Judge Not, Or Whatever

Good morning, everybody. Good morning. All right, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab them. Open them up. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 7 this week. Um, as we continue walking through our series in the Sermon on the Mount.

Um, again, we're just kind of spending a few months here in the Sermon on the Mount, going verse by verse in it. Um, and we're coming to chapter 7. So, we're in the third chapter of it. We we'll be in it for a couple of weeks. Um, and what we're kind of looking at here is Jesus really just kind of steeping into the the culture of what the Pharisees, what the teachers, what the scribes, what what they have been teaching the people in regards to the law. Jesus isn't just sort of coming in and just teaching something different, but he's actually exposing the true meaning of what they missed.

And so, they've come in and they've been teaching the people, here's how you're supposed to live. here's how you're supposed to operate your life. Here's how you're supposed to think. And Jesus is actually showing up and saying, you've heard it said this way, but instead I actually want to show you the ultimate meaning of this. And so, he's not necessarily changing anything, but he's actually getting under the surface in order for them to understand because the reality is, and it's very similar with our culture today, is that our culture doesn't know truth. It doesn't know truth.

It thinks it knows truth and it and it believes all these different things and it's really at the end of the day it's just kind of the the hamster on the wheel. It's just spinning and spinning and spinning trying to figure out what is ultimately going to be satisfying to their lives. What's ultimately going to help them thrive or or maybe believe what they think is going to thrive and and it's actually just never going to get there. And that's what we kind of refer to as relativism. It's it's whatever I think is right is what I want to or how I want to order my life and live my life and design my life. And at the end of the day, if it's not anchored in the truth that God has ultimately provided for us and established for us because he created us, if it's not anchored there, then then we're never going to get it right.

You know, there's a way that seems right to a man, as Proverbs 14:12 says, and it leads to destruction. it just doesn't work out for us when we try to redefine truth or redefine our lives in a very specific way. And so as as Jesus is unpacking this sermon on the mount to the people, what he's really doing is he's taking the truth that God's already revealed to them in the Old Testament law and according to the prophets, and he's diving deeper into the meaning of it, the heart behind this good law that he provided to them, and ultimately seeing that only in himself can it be fulfilled. that even though he dives a little bit deeper into it, it's not so that oh, now we have the secret. Now we have the key to be able to unlock the law. Now we have the key to to be able to doing it perfectly.

No, no, no. It's actually meant to ultimately reveal to us that it's impossible impossible for us to live this out in such a way to where we would be considered righteous. And that's why again he talks about the biatitudes as not this checklist of if you are meek or if you are poor in spirit or if you are humble or if you are persecuted well then here's blessings for everybody. But rather seeing that because perfection is the standard and you're unable to measure up to that perfection, it causes you to be poor in spirit. It causes you to have this this realization that I am spiritually bankrupt, that I cannot do it on my own, and therefore I'm poor in spirit. I'm spiritually bankrupt.

I can't pay you what I owe you in order to be in relationship with you. And so, he flips the whole thing on its head in order for us to get to a place where we're able to say, "Well then, Lord, who who can be perfect? Who can be righteous?" He says, "Exactly. Blessed are you when you come to that reality and see that there has to be an external person who comes in to earn this for you in your place." And so then he begins to unpack that even further as he gets into chapter six when he starts talking about our needs and when he starts talking about our worries and our anxieties.

He starts talking about what he ultimately provides for us. again, not if we seek those things out first, but if we ultimately have a relationship with him first. All of these things are provided for us because we're children of him. And so, he's reorienting this for us. And he continues driving this point home by saying that this type of idea, this type of living, when you are a Christian following Jesus versus someone of the world following a pattern of the world, when you're living this way, there's a way in which we live. There's a way in which we operate.

There's a way in which we view others based on how God has viewed us. And so we come to chapter seven and he starts talking about this idea of judgment. This idea of judgment. And I'll ask the question like, has anyone in here ever judged anybody before? Like by a show of hands, we should all be raising our hands. Okay.

We We've all caught ourselves silently judging someone. Whether it's the way they look, the way they talk, the car they drive, the school they went to, the cleanliness of their home, or lack thereof. Whether we realize it or not, we've all fallen into this category of of casting some type of judgment on someone. I mean, you might walk into a coffee shop. I walk into coffee shops often, and and you just you natural you size people up. If they're wearing a red hat, you're thinking they voted a certain way.

If they have purple hair, you're thinking they voted a certain way. You immediately start thinking this way. Maybe you're in a grocery store and you see someone's kids just going like acting like tornadoes. You're judging their parenting ability. I'll go on record saying that I think the most judgmental people are couples without kids. Because we used to be that.

And when we saw kids who were crazy, we used to think, I mean, our kids aren't going to be that. and our kids aren't here right now. They're hopefully on their way. But um but you've probably judged us at times because of how our kids act. Now, whenever I see couples like in grocery stores with kids that are just like ransacking the place, I make it a point to go to the parents and just be like, "You're doing a great job. Like, just hang in there.

Like, I know these these little sinners are insane, but we don't know their stories. We've already put labels on them. And here's the thing. Someone's doing the same thing to you. Someone's doing the same thing to you. Someone's judging you.

Someone's judging me right now in this moment. To have someone assume the worst about you is not a fun thing, right? We don't like that. We live in a world like that, don't we? Cancel culture. That's still a thing.

That's still in full swing. We're quick to criticize, quick to condemn, quick to cancel. The irony is that the world preaches a culture of inclusivism and tolerance as long as you agree with what they say it should be and then they are no longer inclusive and tolerant. I mean, what does James say? James 1:19. Know this, my beloved brothers.

Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. That's not our world we live in. If anything, the digital age has taught us to be slow to hear, quick to speak, quick to anger. It's because they don't know how to judge rightly. But here's the good news. Jesus shows us a better way.

In Matthew 7, he goes he gives us a road mapap for how we live with God, how we live with people, and how we live with ourselves. And it's summed up in one powerful principle. Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them. We call this the golden rule. Most everyone in the world knows this rule. Unfortunately, they don't know what it means or even actually how to apply it.

So, let's be honest with ourselves for a second. Our relationships are messy. Families are fractured. Friendships are fragile. Our cultures divided. I mean, there used to be a day where vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores would hang out on a Friday night as a group of friends.

Why? Because there was a there used to be no such thing as vegans and vegetarians and carnivores. Everyone just ate food. But now because there's so many categories of of of what we land in and what we think about and how we identify ourselves that all we are doing is casting judgment on everyone that's outside of our categories. But what if there's another way for us to be able to live with one another? That's why one of our values as a church is to belong in authentic.

We want you to be who you truly are, but also in diverse community. Now, we want to be common around what the Bible says, but at the same time diverse in the sense of ethnic background, socioeconomic status, generational background. Like we want there to be diversity among our people. But in order to get that, we have to understand how do we rightly judge? Because if we don't know, if we don't understand how to rightly judge, all it's going to do is divide because that's what we will do is we will separate and we will divide. And so Matthew 7 1-12 help helps us with this.

And so let's walk through it together. Let's look at the text starting in verse one. the most or one of the most misinterpreted or misconstrued verses in probably all of the Bible. Judge not that you be not judged. Now, let me just stop there. I'm not going to stop at all verses, but let me just stop here for just a moment.

The world loves this verse. They don't have a lot of verses memorized, but this one they have memorized because they believe it means that they can do whatever they want and live however they want. There's nothing that you can do or say about it. That's how they operate this. That's how they impact this or use this verse. You can't judge me because the Bible tells you you can't judge me.

Well, wrong. That's a misinterpretation of the Bible. Jesus absolutely judged people. He absolutely judged people in the sense that he called out their wrongdoing, showed them the correct way to live, and then invited and called them into it. That that's what he did. Woman at the well calling her a prostitute because she has five husbands.

Zakius calling him a thief. Judas calling him a betrayer, the Pharisees calling them whitewashed tombs, Peter calling him Satan at one point. I mean, that was casting a judgment on Peter. Peter, stop acting this way. Stop thinking this way. Stop following something that is not of me.

He's judging him in that moment. Jesus judged people based on the truth about their actions and motives and then called them to repent of those sins, stopped doing them, and then turn to follow Jesus and do what he says instead. Galatians 6:1 tells us, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgressions, that's sin. If anyone's caught in any sin, if you if you see any of your brothers or sisters in Christ, if you see them in sin, doing something that is outside of the biblical design on how God wants them to live, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself as well, lest you two be tempted. You see that?

Keep watch on yourself part. Keep that in mind as we continue reading this. Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye?" 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. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask him? So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

Let's stop and pray for a moment real quick. Father, we know that there is no way that we can understand your word without the Holy Spirit guiding us in understanding this truth. Father, we know that judging is an issue that we all face, that we all um have a problem with on a daily basis. We size people up. We cast um our own preconceived notions on other people. Um we have our own perspectives and our own thoughts and our own preferences.

And oftentimes if other people don't align with those uh we might judge in an unhealthy way. And so, Father, as we look to your word this morning, we know that you have an intended meaning for us to understand how it is that we are to go about judging others in a productive way that actually leads to them treasuring you and following you. Father, would you help us learn that this morning? Not just in our minds, but in our hearts so that it would shape and mold us to be more like Jesus and less like our judgmental selves. So, Father, help us this morning. It's in your name we pray.

Amen. First thing I want you to see here in verses 1-5 is that we are to live with correct judgment. We are to live with correct judgment. Once again, it says, "Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged." Jesus is not saying we should never confront sin.

That's what the world wants us to believe, which allows them to continue on doing whatever they want to do. Jesus isn't saying we should never confront sin, but he is saying that we should start with humility. We should start with humility. Before you go dip uh digging for the speck in someone else's eye, you need to deal with the plank that is in your own eye. If I were to ever use an object lesson, this would have been like a lowhanging fruit to be able to just bring in a toothpick and a 2x4. We want to look for the toothpick in other people's eyes and judge them.

But oftentimes the the reason why we want to do that is because it makes us feel better about the fact that we have a plank in our own. As long as we're pushing blame on someone else and focusing and highlighting whatever sin it is that is in their life, it allows us in the moment to temporarily forget about the fact that there's a log in ours, that there's sin in our own lives. It's so much easier to critique someone else than to confess our own mess. But Jesus says here, "Your self-awareness should always exceed your criticism of others." In other words, Christian judgment is when you call out someone's sin for the purpose of calling them to Jesus forgiveness and Christian community because you have first experienced that yourself. So you've come to realize the sin that is in your life.

God has called you out of that in order to repent of it, to stop doing it, to receive grace and mercy and forgiveness, and then to be united and reconciled with him, and then receive the joy of participating in a Christian community, the church. Like that's what he's called us into. And it's actually a beautiful thing to have brothers and sisters who when we are walking out of step with the spirit of God to say, "Hey, I think you're walking out of step with the spirit of God. I don't think this is leading to joy in your life. I think this is leading to further destruction in your life." And we're just wanting you to pull back a little bit and to reconsider because we've been there.

We've walked through that. We've done those things. So Christian judgment is when you call out someone's sin for the purpose of calling them to Jesus. Forgiveness in Christian community because you've experienced it yourself. Worldly judgment is when you call out someone's sin for the purpose of condemning them to hell, hoping that they pay for what they did and then casting them far away from your community. That's worldly judgment.

The hard truth is the world is telling everyone that all Christians want to do is judge someone for the purpose of condemning them to hell. Hoping that they pay for what they did and casting them as far away from the community as possible. That's what the world views Christians. That that's how we operate. We just want to go around telling everybody that they're going to hell because of the way that they're living that is contrary to the way that we're living. Now, we know that that's not true as Christians, but unfortunately, sometimes the reason why we've gotten that banner or reputation is because the way in which we judge others does very much come across like you're going to hell and you need to separate from us.

It doesn't cross often times as someone who has known we are in that position of going to hell and has received grace and mercy and forgiveness from a good savior. Unfortunately, to counter their narrative, Christians pull back and we don't judge at all because we've been blacklisted as narrowminded and bigots and hate, you know, hateful. Instead of trying to show them a correct way to judge, we actually just move into a posture of not judging at all, never saying anything, never speaking truth. And Josh McFersonson, a pastor up in the Pacific Northwest, says that's when Christians are trying to out compassion Jesus. Think about it. We're trying to out compassion Jesus.

In other words, I'm going to have so much compassion and love for them that I'm never going to rain on their parade. I'm not going to break the bad news to them. I'm not going to tell them that the consequences of their choices is an eternity in hell for paying for their sins. So we either never judge which is unhelpful or we actually judge correctly by telling them the bad news accompanied with the good news or we judge with the motive that you are evil and worthy of condemnation which is what Jesus is condemning in this specific text. He's not saying that you can't judge rightly in the sense that you call out the sin bad news, but then provide for them the good news of what Jesus offers them and invite them into that. What the the type of judgment that Jesus is condemning in this moment is the type of judgment that doesn't give them good news and just condemns them to hell.

That's the kind of judgment that we are not allowed to give ever. And what Jesus is doing in this moment is he's teaching us that's not how God judged you. He could have, but he chose a different way. God chose to not condemn you for your sins, but offer you mercy and grace so that by faith you could repent of your sin and be restored to communion with God. Why on earth then why on earth then would we condemn others when that's not what God has done for us? Well, the point of the speck and the plank is to show you that the main reason you are condemning someone else is because you just still don't stand in the position of condemned yourself.

The main reason why you condemn others is because you are still condemned. Condemned people condemn people. It's like trying to perform delicate eye surgery on someone else's toothpick while you've got a 2x4 sticking out of your face. you're condemned and yet drawing out you're condemning someone else. On the flip side, graced people give grace to people. Merciful people extend mercy to people.

That's why when you go back to the biatitudes, blessed are those who are merciful because they've received mercy. They are merciful people. They are extending mercies to others because they're going around telling everyone else, "Hey, I used to think like you. I used to live like you. I used to put all my hope in in a different way of life that was contrary to what God has provided for us in the scriptures." And it didn't work out for me.

And I'm just trying to tell you that that way doesn't work. And instead, God showed me grace and mercy and extended to me a love and a forgiveness that this world cannot provide for me. and it actually satisfied my soul. And I want you to be able to experience that. So I need you to understand that you need to stop doing things this way because it doesn't work and instead believe Jesus and what he's offering for us and live it out and do it. Be a part of it.

Come and see what Jesus has done for you. This is the heart behind the golden rule. It's not just allow others to do what they want so that you can do what you want. No, the heart behind the golden rule is, are you as gracious to others as God has been with you? Are you as gracious to others as God has been with you? The second thing I want you to see here in verse six is we need to also live with discernment.

Live with discernment. Do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your pearls before pigs. Now, this verse feels strange right after talking about not judging someone because now that kind of sounds like you should judge them based on what you give them and don't give them and withhold and so forth. But here's the balance. Mercy doesn't mean being naive. There are times when people will reject truth.

They will mock holiness. They will abuse kindness. It doesn't mean that you don't extend it to them, but it might mean that if they're going to continue in a posture of rejecting, you've done your job in showing them the gospel and you pray that the Holy Spirit does a work in their life. But if they are going to continue rejecting and rejecting and rejecting instead of maybe just continuing to just focus on that one person, you shift and start focusing on other people but still offer a time of prayer for them. Not like and hear this that we have to discern this because there might be someone in this room who has a child who is um you know kind of like that prodigal son that you're like I'm never going to give up on them. This is not what we're saying.

But what we are saying is, for example, walking down the the the street this last week and sharing the gospel with somebody that as I'm sharing the gospel with this specific house and we're in a 45minute conversation because they they they profess to be Muslim, although I said they were like semi-Muslim because they weren't as Muslim as they thought they were. I think I knew more about the Quran than they did. But at the same time, as we're as we're walking through and and having so much conversation, this 45 minute um talk and just sharing the gospel, if I were to go day after day after day after day after day after day and just keep spinning in the same conversation, at some point I need to go to their neighbor's house. At some point, I need to go across their street because again, time is urgent. We want the gospel to spread. We want the word of God to spread.

And so we need to just make sure that when we are bring or judging and at the same time inviting people into the gospel, we need to do it in an effective way. That's what we're saying here. Just discern this process. And so Jesus says, be gracious, but also be wise in this. Live in the tension. Be compassionate, but don't be careless in it.

The third thing, live with dependence on God. This is verses 7 through 11. Because when we're talking about judging, you are going to need to live in the dependence on God. Because the most natural thing for us to do as former condemned people that are still growing in this gospel, still growing in this becoming like Jesus. One of the natural things for us to do as condemned people is to condemn people. Just because you become a believer doesn't mean that overnight I have no prejudice left in my bones.

I I have no racism left in me. I have no issues with other people. I now love everybody. Sure. Until you meet someone who's different than you and you cast judgment and you're like, "Hold up a second. I thought I was a Christian.

I thought I don't do that anymore." We're still training and we're still discipling and we're still growing in the gospel. And so, we're going to need the dependence of the Lord to help us walk through this process. This is the key to everything Jesus is saying. You can't live like this in your own strength. We can't if we needed Jesus to save us and forgive us.

We need Jesus to sanctify us. We need Jesus to finish the work that he started in us. If he's ultimately the one who justifies us and ultimately the one who glorifies us, he's ultimately the one who sanctifies us. And so you can't mature yourself. So in all things, we must be dependent upon the spirit of God to do this work in us. Which means every single morning when you wake up, this is why going back to to chapter six, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will provide be provided for you.

Seek first. How do we do that? Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. When we ask, he gives.

When we seek, he shows us. When we knock, he opens the door. And again, don't forget who you're asking. He's a good father. He says, "Man, even if even if those who are evil give good gifts, how much more does our good father want to provide for those who are considered his sons and daughters?" Pray for the grace we need to see people the way God sees them in the context of this.

I mean, golden rule with the judging. He puts this prayer in the middle of this of asking for what you need in order to treat people the way that you want to be treated or to ultimately treat people the way that God has treated you. What he's saying there is this is probably going to be the hardest thing that you do in your entire life. It's going to be harder than you building a career. It's going to be harder than you raising a family. It's going to be hard.

Like the way you treat others, just relationships is going to be one of the hardest things that you encounter throughout the world. Because again, think about it. What are the great commandments? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, strength. Well, first of all, that was impossible for us to do. So Jesus had to step in to help us love the Lord our God with all our heart, strength, mind, and soul by earning for us a life in which he did that perfectly and then removes from us the fact that we didn't do that perfectly.

We sinned against a good God. We disobeyed the God who created us. Jesus never did. He perfectly obeyed him. And so he earned for us the righteousness. He removed our unrighteousness and he granted it to us so that we could live with God and love God the way that Jesus has always lived with God and has loved God.

He grants that to us. It's a gift. Nothing we could earn. And then the second thing is, and he says it's like the first, love your neighbor as yourself. Golden rule basically summed up What he's saying there is there's two relationships in the world that have to be reconciled for you to be considered righteous and Christian and living eternity with God. You got to be reconciled to God, being able to love him forever.

And you also have to be reconciled with creation, the world, one another. I think unfortunately what Christianity has provided or has created a reputation of is that we're reconciled to God, but we're not willing to be reconciled with others. We're reconciled to God, but everyone else is just evil and sinners, and eventually the Lord's going to come back. And those who have done a great job get to go back to heaven with him. And everyone else, they get what they deserve. That's the reputation Christianity has received for itself because I believe we focus so much on the first rule not realizing that it was actually a singular command.

What's the greatest commandment? Not commandments. Commandment. And he sums up all of the Old Testament in those two things that you are to love God and love others. That's what the gospel does. That's what the gospel does.

And so if we need Jesus to reconcile us to God, we need Jesus to reconcile us to one another. And so you got to ask for it and you got to seek it. Jesus like and and one of the best ways to do that is just to look at how Jesus dealt with the 12. Look at how he dealt with the 12. Now, I wouldn't say go around like when someone does something like if anyone in this room, if you're in a community group on one of our nights when we kick those back off here in a few weeks, if someone says something or someone does something like if someone's cooking a steak and they cook it medium well, don't say, "Satan, get behind us." Like, don't call them out for doing something dumb like in that way.

Like G, yes, Jesus called Peter Satan, but there was there was some reason behind it. We are to judge one another. We are to correct one another. But we are to do it in the way ultimately that God has judged us. While we were still enemies of him, he loved us by demonstrating his love by sending his son Jesus to die for us, to forgive us, and to grant us grace. So we got to ask for as much grace as possible when it comes to reconciliation with one another and also how we treat the world around us.

Again, I think Jesus dealt harshly with those who put the the posture up that we are godly but not living it. Those were the ones he dealt the most harshly with. You're a bunch of whitewashed tombs. You're a bunch of hypocrites. You're you're acting one way, but you're actually not that way on the inside. Which is why I think ultimately he gives us the beatitudes in the way that he does it by saying, "Yeah, good job.

You're you're patting yourself on the back for never committing adultery physically, but have you ever lusted at someone in your own mind? Congratulations. You've never murdered anyone physically, but have you ever been angry with someone in your heart? Like when you start working through those, again, Jesus is harsh with those in his day that were saying, "No, we we got our ticket to heaven because look how awesome we are." Doesn't work that way. But when it comes to those who were lost, the woman at the well, Jesus did call out her sin, but it seemed way more tender and gentle and kind than him calling out the sin of the Pharisees with a whip.

I mean, he used a weapon in that moment to call out their sin when he entered in the week of his crucifixion. And so, how we treat others matters. And so, the last one is we need to live the golden rule. Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them. This is a summary of it all. You don't want to be harshly judged, so don't judge someone harshly.

You want mercy when you mess up, so give mercy to others when they mess up. You want kindness, understanding, and patience, so show it to others as well. Like I've said this multiple times, when we are sharing the good news, the gospel, when we're advancing the word of God to the world around us, there should never be a moment when we're in a conversation with an unbeliever that we lose our minds in some type of rage debate. It should never happen. We should be the most patient and calm people on the earth because of what we understand in regards to the gospel. Like we we don't have to I think it's John Piper who says like you don't have to defend the word of God when someone attacks it.

It's like defending a lion. It's fine on its own. We need to be calm and speak with clarity the truth because we already have the hope that we need. We already have the satisfaction that we need and also there's nothing that they can take from us. Like again that goes back to last week of what we invest our treasures in. We don't have to work.

The the people who lose their minds over um conversations of the world are those who have all their hope in material wealth and possessions and status. Because if you're in a debate with somebody and you're attacking what they're placing their hope in that actually can be taken from them, well, of course they're going to lose their minds. We've got family members that we've talked to in regards to um um voting and and candidates and politics and so forth that because they don't believe in Jesus, but they believe in a political agenda that meets what they would see as a flourishing life. If their political candidate does not win, it's as if their savior loses and therefore their way of life is going to suffer because of it. That their viewpoint. We should never be like that because it doesn't matter.

Jesus is our king. So we don't need to put all of our eggs in the basket of an earthly king. We don't have to worry about that. Now, at the same time, we should be wise. We want a world that reflects the kingdom of God. We want the word of God to permeate our our our nation.

We want it to permeate our city. We want our city to flourish and thrive. And we believe that there's a way that that happens. Absolutely. We want to engage in that. But we don't lose our minds over the fact that a law is passed that's contrary to the Bible.

We don't lose our minds because we know ultimately God wins. We know Jesus wins. We know he is the king of kings and the lord of lords. And so we should be the most calm people when we are proclaiming the truth boldly. Boldly. So we want to do it with kindness, with understanding, with patience.

Just imagine if everyone in your family lived like this. How much nicer would your week be? If everyone in the house was just patient and kind, understanding of one another. Imagine if your workplace lived like this. Imagine if the church lived like this. It would change everything.

But here's the reality. You are the going back to chapter 5. You're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world. You are the means by which Jesus increases patience in the world, kindness in the world, gentleness, love, joy. If we as Christians are not shaped this way, how do we ever expect the world to be shaped?

So, how do we live this out? Three steps. Little bit of application for you. Pause before you judge. Before you point a finger, check your own heart first. Remember James 1:19, "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."

That sounds like patience to me. That sounds like someone who is so anchored in the truth that they're able to hear anything someone has to say because it's not going to shake me. It's not going to give me any worry. I don't have to I don't have to care about it changing anything. I can listen. I can hear you out.

I can even read the materials you want me to read. why you think same-sex marriage is okay. Show me the books. I'll read them. I'll listen. We'll have a debate about it.

And at the same time, I'm going to be slow to speak because I'm going to speak with calmness and with clarity, making sure that I fully understand where they're at in their position and then can very articulate help them out in seeing truth rather than a false lie that they've believed. Number two, pray before you react. We need wisdom, grace, and the right words. Pray before you react. We got to pause before we judge. We got to pray before we react.

Maybe it's something like, "God, I know I could use people in my life who are patient with me. Lord, grant me the strength to be patient with others." Because we need that. And three, practice the golden rule. What do you wish someone would do for you? Go do that for them.

Every single person in this room continues to have mess ups. How would we want our mess ups to be handled by others? That's what you practice when you handle the mess ups of them. Couple of questions for you just to kind of ponder. Who in your life right now do you need to stop judging and start loving? And when I say stop judging, I mean the judging that is condemning.

Doesn't mean that you don't correct and invite That needs to continue. But how do we do that in a gentle way, a kind way, a truthful way? At the same time, who do you need to forgive? Who do you need to forgive? Maybe someone's wronged you and you've judged them without forgiving them. Who do you need to forgive?

Let's not just hear Jesus's words, but let's do them. I've mentioned James 1:19 a couple of times. I want to show you the context of that because this isn't just an ethereal, this sounds good. I hope I become that one day. This is a command to live it out because of what God has done for you. Got to remember the the indicative is that because God first loved you, you are now able to go and love others.

Indicative leads to imperative. Because he's done this, you're able to do this. It's not the other way around. It's not do this so that God will do this. It's because he's done this, you do this. You can live this out.

It's not legalistic for me to say that. It's just scriptural. Changed people are changed people. We live a different way. We think a different way. We speak a different way.

We act a different way. Right identity leads to right activity. So James says this again, brother of Jesus. Just to always point that out. This was a man who grew up the brother of Jesus. How frustrating would that be?

when he was not perfect, when every time he was in trouble, he could never blame Jesus and did not become a believer until after Jesus rose. And so this is a man who I always joke like if you were going to a family reunion like how crazy it would be to try to convince my brother or since he's the older one for him to try to convince me that he's the savior of the world. No. No. I'm never going to believe that. But if my brother died and rose again, okay, let's talk.

That's kind of crazy. Maybe you are. That's what happened with James. He was so changed. This is what he says. Know this, my beloved brothers.

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. It's so funny that we want our anger, which is our judgment and condemnation of others who don't live the Christian life, don't the way we want them to live. We think that our anger towards them is what's going to produce out of them. Oh, thank you so much. You hated me so well that now I see the love of God.

No, it does not produce righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. You catch that? If you don't know the word of God and are not sharing the word of God, your opinion does not matter and it will never save anybody else. But if you know the word of God, it's implanted in your mind, in your heart. And so that when you do see someone who is sinning and you do talk about it and you do call it out and you provide for them the word of God, not your opinion.

The word of God, it is what has the power to save their souls. Not your opinion. We need to be people who know the word of God and also doers of it. Look at verse 22. Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. I think this is the biggest frustration right now with just Western Christianity is that we come into churches on Sundays.

We are hearers of the word. Monday through Saturday, no change, no difference. We'll see you next Sunday. If we were doers of the word by practicing the word in our lives because of what Jesus has already earned for us and sharing the word because of what Jesus has already revealed to us, our communities have the opportunity to be saved and transformed. Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself and then he goes away and at once forgets what he was like. This is the same language going back to Jesus calling him out by saying, "You hypocrite." You're saying you're one thing but acting a different way. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. Coming back to the biatitudes, blessed is the one who hears the word of God. Basically, blessed is the one who hears the word of God, who's changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then begins living out the word of God in their lives.

They're a doer of it so that others get to see the word of God, hear the word of God, and then become changed by the word of God. That's the cycle. That's the secret sauce to church growth. That's the secret sauce to winning a community is not just being a hearer of it, but being a doer of it so that others get to see it and receive it in order to be changed by it. He will be blessed in his doing. And so the invitation here comes back to Matthew 7:5.

You hypocrite. You hypocrite. Now, we have certain ways that we kind of think about hypocrisy in their day. It also is similar to someone who would be a performer on a stage. They're wearing a mask. They're acting apart.

But then after the scene is over, they take it off and they become who they actually are. He's saying here you're acting. You're not revealing who you truly are. 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. The key there is you will see clearly. You will know how to rightly judge.

If you still have a log in your eye, which means you're still a condemned person, the only way you know to judge them is based on the position and posture of yourself. I'm condemned, therefore I condemn Satan. He's the ultimate condemmer because he's ultimately condemned. That's why all it says of him is that he is an accuser. He is an accuser going around telling people condemned. Condemned.

Condemned. Condemned. Condemned. And that's all you're ever going to be. Condemned. You can't change.

Condemned. Condemned people. Condemned people. Become unconddemned. And you'll then clearly see how to call people out of their condemnation into salvation. That's what Jesus is getting at in this passage.

It doesn't mean that we excuse other people's mess. It means that we know that we were once a a people of mess and we knew what got us out of our mess and we're just coming to them saying, "Here's the help that we can help you with. We were helped. We want to help you." Father, we thank you so much this morning. We thank you that you are a God.

You are a judge. But in judging us, you did not first condemn us. It was actually in your patience that you waited. You waited for your son Jesus to be sent to this earth so that he could take the penalty of all of our sins from our past, our present, our future, the sins from those in the Old Testament to the sins of those in the New Testament. It was in your patient that you ultimately took our condemnation and you condemned it in Jesus at the cross. the wrath that you desired to pour out towards our sin in judging us rightly.

You poured that wrath out on your son Jesus at the cross. He paid our penalty for us. And there was nothing we could do to earn that. There was nothing we can do to to pull you our direction. It's all simply because of Jesus. And as sinners fumbling through this life in darkness, blind, deaf, the only way we had an opportunity was to see you rightly by you revealing yourself to us and saying, "There's a different way.

Bring me your sin. Repent of it. Stop doing it. and see that Jesus is greater than all these things that you've been placing your hope in. May we judge others the way that you judged us by giving them an opportunity to see your son Jesus and to receive his grace, mercy, and forgiveness. May we be patient and kind and gentle.

Father, may you grant us all that we need in order to be faithful stewards of your gospel, to be able to know your word and be able to proclaim your word with calmness and clarity to those around us. May you help us, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.