Church Discipline (Part 5)

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6)

We clearly don't understand this passage. We only quote the first part of this passage, and tell others that we are not to judge. This is a gross misinterpretation of the scripture. Jesus is not saying not to judge, as much as He is describing what kind of judgment we are to judge with.

This passage declares a warning to the body. Be careful how you judge your brother, for you will be judged in the same manner you judge. He is warning us, that we should not attempt to judge our brothers while we have sin in our own lives.

How should we then judge? I want to answer this question by asking two other questions:

1. How does God judge?
2. How do we normally judge?

How does God judge?
God's judgments are sure. They are never wrong. He has never made a mistake or error when He sat in the judgment seat. He has never allowed the guilty to go free, and has never forsaken the righteous. His judgments are sound. Why? Because they are based on fact, evidence, law and truth. He does not leave room for opinion. He cannot. He is perfect. He sees all. He knows all. God judges the heart of a man, and does not discriminate based on outward appearance.

How do we normally judge?
The truth of the matter is that we judge based on our opinions and feelings. We do not judge based on truth. We do not care about evidence. Evidence is second to our opinion, and to be discarded when it does not support our opinion. Evidence is not necessary when passing judgment. We judge based on the outward appearance of man. ("He looks guilty.") We choose our friends based on our judgment. We want friends who appear to have it all together. We want our friends to be skinny and pretty. And if we have friends that are otherwise, they'll probably take a backseat when it comes to preserving our own image? We judge based on whether or not we like someone. We judge based on how we want the outcome to look. How it will benefit us. We generally are quick to pass judgment without searching for the truth of the matter. The appearance of the matter is enough for us.

How then should we judge?
We should judge with all humility and follow God's example. We should judge based on facts, evidence, law and truth. We should refrain from attempting to judge another's heart, for we are not omniscient. We should judge actions, and not appearances. This is especially crucial when our judgments could lead to the dis-fellowshipping of our brothers and sisters.

*ROUGH DRAFT*