Starting today I will be writing a series of posts periodically from the Sermon on the Mount. I will randomly take a verse from chapters 5 through 7 which contain the Sermon on the Mount and I will expound upon a thought. The Sermon on the Mount is in the book of Matthew. Jesus had begun his earthly ministry in chapter three in the book of Matthew when he was baptized by John. Jesus had begun his preaching ministry and in chapter four you read where Satan had tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus had also called out his first four disciples as well healed people. Jesus went upon a mountain preaching unto the multitudes. I want to focus on a couple of verses of chapter 7. Matthew 7:1-2 says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
Jesus is instructing his disciples about judging. One of the sins that many people in the church today are guilty of is judging. Before I proceed any further, I must say that the word "judge" has been misconstrued many times in the religious circles. I've heard televangelists in years past use that phrase saying, "Don't judge!" I've heard Charismatic preachers such as Jim Bakker and Oral Roberts use that phrase. However, I don't believe most people regardless whether they're saved or not have a proper understanding of the phrase, "Judge not." That's been subject to so much misinterpretation over the years. I've seen preachers preach from the Bible against sin such as adultery, homosexuality, uncleanness, filth, etc. and there are those from the world and even in the pews that will claim that the preacher is being judgmental. That couldn't be farther from the truth. The Word of God is the final authority and when a man of God or anyone stands upon the truths that's found in the word, they aren't being judgmental. The Bible is a higher authority than man. The preacher is not giving his opinion when he preaches against sin regardless of what it is. He's declaring what God has said in His word. Most of the time whenever sin is exposed or people are caught committing sin, they want to cover their evil deeds by saying the preacher is guilty of judging. That's an excuse to cover up for sin.
I want to quickly give you a definition of the word "judge" from Webster's Dictionary. There are a number of definitions for the term "judge". There is a judicial position in our land which is termed "judge". The judge in that sense has a judicial responsibility to determine what's true and what isn't true in a court of law before a courtroom of witnesses. He's responsible in rendering a judgment on which side is innocent and which side is guilty. The judge also has the responsibility of meting out the punishment on the guilty party. However, that's not the definition I am referring to. The one definition I saw in the dictionary was, "To think or suppose." That's what Jesus was referring to when he says, "Judge not!" Most of us are guilty of thinking or supposing at one time or another in our lives. I've been guilty of that. I will never forget of an incident last year where I was guilty of judging someone. I was corresponding with an individual through email and I had made the false assumption that the reason why that person decided to correspond with me was maybe they wanted my profile so they can put part of it on their Facebook or MySpace page. My imagination was running wild. As it turned out, I was guilty of judging that person and I couldn't have been more wrong. I was embarrassed to say the least. However, that should teach us a lesson when it comes to drawing the wrong conclusions.
To define judging as Jesus has spoken of in Matthew 7:1-2, he was referring to making assertions without proof. That's what judging is. It's drawing conclusions about someone and not knowing the facts behind the situation. I need to define that a litle further. If I was in a store and I saw someone stealing a candy bar from a shelf and I said he was a thief, I wouldn't be guilty of judging him because it's obvious and out in the open. Stating the obvious is not judging. Jesus was warning us to be cautious when it comes to judging the motives of someone's heart. There are situations in which it can be appear to be one way but in reality that not be the case. Suppose a pastor in a particular church is married and he was engaging in a conversation with a woman in the church and I happen to notice him speaking to the woman. I could easily draw the wrong conclusions if my my mind would allow me to. Just because the pastor is in a conversation with a woman doesn't mean they're in an adulterous affair together. That's one example. Sometimes people can view things and interpret them wrongly. That's what Jesus was warning us about. If it's not obvious, then we better not judge. The Bible says we will be judged for it. Whatever measures we mete out to someone, it will be meted out to us. You've heard the old saying, "What goes around, comes around." There are people whose lives are miserable and in turmoil for no other reason than the fact they've been guilty of judging others. It's dangerous to do so.
I Thessalonians 4:11 says that we should study to be quiet and mind our own business. There are a number of people in the church that are nothing more than busybodies and all they want to devote their time in doing is to judge other people and gossip. It will place you in a lot of trouble. I assume that's part of the reason why the Apostle Paul penned that verse. If we will study to be quiet and mind our own business, we won't be spending as much time in judging other people. Many people that are guilty of playing the role of judge in other people's lives don't have anything better to do themselves. They spend all their time trying to pry in other people's affairs and determine how they should live and respond to situations. They spend all their time worrying about the problems their brother has, but they don't take time to look themselves in the mirror through the Word of God. Jesus said that we're hypocritical for trying to remove the moat from our brother's eyes and fail to remove the beam from our own eye. (Matthew 7:3-5) Judging is serious in God's eyes. God is the only one that can discern the thoughts of the hearts of man. We don't have the ability to do such. That's where we'll be judged when we judge somebody.
Before one makes an assertion about somebody, they better be sure they know what they're saying. Otherwise, they're guilty of judging. As I've said earlier, if something is obvious for people to see, that's not judging. It's also not judging when we stand against sin because the Bible is the final authority. But when it comes to determining the motives of someone's heart or trying to add things together and drawing a certain conclusion; WE BETTER BEWARE! I don't want God to mete out judgment on me because I judged my brother and didn't have any proof to back what I said. In a court of law, if you make an accusation against someone, you must have proof to back your claim. If we can't prove what we believe about someone is true, we better keep our mouths shut. God will judge us for it.
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