Judgement and Personal Blindness
Matthew 7:1-5 “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.”
All humans experience “blind spots” in their lives. This blindness causes us to be harsher and judge others at a different standard than we expect/accept of ourselves. In secular human behavior studies, it has been noted that people often notice those things in others that they most dislike about themselves, however for whatever reason, humans seem to lack the insight to realize this.
Maybe it is the difficulty of seeing ourselves as others see us (Johari’s Window is an excellent tool for self-evaluation; note the “known to others, blind to you” square), or maybe it is our tendency to have blindness when it comes to our own faults. Either way, it causes a problem in our lives and with God.
As you start reading Matthew 7 it instantly becomes apparent that there is a price to pay for judging others, which is quickly compared to how blind you are to your many faults compared to the few faults of other people. It should get your attention that God says you will be judged in the manner you PRONOUNCE judgment on others and HOW harshly you judge them is exactly how harshly you will be judged by God. That certainly keeps me on the straight and narrow when I start observing and judging what I consider to be faults in others.
When God says “Take the log (HUGE) out of your eye before you attempt to take the speck (tiny) out of your brother’s eye” it becomes apparent that He knows and understands human nature and wants us to be more introspective/concerned with our own faults/behavior/sins than getting wrapped up in focusing on what we ‘consider” faults in others.
So why do we laser-focus on what we perceive to be the failings of others rather than look at ourselves closely in the mirror? I believe mostly it’s due to self-image and self-esteem.
When we honestly evaluate ourselves, we must reconcile those shortcomings within our own lives, traits, and personalities. Recognizing our own problems means we need to make some changes. People are more afraid of CHANGE than almost anything else we experience. Recognizing a need to change our thoughts, feelings, and perspectives often means we have to re-evaluate our value system and how we see the world. People do not like to think they are “wrong” about anything so taking the log out of their own eyes is undesirable and often avoided at any cost.
I can’t motivate you to take on the challenge of re-evaluating your beliefs other than to tell you it leads to the unfair judgment of others and God says multiple times in the Bible not to be critical of others so that you will not be negatively judged by Jesus.
Matthew 5:22 says it clearly and with warning:
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother (or sister) will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother or sister will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
The idea is simple. Criticism and arguing create more of the same and tear apart relationships. FORGIVENESS is the required method of dealing with disagreements if one intends to follow the Bible and its teachings. God wants all of His children to avoid sin and to Him, judging others is sin. He offers us a wonderful solution. Forgiveness, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and love.
If we are so focused on criticizing others that we forget to apply biblical standards to our own behavior and lives, then we can never “walk a mile” in the shoes of others and therefore never develop all of the above attributes that enable us to have polite discourse and resolve problems together. Instead, it creates divisiveness, anger, and tears down, instead of agreeing and mending fences.
When each of us takes a hard stand based on our own experiences, perspectives, and beliefs, then fighting, arguing, and often times chaos ensues. God’s people become divided instead of working together to be Jesus’s hands and feet on earth. All of this negative behavior PREVENTS us from following His plan for our lives and subsequently negatively affects our own quality of life.
One simple scripture verse about removing the log from our own eye before helping our fellow humans deal with the speck in their eye enables us to ensure we see things RIGHT before we try to move people in a different direction. Self-evaluation and following principles of cohesiveness, correctness (yes, there is a right and wrong), and trying to understand rather than manipulate people into our own beliefs, will result in a better world for everyone.
As I end this sermon, I am going to repeat a sentence from my PTSD Recovery Workbook given to me by the Veteran’s Administration. Last week we did the chapter on communications and this point hit home with me: “Be aware that your perceptions, judgments, and beliefs are to be communicated (to others) as such and NOT as FACTS!” Because they aren’t factual, they are what YOU believe. Believing something does not make it true!
This accurately summarizes what I am trying to teach: our thoughts, norms, and beliefs are NOT Facts, and they should not be represented as such. God is telling us to make sure we are indeed righteous and factual before we seek to change the behavior of others. Self-evaluation will lead to self-awareness and we will soon see the errors of our ways before trying to lead others. Misleading others is definitely a sin to God.
I highly recommend you follow God’s directive to remove the huge bias from your own lives before trying to persuade others into believing things that God says is wrong. No one wants to take that road, let alone drive other people there! Eternity is a long time. Amen.
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