Chapter 32: Judging Others. When we judge, we usurp the Lord's own office. Francis of Assisi. A criticizing spirit destroys the holiness of life more easily than anything else because it is such an eminently respectable sin. The kneeling Christian. You well know how to excuse and to color your own deeds, but you won't accept the excuses of others. Thomas à Kempis. Jim Gray teaches American history at Medville High.
For one of his exams each year, he requires his students to memorize the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. This year was no different. He explained to his students how the exam would work. On the assigned day, each student would be required to write down verbatim the two opening paragraphs of the Declaration. For each word they omitted or altered, they would lose two points.
Marcy Meticulous had studied very hard for this exam, and she practiced writing out those two paragraphs by memory many times until she had them down nearly perfectly. On the day of the exam, things went well, and she felt certain she had earned an A. After the exam was over, Mr. Gray handed out the completed exams at random among the students so they could grade each other's exams. "I'm going to read aloud the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence," he explained.
"I want you to follow along as I read and circle every error you find on the paper you're grading. If there are words missing, mark the spot with an arrow. However, I don't want you to be too nitpicky. If the student has merely changed an article like the or has made some other minor word change, you can let that pass." Mr. Gray then read aloud the two introductory paragraphs, and the students graded the exam papers they had been given. When he was finished reading, Mr.
Gray told the students, "Now add up the errors you've noted, subtract two points for each one, and write the student's score at the top of the page. I also want you to put 'graded by' and then write your name. Then hand the graded exam back to the student to whom it belongs." Mr. Gray gave the students time to look over their papers. When the bell rang, he announced, "Leave your exam on my desk on your way out.
If you discovered an error in the grading or if you feel the grader was too finicky, stop by during my free period and we can talk about it." Marcy had been disappointed to discover she had received an 86 on the exam, but her ears pricked up when she heard Mr. Gray's announcement. Kenny Childress had graded her paper, and she felt certain that he had graded her much too stringently. So during Mr. Gray's free period, she stopped by his classroom. "Hello, Mr. Gray," she greeted him. "Oh, hi Marcy.
What can I do for you?" "Well, at the end of class you said that if we felt our grader had been overly picky, we should see you. Kenny Childress graded my paper, and I think he was way too finicky." "Okay, let's have a look at it," Mr. Gray replied cheerfully. He then found Marcy's exam among the papers on his desk.
Marcy pointed out two places where she had substituted 'that' for 'which.' Also, she had written 'those ends' instead of 'these ends.' She had also used 'the creator' instead of 'their creator' and 'inalienable' instead of 'unalienable.' "Yes, I see your point, Marcy," Mr. Gray reassured her. "Those are fairly minor errors. Kenny is certainly an exacting grader." "Oh, thank you, Mr. Gray," Marcy exclaimed with a sigh of relief. "Those minor errors cost me ten points, so that means I get a 96, right?" "Perhaps," Mr.
Gray replied. "But first I need to check something. Whose paper did you grade?" Puzzled, Marcy responded, "Janet Holtz." Mr. Gray flipped through the stack of exam papers and pulled out Janet Holtz. He then studied her corrected paper for a moment. "Hmm, how strange," he commented. "You feel it was too picky for Kenny to deduct two points for 'inalienable' instead of 'unalienable,' but you did the exact same thing on Janet's paper.
You also marked her paper wrong for substituting 'that' for 'which,' and you deducted two points for 'those forms' instead of 'the forms.' I'm sorry, Marcy, but I'm afraid I can't change your score. You were just as exacting in your grading as Kenny. You can hardly ask to be graded more leniently than you graded Janet's paper." "But Mr. Gray," Marcy pleaded, "that's not fair. You didn't tell us in advance that you would grade us the same way we graded others.
If I had known, I would have been lenient with Janet." "I think it's very fair," Mr. Gray responded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some other work I have to do." What about in real life? What do you think? Was Mr. Gray being fair? Should we have let the students know in advance that they would be graded the same way they graded others? Would Marcy have graded Janet's paper differently if she had known it would affect her own grade?
I ask those questions because the same principle applies in the real world of eternity. Jesus lets us decide how leniently or harshly we want to be graded on Judgment Day. But unlike Mr. Gray, He has told us in advance that we will be graded the same way we grade others. Jesus warns us, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Matthew 7:1-2. That's about as straightforward as a person can put something.
We get to choose how we're going to be judged in eternity. We can choose to be judged harshly, or we can choose to be judged leniently. We have the same choice Marcy had, except this time it doesn't determine some temporal grade on a report card. It determines our eternal destiny. Deciding who is and who is not a Christian.
Alexander Campbell, one of the leaders of the 19th-century Restoration movement, lamented, "This plan of making our own nest and fluttering over our own brood, of building our own tent and confining all goodness and grace to our noble selves and the elect few who are like us, this is the quintessence of sublimated Phariseeism. The Pharisees of old were but babes in comparison to the modern." Ironically, despite his warning, many of Campbell's followers did the very thing their founder condemned.
I find it incredible how so many ordinary Christians are quick to make pronouncements on where other professing Christians stand with God in eternity. It's common to hear Christians speak about other individuals or entire churches and glibly say, "Oh, they're not Christians," or, "He's not a Christian." If they're speaking about a Hindu, Buddhist, or someone who doesn't claim to be a Christian, that's appropriate. However, many Christians are quick to make such pronouncements about other professing Christians.
On what basis do they condemn their brother or sister to hell? Typically, it's because of the other person's theology. How many people did Jesus condemn to hell because of their theology? As far as I know, no one. Yet, in today's spiritual world of easy believism, untold millions of Christians believe that God's grace covers every kind of sordid sin imaginable except a theological error. Now, please don't get me wrong.
Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen," and, "Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 22:14 and Matthew 7:14. I'm not so spiritually naive as to think that everyone who professes to be a Christian will inherit eternal life. In fact, I'm very concerned about where many millions of professing Christians actually stand with God. That's the primary reason I write the books I do.
It is one thing to be concerned about the spiritual standing of others. It is an entirely different thing to make dogmatic pronouncements. If we condemn others to eternal punishment because of what we think are their theological errors, then we had better hope our theology is perfect. Otherwise, we've just denied ourselves eternal life. The Speck in Your Brother's Eye.
Jesus asks each of us the question, "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye," and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:3-5.
I've heard numerous sermons and read quite a few books and periodicals about this passage in which the speaker or author somehow fancies that Jesus actually wants us to look for the speck in our brother's eye. The argument usually goes something like this: Jesus didn't say that we are not supposed to look for the speck in our brother's eye. He only told us to first remove the plank from our own eye so we could see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye.
Yet, I can't help but wonder if that's like saying, "Jesus didn't tell the mob they couldn't stone the adulterous woman. He only said that the one without sin was to throw the first stone." What do the commentators say it means to remove the plank from our own eye?
Some say, "This means that you too have to acknowledge that you are a sinner before approaching your brother about the speck in his eye." Others say, "Getting the plank out of your own eye means that you need to approach your brother in love and humility." Still others say, "The plank means that self needs to get out of the picture. When you speak to your brother about the speck in his eye, you have to be thinking only of his welfare.
You should not receive any satisfaction in pointing out the speck in his eye." Perhaps these commentators are correct. However, personally, I think we're missing the point. I think Jesus is saying He doesn't want us ever to be looking at the speck or motes in our brother's eye. That's because we will always have a plank or beam in our own eye. The plank is our own sins. Why are our sins a plank or beam in comparison to the speck in our brother's eye?
Because we know far more about our own sins than we do about anyone else's. Consider for a moment, how would you feel if you just learned that everything that's been said in your home or car over the past two months has been recorded? What if someone told you that the recording is going to be played back to your congregation next Sunday?
Your whole church is going to hear every argument with your spouse, every angry or impatient word spoken, every unkind thing said about someone else, every complaint, every bit of gossip passed on. Would any of us be comfortable with that? Let's go further. How would we like everything inside our minds and hearts to be publicly revealed?
Every instance of pride and vanity, every jealous or envious thought, everything selfish, unclean, ungodly, resentful, judgmental, hurtful, unloving, hateful, dark, petty, worldly, boastful, or unkind. Added all together, they make quite a large plank or beam, don't they? When we get rid of that plank, when we are entirely without sin, then we can look at the speck in our brother's eye. Actually, when we reach that point, we'll be so full of love and humility we won't even be thinking about other people's faults.
Can we confront sin? Does this mean we can't talk to others about sin in their lives or that we can't try to correct what we believe are theological errors? No, Jesus' words don't mean any of those things. As with every other Bible teaching, we have to look at the totality of what the Scriptures say on the subject of judging others. We should take Matthew 7 very seriously. At the same time, we have to take Matthew 18 very seriously.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if you will not hear, take with you one or two more that, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17. Does Matthew 18 nullify Matthew 7?
Not at all, for they are talking about two entirely different kinds of sin. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us not to be looking at the speck or motes in our brother's eye. A speck is tiny. The specks in our brother's eye are imperfections and minor sins that we should overlook in love. The sins spoken of in Matthew 18 are serious sins. They are so serious that our brother will be excommunicated or put out of the church because of them.
We must talk to our brother about these kinds of sin, for his eternal life is at stake. So Jesus commands us not to look for specks in our brother's eye. At the same time, Jesus commands us to talk to our brother when he is in serious sin. Love requires both these things. With that in mind, let me tell you a story about a Christian woman who learned a valuable lesson about judging others. I haven't introduced her yet. Her name is Paula Pious.