February 5, 2023

 

Stop Judging

 

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” – Matthew 7:1-5

 

It seemed like something no one could quibble with. The phrase was simple: Jesus didn’t have to agree with people to be kind to them. Who could argue? Indeed.

 

The comment came: He was good to everyone but He did not except (sp) their sins. And that, my friends, is the problem. Not that other people sin but that we are so focused on their sin that we miss our own.

 

Don’t worry. I didn’t get into it with her. I simply reminded her of what Jesus also said about not judging people and let Scripture make its point. She didn’t reply. There really wasn’t anything else to say.

 

I look around at all the people pulling away from church. I see people doubting Jesus. And, honestly, I understand why. If the only way they know Jesus is through some of His followers, well, it’s a sad thing. Not because we’re imperfect. Everyone has flaws and sins and makes numerous mistakes every single day. It’s that we don’t own our own issues while we loudly proclaim the sins of others.

 

I’ve read the Bible through several times in a number of different translations. No where in the Bible does it give us permission to judge others. If someone strays, we’re to lovingly guide them back. That’s far different than sitting on our self-made throne and throwing daggers at someone God loves just as much as He loves us.

 

Let’s remember that Jesus didn’t choose His disciples from the religious elite. He didn’t call on those who had all the answers. He found His disciples among normal people and outcasts who had hearts open to receive the Messiah. And even they got it wrong time and time again.

 

When you find yourself looking around and looking down on those you see, take a step back. Hit your knees. Ask God for forgiveness. And ask Him to help you remove the plank from your own eye so that you can more clearly see how to love others like He loves you.

 

 

July 2, 2022

 

What Do You See?

 

Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. – Habakkuk 1:3b

 

Murder happens throughout our land. Violence and sin are everywhere. We demand justice from God. We plead with Him to change our nation and turn us back to simpler times when life was easier and filled with rules we could understand.

 

We point fingers and demand justice. We look down and condemn what makes us uncomfortable. We are certain that we are right and we brandish the Bible as a weapon to those who are different. We harshly judge even as we build our lives, our palaces if you will, on sand.

 

We know about the plank and the speck (Matthew 7:3-5). But we don’t really think it applies to us. We are so certain that we are right that we fail the most basic test of love.

 

A sweet woman I know lives in public housing and struggles daily to provide for her daughter. It would be easy to condemn her. From the outside, anyway. I know many people who would judge and call her names. You’ve heard it all. Lazy. Bad choices. It’s her own fault. I could go on. But none of it would be true. She’s a college-educated woman who works two jobs to provide for them. She is an inspiration to all who know her.

 

The hard truth isn’t so pretty. Most of you wouldn’t bother to get to know her. She’s poor. She’s doesn’t move in your circles. She may sit next to you on your pew. She may sing in the choir. But she doesn’t fit your version of success. She doesn’t have the trappings of a large house, nice cars and expensive vacations. You may not say it out loud but you look down on her. And in so doing you elevate yourselves. Shame on you! Shame on all of us!

 

Habakkuk first questioned God about how He could ignore such sin from His people. Then Habakkuk worried that the punishment would be too horrific. But God made it clear that sin won’t go unpunished forever. God is patient and merciful but He sees it all. God sees when you cheat someone in business. God sees when your heart becomes haughty and you fail to be generous and merciful.

 

We look around at the state of our nation and quickly point fingers at everyone else. We judge what we do not know based on circumstances we’ve never endured. And we justify ourselves because everyone else does it. But we’re not supposed to be like everyone else. We’re supposed to do better because of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us.

 

Do you truly love Jesus? Then show mercy and kindness. Extend a helping hand. Hang out with people who aren’t like you. Be Jesus in this dark and hurting world.

July 30, 2018

Why Try to Fix Others?

“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?”

– Matthew 7:3

It’s both amusing and aggravating, all wrapped up with sweet words designed to make a point without offense. Why do we believe we are better qualified to run someone else’s life than the person who is actually living that life?

And, here’s another question: Why do we believe it’s okay to stick our opinions into a conversation we weren’t invited to join? And why do we believe that our own lives are tidy enough that we’ve even got time to dictate how someone else should live?

If you don’t think this applies to you, it does. It applies to all of us. We’re just so quick to tell others how to think and feel, what kind of job they need, what type of food they should eat, even what brand of car they should buy. It’s as though we feel better about ourselves if we’re telling someone else what to do.

It also takes our focus off of our own issues. We don’t have to worry about that extra piece of pound cake when we’re lecturing someone else about all the fast food they eat. We don’t have to think about our own job situation when we’re telling someone else what type of job they should have. And we certainly don’t have to spend our own money when we’re telling someone else how to spend theirs.

It’s enough to strain the closest of relationships. I don’t need someone dictating my every move. How about you? That’s right. Most of us don’t need it.

A sweet lady I know has a son that has been in trouble more than out of it. She did all she could. She finally got help for herself, let go of trying to fix and control her son, and turned him over to God. Guess what? He’s out of trouble and appears to have completely turned his life around. What he needed most from her was space to grow up. When she gave him that, he actually did begin to accept responsibility for himself and change his life.

Another friend worries about a co-worker who is just so unhappy. She wants to fix this woman that she considers a friend. She wonders why the woman won’t listen, won’t change her eating habits and go back to church and just decide to be happy living where she’s at. Would you listen to someone – however well meaning – who constantly told you what you needed to do to “fix” your life?

It’s not about intentions. Both women had only the best of intentions. But sometimes the best gift we can give someone is to love them as they are and trust God to do any “fixing” He deems necessary.

We can’t fix anyone. It’s not our job. It’s God’s job. He doesn’t need your help and He doesn’t need my help. He’s God. And He’s good at it.

The only thing He’s told us to do is love people. Love draws more people to make right choices than anything else you could do. When you reject, criticize, and “guide” people incessantly, you push them away. And you make them dig their trenches a little deeper. We’ve all got that stubborn streak in us that doesn’t want anyone else to tell us how to live.

So, the next time you feel an urge to get that speck out of someone else’s eye, look in the mirror instead. That plank you see might take a while to get out.

February 13, 2018

Focus On Fixing Yourselves

“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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank our of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” – Matthew 7:3-5

It was comical really. As we waited for a couple to cross the parking lot, he criticized the man for allowing the woman to carry a large, bulky box. “He should be ashamed,” he said with a shake of his head.

I looked to see if he was joking. He wasn’t. I laughed. “I can’t believe you just said that,” I told him.

He started to protest but it was my turn to shake my head. “If that were you and I, the situation would be exactly the same. Your back wouldn’t allow you to carry the box so it would be me toting it and you walking empty-handed beside me.”

“You’re right,” he admitted.

“We don’t know their situation. Maybe he is just lazy. Maybe she is determined to do it herself. Or maybe there’s something we can’t see at play here.”

We are just so quick to judge, aren’t we? We assume we know all the facts without really trying to learn anything about the situation. Not that it’s any of our business anyway. But that’s a different topic for another day.

It really is easy to tell other people how to live their life. It’s quite fun, actually, to focus on the “flaws” of those around us. It’s much easier to do that than to look at the person in the mirror and fix our own flaws first.

Please don’t excuse it with “At least my sins aren’t like that,” or “Well, you don’t know what he did.” It doesn’t matter. Sin isn’t about comparison. It’s not about whose sin is “greater”. We all sin and all sin condemns us to death. Except for the grace of Jesus.

I am so thankful that Jesus doesn’t look down and sort us according to our sins. I’m so grateful for His mercy and kindness. I’m filled with gratitude for the many chances He gives me each day to get it right this time.

We marvel at His grace in our own lives even as we condemn the lives of others. We fail to extend the same grace to others and we call ourselves justified in our actions.

Does it make us feel better about our own sin? We make our excuses. We defend our flaws and mistakes. We point bitter fingers at others even as we pray in Jesus’ name. We stamp ourselves with the label “hypocrite” even as we cry out to God for forgiveness.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we extended the same grace to others that Jesus has extended to us. Would we all be less angry, less hateful? Would we learn to get along better, seeing others as God’s children rather than as the enemy?

Perhaps we all need to take stock of the person in the mirror. Maybe we need to look for the good in others rather than focusing on the “flaws” we see. We are all in this together, doing life as best we can and failing Jesus every single day.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Look First At The Person In The Mirror

“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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

-- Matthew 7:3-5

It was a lecture on kindness. Laughable, really, because of the person giving the lecture. She wanted others to treat new comers nice and be careful of what they say. It all sounds good. Christian even. Except that the person giving the lecture drives people away with her hatefulness.

She’d never admit that, of course. Her sharp tongue is such a part of her personality that I’m not even sure she notices. Except that people turn away from her. Her ugliness drives them to avoid her and the fellowship that would benefit everyone.

Of course, she isn’t always that way. She has her favorites and there is something truly grade school about that. These are older folks and this is a senior center. Surely, favorites have no place among adults.

And her promotion of her own church drives a wedge, turning folks either away from Jesus or, certainly, away from that church. One man told me he wouldn’t go back senior center. “If you’re not one of them (a member of that church),” he said, “they won’t have anything to do with you.” That is not how Jesus taught us to live.

Certainly, no one around us claims to be perfect or even nice all the time. We all could use a refresher course on using words that build up and don’t tear down. We should be careful to build bridges and not cause harm.

We do cause harm. All of us. We use words carelessly. We look down on people, especially those we don’t like. We never consider that maybe, just maybe, we’re the problem. Or at least part of it.

This woman can be so very nice. She can be kind. She gives of her time to others. When she is not blasting them for being less than who she thinks they should be.

Like she is. Like she was. I’ve heard stories of her childhood and the strict parents who never let her participate in school activities like the other children. She was an outcast, an outsider where she should have belonged. Now she rules her own domain with an iron will and cruel words. And she does it all in the name of Jesus.

None of us can ever truly see ourselves, especially when we’re looking down at others. Jesus spoke such words of wisdom. We’d all do better to look in the mirror before we condemn someone else of being who we are.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Look Beyond The Exterior

“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?” -- Matthew 7:3

The newspaper reported that the denomination’s numbers are down. Fewer baptisms. Fewer members. It looks pretty dismal. It would be easy to proclaim that Christianity itself is on the decline. I don’t think it is. In fact, it seems that more and more people are seeking God.

So what gives? Maybe it lies with the modern-day Pharisees who inhabit some churches. They’re so busy judging who can join and who is worthy, that they’ve forgotten that all of us are sinners and none of us are worthy.

One church makes a really big deal about how a person is baptized. Sprinkled need not apply -- unless they’re willing to be dunked. As you might imagine, a person who was baptized by sprinkle might be a little unhappy to find that they’re rejected based on water levels rather than sincerity of faith.

Or what about the church with the pastor who preaches on how you should dress at church. Repeatedly. Some of the older folks nod in approval but all he’s really managed to do is push away the very people who need to be in church the most -- the young people.

Another church took the opposite approach. The members saw their numbers declining and decided to change. They started running adds that said, “Jesus wore sandals. You can too.” Now the adds promote “Come as you are.” The church’s attendance has soared. People are seeking a place of acceptance and they found it in God’s house.

Jesus didn’t turn anyone away because of how they were dressed or what they had done. He didn’t look down on people and judge them unworthy to share His Presence. Instead, He ripped down the walls and offered salvation to all who believed. How can we do any less?