Judge Not… Part III

In the last couple of weeks we looked at Matthew 7: 1-5 and established that the imperative “Judge not..” was given to believers. Last week I ended by stating that the example given my Christ of 'removing the Plank out from our own eye so that we can see clearly' was a call for self examination.
Let’s now take this a step further.

Matt 7: 6 “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. " NIV

WOW! So after Jesus gives the imperative not to judge your brothers (or fellow believers) he makes a moral judgment telling whom to give the gospel message to. To those that don't study this is a major contradiction, to those that do study it is clear that the imperative “Don’t judge” applies to believers, not unbelievers, and is in fact a call to all to clean up their own act before noting somebody else’s faults. When one understands that this whole section of scripture is a call to believers for self examination, we remove any tension or contradiction. In the culture of the days of Jesus, this was understood, so this is a case where knowledge of cultural context is important.

We are called upon daily to make moral judgments. Keep in mind though, before confronting a brother or sister with their sin, we must examine ourselves first before we run our mouths.
Remember what James wrote:

James 3 7-8
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. NIV

The next time somebody rails to you about being judgmental and uses “Whatever happened to “Judge not lest you be judged…” “you Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites”, you now know the answer.

The best way to attain this lofty goal of self examination and daily repentance is to be in fellowship and to read the word everyday. Use the “One Year Bible” as a guide. I have done this year after year and I keep learning more and more every time through. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, there is an eternity of knowledge in the bible and we have only a lifetime to learn what we can.

Until next the next time, may the LORD bless us and keep us, in Jesus name I pray.