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This post includes sermon notes from Dr. Greg Johnston on Judging Others, which was preached at The Grove Church as part of the “Living in Community with Others” series.

Video:  Susan Boyle on Britain Has Talent.

Last week I caught an episode of Extreme Log Homes on the TV.  They featured three massive and unique log homes that had price tags of 3.5 – 7 million dollars.  The owners of these homes had each gone to great lengths to design and build log homes that, at least in their minds, were priceless.

Something is usually considered priceless when it is special, unique, and rare, and because price is of no consideration to those who seek to obtain it.

Therefore, real Christian love is a priceless commodity.  It is priceless because it is special, unique (to Christians), and extremely rare.  And the truth is that there are few people who are willing to pay the price to obtain it.

One of the easiest areas of failure that a Christian can fall prey to is to develop a judgmental and critical spirit.  It seems so natural to find fault with other people while we ignore our own shortcomings.

Jesus addressed this tendency to criticize others in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 7:1-12

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?    5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 

6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 

12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

T/S:  Today I want to look at the instructions Jesus gave us in dealing with our critical spirit.

We Must Not Condone the Critical Spirit.

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

These words of Jesus are not a quaint request, but an imperative command.  The words, “Do not judge . . .” literally means “stop judging!”

The Greek word krino means to decide between two things and reach a decision.  Jesus said we are not to judge other people.

Why? It seems so natural to criticize and judge others.

Reasons we are not to judge others

1) We are not capable of being a judge.

We don’t have all the facts so we cannot fairly make a decision about others.

Video:  Ameriquest commercial with the cat.

In the NT, Jesus is the only person who referred to other people as hypocrites.  The reason is that He is the only One who knows the inner motives of others, and could therefore determine that they were play-acting.

2) The word judgment  (krima) means to prejudge.

Video:  Shrek

Jesus said we are not to prejudge people before we have all the facts.

3) We pass judgment on ourselves.

2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

There are no double standards with God.  He holds you to the same standards that you set for others.

4)  The judgments of men are fallible and subject to be wrong.

 Even with all the facts (and that is not possible), we can still make wrong decision.

Illustration:  The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1^st – the 3^rd, in 1863.  Four months later the battlefield was dedicated as a cemetery honoring those who had died.

President Abraham Lincoln gave a two minute dedicatory speech that one newspaper declared was the worst Presidential speech ever given.

Yet the Gettysburg Address is considered one of the finest speeches ever delivered by an American President.

5)  A critical Christian is not a loving Christian.

This is especially true when our own sins (log) are greater than those of the person we are criticizing (speck).

Carping criticism is a spiritual sin.  Fleshly sin destroys the body, while spiritual sin destroys our spirit.

God hates all sin, but He looks with the most disfavor on those sins of the spirit such as pride, prejudice, and judgmental criticism.

Jesus called the self-righteous people like the Pharisees hypocrites because they were outwardly clean but inwardly filthy.  Yet He did not use that description of those guilty of the scarlet sins of society because they knew they were sinful.

The attitude we should have as Christians is to clean up our own life and then in humility and kindness to render aid, not criticism to others.

How are we to achieve this?  After all, Jesus is asking a lot from us.

We Must Pray in Order to Conquer the Critical Spirit

6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 

This promise deals generally with prayer, but the specific promise in this passage is for us to gain moral and spiritual discrimination.

We cannot hope to achieve the standard that Jesus sets except through prayer and the power of God.

We are to ask for it, then, as God in His grace gives it, we are to seek it, and we are not to stop until we achieve it.

The three words; ask, seek, and knock are all present imperatives, which means that we are commanded to keep asking, seeking, and knocking all the time.  In other words, we must be persistent.

Jesus tells us that if we are persistent in prayer, we will be successful in overcoming the critical spirit toward others.

We Must Be Proactive to Control Our Critical Spirit

12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

These words can change your life as a Christian from what you are into what Christ wants you to be.

Some say that this teaching is not unique to Jesus.  For example:

Hillel the Hebrew:  “Do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to you.”

Socrates the Greek:  “What stirs your anger when done to you by others; that do not do to others.”

Confucius the Chinese:  “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”

The difference is that theirs is negative and passive, while Jesus’ is positive and proactive.  Theirs is only silver, but Jesus’ is golden.

The reason our souls are shriveled, our witness is blunted, and the fellowship among Christians is destroyed is because we can’t even measure up to the Silver Rule, much less the Golden Rule.

When we allow our critical spirit to control us, we become stumbling blocks to the world instead of stepping stones to God.

Yet we can live by the Golden Rule and overcome our critical spirit by becoming proactive and positive in our actions toward others.

Conclusion:  Are you willing to pay the price of Christian love?  It is high and it calls for persistent prayer and positive action, but the rewards are worth it all.

Illustration:  A little girl was upset that her brother had set out a trap to catch birds, so when she went to bed she prayed that it would not catch any.  The next morning she got up early and went outside and destroyed the trap so it couldn’t catch any birds.

Jesus said we need to pray to overcome a critical spirit, but He also said we need to be proactive in overcoming our tendency to be critical.

It’s that time of year again:  football season!  Some people anticipate this time of year as though it’s the final season of football ever.  The excitement of football seems to capture my attention more than the game itself,and I love football just as much as the next guy.  However, I often wonder why it is we can pack out stadiums each week, scream like some fool that has no sense whatsoever, and spend all kinds of money on tailgates, tickets, and clothing.  Yet when Sunday rolls around we are barely able to fill half of the seats in our worship centers, we sit with a blank dull stare, often fall asleep during the message, tithe as though the church is robbing us, and look forward until the hour is up.  Each year, we make sure to pay homage to the great football god (or any other god of our life for that matter), getting completely drunk on the excitement until we lose all dignity and self respect.

Christians, where is our zeal and passion for Jesus Christ?  When will we lose complete control and become drunk on His Spirit? Ephesians 5:18 says “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”  What exactly does that mean and how can that relate to our lives?  Think about this:  how do we act at football games?  Most of the time we act crazy!  We might even act as though we’re so drunk we have no sense about us.  This Scripture tells us that we should be filled with the Spirit until we are drunk on Him.  When was the last time, if ever, that you came to church with an excitement of losing control for Jesus?  Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you actually let loose and let Jesus control you (and not just on Sundays either)?  What if we stopped caring what the person next to us in church thought about our voice or whether or not we raised our hands.  What if we actually came to church looking for Jesus to fill us?  What if we opened up our hearts and let Him in?  What if we let Jesus have His way?  Would we be changed?  Would this world be changed?  How much different could things be if we allowed Jesus to fill us and control us?  What if we invited people to join us for church like we ask them to go to games with us?  What if we were so passionate about Jesus that we spoke about Him each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday like we do football.  When will Jesus actually take the number 1 place in our lives?  When will we be so broken for Him that nothing else in this world matters?  When???

This life is so temporary that James 4:14b describes it like this:  “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  Since this life is so temporary, what matters?  Does football really matter?  No!  Jesus Christ is all that matters!  Football dies when we die.  Jesus Christ still lives.  My prayer is that we would stop letting other things control us.  Even things that are not bad in and of themselves (football, concerts, outdoor activities, and etc.).  These things in moderation are not bad at all, and every one of us can enjoy them!  However, if we will are filled with them, we leave no room for Jesus.  Therefore, if there’s no room for Him, we cannot be filled with His Spirit.  We cannot be drunk on Him.  My prayer is that we will replace these things with Jesus and allow Him to fill those places.  I pray that people around this world will lose control of their lives and allow Jesus to take control.  Isn’t it time for us to allow Jesus to fill us?  Isn’t it time for football to take its place behind Jesus?

I once had a guy tell me the Bible was “an idol of a dead book”.  The very next sentence that came from his mouth contained a verse of Scripture from the Bible.  These days, I am finding more and more people only want to believe select parts of the Bible.Why do people only seek to believe select parts?  Well, when one leaves out a certain part, it allows them to live however they please (in their life of sin).  The Bible is NOT “an idol of a dead book”, and we must NOT choose to believe only select parts else we run close danger to living apart from Christ.

Another person once told me that the Bible contains errors and flaws.  This person said they believed the Biblical text had been altered.  From over 24,000 original manuscripts of the books of the Bible we have, we know that the original (Greek and Hebrew) text have NOT been altered.  If someone, somewhere along the line altered the translation of the original text, I believe that one of the thousands of scholarly translators would have caught an altercation in texts by now.  We have more manuscripts of books of the Bible than any other book on this planet.  The books of the Bible have been translated more than any text in the history of this world.  So, the Bible being flawed or containing errors is NOT a valid argument.

Both of these people told me they believe God speaks to them in prayer, visions, and etc.  That’s great, and I believe God speaks to us in more ways that just the Bible.  However, we must not throw the Bible out, for we are easily deceived.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”  Obadiah 1:3 says, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you”.  God gave us His word (the Bible) so we can have instructions to follow.  When we become so arrogant to say that God’s word is “an idol of a dead book” or “God’s word to us contains errors or flaws”, we have been deceived by our own heart!  Man’s heart is evil all the time!  Genesis 6:5 states, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.  If our hearts are continually evil and easily deceived, why would we trust only our hearts?  God has given us HIS WORD (the Bible) as a guide to help us understand and know Him and what He desires for us!  God’s word (the Bible) is infallible and inerrant!  Our hearts are continually evil!  Do not be deceived, God gave us His word (the Bible) to teach us how to live our life, and to know Jesus is the Savior of the world.  Read the Bible, believe the Bible, and live by the Bible.

James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

This week, someone I knew personally died from an overdose.  He was 19 years old when he died. Four years ago, he lived in the same house my wife and I lived.  For a year and a half we struggled trying to reach this teenager for Christ.  We never reached him, but I pray that someone did.

As the news of his death hit me, I began to evaluate myself.  I asked myself questions like:  What did he see in me?  Did he see my frustrations with him?  Did he see when I became angry?  Did he see me losing hope? or, Did he see Jesus in me?  Did he see love?  I honestly do not know what he saw in me.  There were times when I would become frustrated, and there were times when I felt angry towards him.  I know that I loved him enough that I wanted him to come to know Christ, but did he see that!?

We are to be salt and light!  Salt to a tasteless people, and light to a dark world.  Are we as Christians being a tasteful light?  Are we doing our part to let people know there’s a better way to find satisfaction?  I will never again be able to speak to this young man and reach him for Christ.  My opportunity for sharing Christ with him has come and gone (though I did share Christ with him on several occasions).  There is an urgency in sharing the love of Christ with people!  No one is guaranteed tomorrow.  Will you be a tasteful light and share the love of Christ with people?

Matthew 5:13-15

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Have you ever bumped into an old friend that you considered to be a lifelong friend,but it turns out they were only a friend to you at that moment in your life?  Not long ago, I lost every contact in my phone.  Most of the people I considered friends contacted me within a month, and I received their phone numbers again.  However, there was one contact in my phone I considered to be a great friend.  After about 2 months with no call from this contact, I searched on the internet, found this person’s place of employment, and contacted this person.  I spent about 20 strange minutes on the phone before the realization hit me:  “This is not a great friend – this is not even a good friend anymore.”

Friendship with Jesus is not something we have to worry about.  Jesus calls us “Friend”!  He is such a great friend that He laid down His life for us!  It is a joy and a comfort to know that someone so amazing loves you and me so much.  There are no worries about whether or not Jesus will contact us back.  In fact, Jesus wants to talk with us daily.  It’s up to us to reach out to talk with Him everyday!

John 15:12-15

¹² “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends.”