Matthew 7:1 “do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
The Sermon on the Mount is by far Jesus’ longest explanation of what it looks like to live as His follower and to serve as a member of God’s Kingdom…in many ways…Jesus’ teachings on the Sermon on the Mount represent the major ideals of the Christian life.
In the time we have spent looking at the sermon we have talked about some of these ideas Jesus taught about such as: prayer…being salt and light…caring for the needy…the religious law…anger…murder…divorce…oaths…fasting…worrying in addition to the Beatitudes [Matt. 5:3-12] and the Lord’s Prayer [Matt.6:9-13].
Matthew 5:3-12 –
The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:13-16 –
Salt and Light
Matthew 5:17-20 –
Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law
Matthew 5:21-26 –
Anger and Murder
Matthew 5:27-30 –
Lust and Adultery
Matthew 5:31-32 –
Divorce and Remarriage
Matthew 5:33-37 –
Oaths
Matthew 5:38-42 –
Eye for an Eye
Matthew 5:43-48 –
Love your enemies
Matthew 6:1-4 –
Give to the Needy
Matthew 6:5-15 –
How to Pray
Matthew 6:16-18 – Fasting
Matthew 6:19-24 – Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6:25-34 – worry
In the end, Jesus made it clear that His followers should live a life that is noticeably different than how other people live…because His followers are held to a much higher standard of conduct than the rest of the world…a standard of love and selflessness that Jesus Himself embodied when He died on the cross for our sins.
It’s interesting that many of Jesus’ teachings are commands for His followers to live by…and they include stricter requirements than even what society imposes on itself…if society would take the lessons from Jesus’ life and apply it to society as a whole…it would benefit the entire world.
When applied they also benefit us spiritually as well as physically…because in reality…we all live under ‘law’. There are many types of laws:
…Criminal Law pertains to crimes and punishment.
…Civil Law deals with the private relations between members of a community.
…Common Law where decisions are made by judges in courts.
…Scientific laws of mathematics, physics and chemistry.
…lastly there are ‘moral laws’ which might be defined as a set of rules of behavior that an individual or group follow from their personal conscience…usually to the benefit of the community.
Sadly however, it is the last type of law…the moral laws…that are not part of the legislated laws…and therefore are not legally enforceable.
Because moral laws are not legislated laws…when society or any group of people decide to develop their own standards of conduct and morality, they begin to judge …and demand that everyone comply to their self-made beliefs and standards.
We are witnessing unprecedented moral erosion in America under the blanket of progressivism…in our “progressive,” politically-correct society it’s becoming taboo to say you are a Christian or that you believe in moral absolutes or that you believe the Bible is the Word of God.
After all, everything changes…societal values shift across distance and time… morals…values…and beliefs of society have changed throughout centuries …at times even the idea of what is right and wrong is up for discussion.
The results of science and education some suggest has caused changes that are really ‘improvements’ in the area of social values…which continue to change as a result of cultural and social improvements.
Here’s the problem…removing God as the nation’s moral conscience and replacing those morals with those independent from any Christian influence will have an effect on our Christian freedoms…believing otherwise is being deficient in the knowledge of history.
When God’s moral laws are distorted to be more acceptable to the general populace it’s an indicator that we are quickly becoming a nation without God.
Then to add to this dilemma…the church passively sits by and watches Christian morals being substituted with humanist ideas.
America’s landscape proves that…our nation was founded on religion…BUT … religious beliefs and practice have been declining at a rapid pace for people of all ages…most notable among ages 23 to 38.
In a survey conducted just this year…40% of people surveyed between ages 23 to 38 say they have no religious affiliation.
Between 2002 and 2016 the percent of people who considered themselves to be nonreligious went from 10% to 18%. https://pushpay.com/blog/church-attendance/
In the past 24 years, there’s been a 15 percent drop in regular church attendance.
What these statistics mean is these numbers are only going to get worse…in the range of people over the age of 40 the percent of people attending church is between 43 to 52% …while in the age range of people between the age of 23 and 37 only 28%.
When adults don’t see a need to attend church this is passed down to their children …so basically new young members are few and far between…when parents see no need to be in church…the children see no need to be in Church.
When there is no Godly moral conviction in a society this means that the continued existence of the country is at stake.
We see growing evidence of this in America…the church at one time was a sacred place… no one, not even the most hardened criminal would think of stealing from a church…much less walking into a church and murdering people in God’s house.
Church doors historically have been left open for people to come in and pray… they’re now locked…our doors are locked during the day…we live in different times.
When God is removed as the nation’s moral conscience…believing that government can take on the function of establishing moral laws because they’re more politically acceptable, is a nation in serious trouble.
Is government important…YES…governments are established by God for His purposes…But…willingly giving up our Christian morals and values because it’s politically correct…believing it will safeguard our freedoms…has been proven to be a fallacy.
Historical evidence of what happens when the church passively sits and watches morals being eroded can be seen from Babylon to Rome and from Lenin’s Russia to Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
The Bible clearly teaches that God judges nations in time…Romans 1, Paul gives the history of a nation that forgets God:
1) it turns to false religions,
2) it becomes bogged down in immorality and violence,
3) then God judges it.
When as individuals…as a people…as a nation…we repeatedly scorn God’s ways and continually follow paths that are destructive and immoral…we will eventually pay a price…we will pay as a nation…leading to conflict and social disruption and widespread evil…and we will pay as individuals.
The entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is to make it clear that His followers should live a life that is noticeably different than how other people live…BUT…
Living a life that is based on Christians’ principles will result in you being labeled as not being in a “politically correct religion.”
There are some denominations where being politically correct in their doctrine is more important than being Biblically sound…even once traditional and Bible-believing denominations are embracing the attitudes and practices of our culture… if you look at the political scene today…mainline Christianity and traditional Christians are facing increasing intolerance in this country.
That is why as Southern Baptists we are not a part of the World Council of Churches…which a far-left political organization more than a religious one.
Public disdain of the Church and for Christians is because the church lacks tolerance and inclusivism with other systems of beliefs including sects and cults.
No amount of PR work is going to rescue the church from being thought of by some as…backwards…bigoted…and outdated…despite the good that Churches and church related groups do in this country.
You can’t nice your way into cultural acceptance…and continue to hold traditional biblical views on gender and sexuality…they cancel each other out.
When Christians profess their beliefs regarding such controversial issues as the humanist support, we are quickly labeled as biased…and judgmental.
Christianity is being shunned for popular cults…new age religions…and non-traditional beliefs and practices…those who hold to traditional Christianity are dwindling…people are running to anything that promises limitless freedom and tolerance.
American Humanist Society…whose motto is–Good without a God…is an organization that submits people can find common ground on the issues of moral values without having to appeal to or even have knowledge of a divine set of rules…in other words…don’t need God for this.
In essence…they believe morals should be derived without the influence of the Church…their humanist values become a religion in themselves…let’s look at the morals which are derived from a humanist viewpoint:
—A fetus is not a human life…the decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a women regrading her own body…government should stay out. killing the unborn (Jer 1.5)
—the Second Amendment gives no individual the right to own a gun…the government will take care of you.
—Should be separation of church and state…religious expression has no place in government. abandoned God and embraced other gods? (Exod. 20.3 / Judges 2)
—Prohibiting same-sex citizen from marrying denies them their civil rights abandoned the biblical concept of absolute truth, of right and wrong (particularly in the case of sexual morality) and replaced it with ‘equality’? (Isa 59.14). sodomy (Lev 18.22)
—Support higher taxes and a larger government…higher taxes enable the government to do good and create jobs. http://www.primohistory.com/Conservative%20vs%20Liberals.pdf
All these talking points are specifically addressed in the Bible…when a nation…or any group of people develop laws based on morals that are independent from any Christian influence…that country is in for serious internal conflict.
I’ve said all that so I can finally get to today’s verse… [Matthew 7:1] “do not judge, or you too will be judged.” …Jesus says this verse in response to what it means to live faithfully as a committed follower of His…one who pursues holiness out of reverence for God.
Unfortunately, this verse has been used countless times during contentious conversations or used in defense by people when confronted about their behavior …for one purpose…to shut you up.
Their argument is: “Aren’t we all sinners? What gives us the right to make moral judgments about someone else? Isn’t that God’s job?”
I’m convinced the Bible’s commands to not judge others does not mean we are not to show discernment…I’ll put this verse alongside [Romans 8:28] –God causes all things to work together for your good—those two verses are the most profoundly misunderstood and frequently misapplied verse in the entire Bible…a verse used and abused by both Christians and non-Christians alike.
Jesus didn’t mean that we should not identify sin for what it is…and call it out for what it is…Jesus taught that…a) There are times when we must judge…b) There are times when it is appropriate to point out the faults in others.
Here’s what’s amazing…non-Christians…who either don’t believe the Bible is God’s revealed Word…or don’t care…like to use this against Christians when discussing some of the topics that I’ve mentioned…abortion…same sex marriage …living together outside of marriage
They mishandle this verse using it as a “shield for sin,” a barrier to keep others at bay…in doing so they accomplish two things:
- It allows them to justify living as they please without any regard for moral boundaries or accountability.
- It causes Christians to clam up because they feel they have been too judgmental …so I’ll just be quiet.
Jesus didn’t make a blanket statement against judging…He simply pointed out RULES for judging…Jesus defined what ‘kind’ of judging He is condemning…He gives us clues as to the right type of judgment vs the wrong type:
—Superficial judgment Passing judgment on someone based solely on appearances or heresay before investigating the facts.
—Hypocritical judgment When we point out the sin of others while we ourselves commit the same sin, we condemn ourselves [Rom. 2:1] …we show ourselves to be hypocrites.
—Harsh, unforgiving judgment We are “always to be gentle toward everyone” [Titus 3:2] …Jesus warned, “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged [Matt. 7:2].
—Self-righteous judgment We are called to humility… “God opposes the proud” [Jas 4:6].
—Untrue judgment The Bible clearly forbids bearing false witness [Prov. 19:5] … “Slander no one” [Titus 3:2] or …lying about someone.
—Judging without mercy and love Making judgments without showing mercy will result in no mercy will be shown when we are judged [James 2:13 / Lk 6:36-37 / Matt. 7:2].
What’s wrong with America…it’s not the Congress…what’s wrong with America is the church is passively sitting by watching the Church becoming ‘worldly Christianized’ and not ‘judging’ what is going on in America.
In this verse…Jesus is implying that there are times when we ‘must’ make judgements…it’s time for Christians to get judgmental and stop being impartial and accepting the label of being in a “politically correct religion.”
It’s time for Christians to get serious…all the things that are happening in America will only get worse because the Church won’t take a stand against evil.
It’s time for Christians to start judging…being vocal and judgmental against those who would abrogate Christian values.
It’s time for Christians to start being judgmental against those who refuse to take a biblical position on issues that are in direct defilement of God’s commandments.
God’s truth has not changed…the holy Scriptures have not changed…the gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed…the church’s mission has not changed.
It’s time for Christians take a biblical stand on issues in this country…we cannot be passive on life’s issues…as salt and light we cannot be silent…we are called to be the people of the truth even when the truth is not popular and even when the truth is denied by the culture around us.