Don't Judge Others It Doesn't Work! - Luke 6

Judging Others

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ⁴¹ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

When we look out on society today, we see that being judgmental of others is rampant.  The "left" blames the "right", the "right" blames the "left" and it sells really well on cable news.  As we look at the "Corona Virus" outbreak we are starting to see people work together for the good of all.  It is a delightful break from the politicization of the pandemic.  Jesus had a lot to say about being a judgmental persons.  He was constantly in the presence of the Pharisees, who were highly judgmental toward him and everyone but themselves.  They watched Jesus' every move looking to accuse him of breaking some part of the Jewish Law. 

So, Jesus teaches his disciples about judging today.  He tells the disciples to spend more time looking at their own shortcomings rather than constantly trying to point out others.  He points out the tendency of judgmental people to point out petty things in other's lives, while neglecting their own glaring problems.  The thing about judging others is that it always keeps the attention off of one's self.  If I can point out your sin, I don't have to worry about mine.

But Jesus takes another angle at the effect of a judgmental attitude. He relates it to forgiveness.  With forgiveness it is about me recognizing my own sin and asking for forgiveness in humility.  As I truly recognize my own sin and realize my need for someone outside of me (Jesus) to pay the debt for my sin, how can I be harsh and judgmental toward others.  The more I truly I understand the confession we make in the Lutheran church, "I am in bondage to sin and cannot free myself", the less I can be judgmental.   

Jesus gives a great visual example.  He says before you point out of the speck of sawdust in your neighbor's eye, take a look at the logjam in your own.  As we look at the log in our own eye and are forgiven of it, we are freed up to forgive our neighbor for theirs.  It puts it all in perspective. 

So let's be honest, we all judge others all the time.  I think this is a forgiveness issue.  The more we understand how much we have beem forgiven and the love that motivated it, the less we will be likely to judge our neighbors.  So I challenge you during this time of crisis we are in.  Spend less time judging others and more time helping and building them up.  Now is the time for us to live as forgiven sons and daughters of God and show the world what this means!