"Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matt. 7:1). The point I made in the last article on this subject was that this passage is misused, misinterpreted and used in a way that keeps us from even being obedient to direct commands of Scripture.

Well, you ask, O wise one, what DOES it mean? Thanks for asking. I really don't purport to fully understand all, if even much, of anything Jesus said. But my take on it follows.

"First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Jesus didn't say not to help a brother with his eye problems - the stuff that gets in his eyes and closes them to God and reality and causes him pain and even stumbling. What he does say is to get the plank out of our own eye first (Matt. 7:3-5). The fact is that all through the New Testament, we are actually commanded to help get specks out of our brothers' eyes, so to speak. Teach one another. Correct one another. Admonish one another. Rebuke one another. Bear each others' burdens. So Matt. 7:1-2 cannot be disconnected from Matt. 7:3-5.

Then Jesus has the audacity to say, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs" (Matt. 7:6). Who are these pigs and dogs he's talking about? Probably the self-righteous Pharisees who were among those he was addressing. Well now, is that judgmental? Bad example, if so, because Jesus said he was not here to "judge the world" (John 12:47-48). Was he judging them or not? "The very word which I spoke will condemn (judge) him at the last day." Jesus' word does the judging; for the most part we have little judging to do.

Sexual immorality is just a sin. Any sex outside of marriage is sexual immorality and it is sin, whether you or I like it or not. Homosexuality is a sin. We can understand it. We can have compassion toward it. We can twist the Scriptures all around it. But it'll still be a sin. I'm not being judgmental to accept it. I didn't write the Scriptures, I just came to believe they were from God and thus true. Frankly, I don't like that it is sin. I counsel a lot of Christians struggling with such. I'd like to just make it okay so they don't have to deal with it. But if I were going to do that, I'd just have to deny the Scripture altogether, as I feel many do anyway, and go a different direction. That's the only truly honest approach as I see it.

You see we need to always work on ourselves first. We need to be humble. We'll never be perfect even though Jesus commands us to be (Matt. 5:48). Deal with it. We'll never get it all right. But as with parents we still have to judge (discern and even discipline). As Christians we have to make certain judgments. We may have different roles in various situations, but we're called to make discernments over and over. We just need to be careful with our attitudes as well as our actions. God is, remember, looking at our hearts. The day one enjoys spanking a child is the day trouble is brewing in that person's heart. It is the same with Christians in their discipline responsibilities. For sure, we need to make sure we're not the pigs and dogs Jesus refers to in this text. (Well, it wasn't shorter than yesterday and more could be said. But at least, I hope this sets your mind to thinking and your Spirit to listening.)