eye. Speck. Are specks hard to see? Specks are hard to see, right? Anyone ever had a speck in their eye? Sure. I hate gnats down here in the South. Y'all know which gnats I'm talking about. Yes. You're sitting there just having a picnic, minding your own business, and out of nowhere, a kamikaze gnat flies straight—not in your hair, does not hit your cheek accurately like Wyatt Earp—into your pupil and instantly you learn Kung Fu and become synonymous and become at the same time the most ferocious player of the game of operation.

So that's one character in the metaphor here—speck in the eye. It's pretty bad, right? I mean, it's not fun. It's bad. Yeah. And then you have the second character and this character has not a speck in his eye. They have a telephone pole sticking out of their face. Right? You're just looking around, knocking stuff off the wall. Just a telephone pole. It's funny. Because the thing that you use to size up people and get perspectives and analyze with— your eyes—they are so blocked with something as big as your head. And Yeshua is calling out the delusional reality we live in when we judge other people.

The point of this metaphor is to get you back into reality. Okay, that's fine. Great. Let's bring you back to the real world here.

Get Your Head Right About Your Own Issues

Does the other guy have a speck in his eye or is that just made up in the story? He has a speck in his eye. He has something in his eye. It needs to get taken out. Yeah, it's not good. It's there. They have an issue. But before you even move past the assessment, before you even think about formulating a judgment, you need to put a lot of effort into getting your head right about not just the reality of them and their issues, but the reality of you and your issues. Do you think Yeshua wants you to help someone with a speck in their eye? Of course, absolutely. If we care about someone, if we want to help them—but because we stink at judging people most of the time, we tell ourselves we want to help someone, but in reality, we're just a bunch of worldlylooking hypocrites that actually find joy in hurting people and devaluing people because their sin gets to be exposed, but ours gets to be hidden, even though it's knocking stuff off the wall.

Yeshua calls us to reevaluate our judgments through the lens of the cross and through the means that will produce healing and not destruction. Healing and not destruction. Will your judgment bring healing or destruction? If you call someone out and they perceive it as you being arrogant and condemning, you might have done something wrong. That's not a black and white rule, but you might have done something wrong. Not a black and white rule. But it begs the question, did they feel you were actually there to help and that you actually cared about them?

The Complexity Beyond the Surface

You're fat. This is a real-world example. Real-world example. I'm going to wade out in these waters. In fact, overeating is a sin, and it's a sin. It's a sin that is talked about more in the Bible than homosexuality, than adultery—more, way more. Overeating is one of the three sins that got Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, according to Ezekiel 16. The first was arrogance. They overfed themselves as gluttons, and they did not care for the poor. Those are the three sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, according to Ezekiel 16. But would you ever walk up to someone who you assumed was a glutton and tell them that?

Would you? No, the answer is no. The answer is no. Because we're not dumb. We're not dumb. We know that issues like this, as well as addiction, as well as drug use, as well as alcoholism—not that they're all the same, but they're all coping mechanisms for many people. Coping mechanisms. And we would never assume to understand what trauma someone went through. There are medical conditions and hormonal imbalances and thyroid issues. Mine don't work. All kinds of issues contribute to weight gain, as far as a bunch of other stuff. We understand that it might not be gluttony. We understand that because we're not dumb in 2022.

We understand that it's more complex than that. And we would never be quick to judge something like that because it would be seen as petty and selfrighteous and a misrepresentation of the word of God. But yet we do it for so many other things. And that's exactly what Yeshua is trying to portray here.

You Don't Know Everything

Understand that you don't know everything. Understand that you yourself have things in your eye. Understand that the person that you're looking at has no less value than you. And understand that if your mission is not to touch someone's life with love and see healing in their life, you are setting yourself up to be judged in the most severe, severe manner by God himself. And that is a fear that most of us don't have enough of.

The Test: Have You Been Praying for Them? Tell you what, here's a tip to identify whether you really are judging someone rightly. And if you actually care about someone when you are having condemnation in your head: "I'm going to go pray for them, or I'm going to go help them with their sin, and I'm going to fix them and get the speck out of their eye." Here's a test to help identify if you really care about someone that you're judging or if you just want to take the opportunity to grab the fruit that Satan told you to eat. Have you been praying for them? Where are they in your prayer life? Because you care so much about them. And there's a good indicator of where the answer is.

The Log and the Eye

Telephone pole is where? What part of the body are you using to identify the speck in their eye? Same place that log is. Brilliant metaphor, Yeshua. Brilliant. Everybody still good? Number one mistake we make when we judge other people. We forget we pull the cord on our own guillotine. Romans chapter 2. I'm going to read it all the way through verse 10.

The Judgment of God

Therefore, everybody listening? That's good. The context is actually taken from continuing chapter one, which makes it actually even weightier. Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. And when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. Do you think any one of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same, that you will escape God's judgment? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment is revealed. He will repay each one according to his works. There will be affliction and distress for every human who does evil, first the Jew and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does what is good, first the Jew and also the Greek. It's the log in the eye story again, but through Paul's more abrasive articulation. And there's a deeper context again. It's coming from chapter 1, but here we are. When you approach someone absent of the spirit of humility, patience, kindness, mercy, grace, and love, you deserve the same fate that you believe they deserve.

You're pulling the cord for the blade to drop on them, but you're the one under it. Why? Because you made yourself God. You said, scoot over. This is my seat. And you despise God's kindness. And you despise God's patience and you despise God's restraint toward you. And you despise God's mercy toward you. Because you do not recognize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. That is why he's so gracious.

Recognizing God's Grace in Your Own Life

How does Paul know that? Because you are not familiar enough with it to reciprocate it when you approach others about things in their lives. Do you catch that, what Paul's saying here? He can tell that you despise the kindness and grace of God in your own life. Because that's supposed to call you to repentance. And he can tell because when you approach other people, you're not reciprocating what you should be familiar with already in your own life, which obviously means you haven't experienced it. God have mercy. You don't recognize what God has done in your life and it's obvious in how you approach other people with judgment.

With an unrepentant and hardened heart, we still carry the heart of stone instead of a heart of flesh that is filled with God's spirit, as Ezekiel says. There are times, again, when we are called to make judgments about people and situations and circumstances. And it stinks when we have to do that. It does. It stinks. It stinks. But we don't even need to talk about how to do that until we deal with the inability to restrain our flesh and negative interpersonal judgments towards others.

The Pharisee Among Us

This is a fact of the matter. And I notice those who do not want to acknowledge they have an issue with judging like a Pharisee. Those are the ones who are typically most vocal about calling out sinners out there. This is my experience. And so in conclusion, the five mistakes we make when judging someone, I hope that you don't forget. I hope that you don't forget you stink at judging. I hope you don't forget that you don't have to have an opinion about everything and trouble your heart about everything. You don't have to be a judge on everything. Find freedom in that.

Seeing Others as God Sees Them

You can instead choose to see people, humans, as having unmeasurable value in the eyes of God instead of your opinions about them. Don't forget who you are and who you are not. Don't forget about the skeletons in your own closet. And don't forget when you judge, you determine your own judgment. And so I don't know where you're at today, but I hope the teachings of Yeshua hurt. I hope they hurt your flesh. I hope they hurt your arrogance. I hope they hurt your bitterness. I hope they hurt our unforgiveness. I hope the teachings of Yeshua hurt the hardened hearts within our chest to the point where we just want it gone and to be renewed with a living, beating heart of God's kingdom and the spirit that actually speaks life into other people and into this creation. Have you experienced the kindness, restraint, and patience of God's judgment in your life? Your actions will speak louder than words in answering that question.

Concluding in Worship

And so please stand as we conclude services today. Worship team, you guys can come up. Every single service, guys, we love to take a time of worship, to have time to pray, to meditate. We thank you for the words of the teachings of our King. We thank you for the Holy Spirit that you claim, as you say, is inside of us even right now, doing its work. Father, I ask for the strength to move out of the way, that it would continue to manifest life within us and life through us to others, that we would put down the fruit and we would stop and we would begin to practice, even slowly but surely if need be, practice seeing others as having incredible value in the eyes of God and not lowering them to a place that is beneath us.

That we would no longer exalt ourselves up, but that we would speak life. That we would speak healing. That we would speak reconciliation. That we would speak forgiveness and mercy and grace. That would be all too tempting for anyone to resist. To find out more about our King Yeshua and His kingdom and the way that he reigns this world. We thank you, Father, in the name of Yeshua, for the mercy and grace and kindness you've given to us. In your holy name we pray. Amen. Sing the Shema. Shema Yisra'el Adonai Elohein Adonai Echad Baruch Shem Kevotot Yo Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

Blessed is the name of his glorious kingdom for all eternity. Now may the God of patience and encouragement grant you to be like-minded with one another in the manner of Messiah, so that together with one voice you glorify God, the Father of our Lord Yeshua Messiah. And may the Lord bless you. And may he keep you. And may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance toward you and give you peace. Amen. Shabbat Shalom. Shalom. We pray this message has blessed and encouraged you and your relationship with God. And we hope that it has made the Bible more beautiful and more powerful in its impact in your life.

Founded in Truth Fellowship exists to build a community that bears the image of God and lives the redeemed life only Yeshua gives. If this message has blessed you, or if you see God working in and through this ministry, we invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us so that the message of Yeshua and the truth of God's word continues to reach all nations. If you would like to take part in this mission, then you can do so at foundinthetruth.com slash give, or you can scan the QR code on the screen. These offerings go toward providing resources for both our local fellowship as well as our online ministry, but also our many outreach ministries, including our foster care and adoption ministry, local charity outreach ministry, our international online children's ministry, and any future ministries that the Lord would allow us to walk through and walk in to impact the world around us with His love and the love of God and the bold proclamation of the gospel of King Yeshua. We thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you next time. Shalom.