Judgmental – Luke 6:37-45

Charles Ryrie was one of the great Bible teachers of our generation, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and author of the Ryrie Study Bible.  I was a student at Dallas Seminary and talking to a fellow student who was enamored with Dr. Ryrie.  I told him Ryrie wasn’t all that great (I don’t even remember what I thought was not so great about him), and I think I did it because I was not excited about the faculty worship, as I deemed it, that was going on at school.  Many students were trying to be “disciples” of different faculty members.  But it was I who had the problem.  I was building myself up as better than others by critiquing their heroes.  I later wished I had pursued a disciple relationship with these incredible men of God.

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.  (Luke 6:37-45 ESV)

Jesus addresses the judgmental attitude that we so easily slip into, and commands us not to be condemning of others but rather giving and forgiving.  If we treat others as we would want to be treated in this way God will reward us with abundant blessing.  If we are blind teachers, however, leading those we teach to be judgmental, we will both fall into the pit and fail.

If we are to make good judgments we must first judge ourselves and allow the “log” in our eye to be exposed so we can remove it and see clearly to help another with a speck in his or her eye.  You can judge a tree by its fruit and indeed must do so, but the good tree will bear the good fruit of non-judgmental interaction, demonstrating a humble posture of giving and forgiving and self-judgment.

So if you ever listen to a sermon and find ways to criticize others in it, you have not listened to it well.  You must first find ways to criticize yourself, then you can see clearly to judge others, and do so with compassion.