Jesus' Judgments on Judging!

    The balance and beauty of the teaching of Jesus Christ continues to
amaze me. Unlike so many of the messages that daily bombard our ears
and seek entry into our hearts, the teaching of Jesus never goes to a
fanatical extreme or emphasizes one facet of a truth to the neglect or
distortion of another. One passage that clearly illustrates this balance is
found in Matthew 7:1-6. The six verses skillfully and succinctly
address a subject where so many go to one extreme or the other - the
subject of judging. The verses read as follows: 1 "Judge not, that you be
not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why
do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the
plank in your own eye? 4 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?  
5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 Do not give
what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." Those six
short verses contain Jesus' judgments on judging. They are concise and
clear and conclusive. We can only briefly consider them here.
      "Judge not, that you be not judged." Frequently quoted, these words
are often used in an attempt to say something completely out of sync with
the tone of the rest of the passage! The passage is not an "escape"
clause that justifies and legitimizes any and every kind of belief, behavior,
relationship or lifestyle, no matter how immoral. The judging Jesus judges
in the passage is clear. He rebukes hyper-critics who search and dig for
even the minutest amount of dirt in other people's lives, or, to use Jesus'
metaphor, eyes. They are bent on finding in their brother or sister's eye
a "mote" or, as the New King James Version says, "a speck." Here's where
the balance in the passage becomes clear. Jesus did not say a "speck" in
a person's eye is a little thing or that it should be ignored. His beef is
not with those who seek to help others    deal with a "speck" in the eye. His
criticism is aimed at critics who find it so easy to "look at the speck in
your brother's eye" but who "do not consider the plank in your own eye."
Their sense of propriety and fairness is all out of whack! These speck-
inspectors and eye-gougers poke around recklessly in other people's eyes, even while a "plank" the size of a log or floor joist is sticking out of their own eye/life. Talk about "the pot calling the kettle black!"
     The Lord's directive is clear - first get the "planks" (read "big" sins) out of your own life, and then you can see more clearly to help others with their "speck-sized" sins (see Galatians 6:1-2). It's not judging per se Jesus condemns or forbids. Re-read verse 6 above. The gospel of truth is a holy pearl in our hands - and Jesus clearly expects us to be able to recognize the "dogs and hogs" who would devalue and destroy it and us if given the opportunity. On one hand Jesus judges speck-hunters who are hyper-critical and hypocritical. On the other hand He judges those who are unwilling to judge between a pig and pearl. Those are Jesus' judgments about judging. Think about it.

-- by Dan Gulley,