Sin-sitivity
This week's verses are on Matthew 7:1-5:
These verses are often used by very judgemental people to deflect criticism from their own weaknesses. If any criticism, constructive or otherwise, is made out to be hypocrisy, they can self-righteously brush off any attention to their faults. ("I don't have to listen to so-and-so because he's judgemental and therefore more sinful than me. I should teach him a lesson.")
Cults use them in order to suppress dissent. If people are made to feel as though they're sinning by questioning anything they see, they become easy to control. ("How is it any of your business that we took the missions offering and spent it on a new deck for pastor's vacation home? Are you judging us?? Who are you to judge how the church spends its money?")
Yet despite how they are often abused, these verses are actually beautiful. They attack the strongholds self-righteousness hides in, and open our eyes to our own sin. Jesus is trying to help us to have soft hearts and some humility. Rather than leaving us with no discernment, learning to see our own flaws gives us more discernment, because we can now confront each other in humility rather than with arrogance and a need to control.
They came to mind recently when I was finding myself getting angry about people littering and leaving graffiti. For some reason, those things always make me super angry when I see them. I would imagine elaborate punishments to shame the people doing it. I'd picture the perpetrators as being somewhat subhuman, like monkeys who let the banana peel drop from their hands as soon as they finish eating it, or dogs who pee on people's baggage.
When I was out for a walk, I found myself getting angry and started asking why I get so angry over something small like that. And the answer came to me that while I am meticulous about not littering or wrecking other people's things, in private I am a sloppy person who leaves clutter everywhere, and who spills food all over when eating it. The "sin" I was hating in public, was a form of the "sin" I was committing in private. If I won't care for my own space, how can I condemn others for not caring for a space they don't see as theirs? Carelessness is carelessness.
When we fly into self-righteous judgment of something, it is a decision of condemnation. By comparison, I see plenty of drug addicts and bad drivers, and I recognize that those activities are harmful, but I don't get upset over them like I do littering. In figuring out whether we are judging, or whether we are simply noticing a problem, we can look at whether our reaction is reasonable. Rapists and paedophiles hate each other in prison, for instance, but neither has any problem with armed robbers. Overreaction is a sign that we're sensitive for a reason that probably involves a mirror and some quiet time.
So Jesus says "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." You could see that as him asking us not to judge people as a defensive technique to keep them from judging us first. In other words, our insecurities are often things we lash out against others for. I don't believe that's the primary meaning of what he was saying, but there is some truth in it. The old woman who used to be promiscuous in her youth may feel shame for that and be particularly harsh against girls who dress provocatively. If you shoot first, you divert attention from your own weakness and vulnerability.
The way Jesus means it is more in the sense of hypocrisy. The rest of the verses show some insight into what he is saying. What he is saying is that you're not better than others, so if you're harsh with them, you might as well be harsh with yourself too. And that doesn't help anyone, especially if you've convinced yourself that you're going to help others with their faults without seeing your own. If someone hates themself secretly for being an alcoholic, are they going to be patient and compassionate with a heroin addict? Very doubtful! More likely they'll lecture and shame them, humiliate them for their choices, tell everyone what a loser they are, and so on. Not very Christlike.
But the same is true on a smaller level with sin in general. People who see themselves as having their sin handled through their own strength tend to be arrogant towards those whose sin is on the surface. Their interactions with others are a bit like they're dealing with naughty children. But we're all naughty children and all innocent by Christ's blood. If we want to help others, we have to be able to do it from a position of humility, not a position of self-righteousness. A good rubric I use is if the person you're trying to help change didn't listen to a thing you said, but someone else was able to get them to change, would it bother you or would you be happy for them? If it would bother you, you're probably going about things from a position of arrogant control.
It is very important as Christians that we be able to judge situations fairly. If we want to be helpful to others, we cannot be puffed up with an unrealistic view of our own self-gained righteousness. Help has to come from a position of humility and compassion. Other people's sin is likely our sin as well, or if not, they are still in a similar position as us by having sinned in the first place. If God has forgiven and cleaned our sin, he can do the same for them.
There's nothing wrong with noticing another Christian's sin. And some sins are enough to warrant an emotional response. But if you find yourself looking down on that other person, or getting irrationally angry at what they've done, you may be a bit of a hypocrite without realising it. Examine yourself and remove that beam of wood from your eye, or you won't be effective in helping them to find freedom.
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
These verses are often used by very judgemental people to deflect criticism from their own weaknesses. If any criticism, constructive or otherwise, is made out to be hypocrisy, they can self-righteously brush off any attention to their faults. ("I don't have to listen to so-and-so because he's judgemental and therefore more sinful than me. I should teach him a lesson.")
Cults use them in order to suppress dissent. If people are made to feel as though they're sinning by questioning anything they see, they become easy to control. ("How is it any of your business that we took the missions offering and spent it on a new deck for pastor's vacation home? Are you judging us?? Who are you to judge how the church spends its money?")
Yet despite how they are often abused, these verses are actually beautiful. They attack the strongholds self-righteousness hides in, and open our eyes to our own sin. Jesus is trying to help us to have soft hearts and some humility. Rather than leaving us with no discernment, learning to see our own flaws gives us more discernment, because we can now confront each other in humility rather than with arrogance and a need to control.
They came to mind recently when I was finding myself getting angry about people littering and leaving graffiti. For some reason, those things always make me super angry when I see them. I would imagine elaborate punishments to shame the people doing it. I'd picture the perpetrators as being somewhat subhuman, like monkeys who let the banana peel drop from their hands as soon as they finish eating it, or dogs who pee on people's baggage.
When I was out for a walk, I found myself getting angry and started asking why I get so angry over something small like that. And the answer came to me that while I am meticulous about not littering or wrecking other people's things, in private I am a sloppy person who leaves clutter everywhere, and who spills food all over when eating it. The "sin" I was hating in public, was a form of the "sin" I was committing in private. If I won't care for my own space, how can I condemn others for not caring for a space they don't see as theirs? Carelessness is carelessness.
When we fly into self-righteous judgment of something, it is a decision of condemnation. By comparison, I see plenty of drug addicts and bad drivers, and I recognize that those activities are harmful, but I don't get upset over them like I do littering. In figuring out whether we are judging, or whether we are simply noticing a problem, we can look at whether our reaction is reasonable. Rapists and paedophiles hate each other in prison, for instance, but neither has any problem with armed robbers. Overreaction is a sign that we're sensitive for a reason that probably involves a mirror and some quiet time.
So Jesus says "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." You could see that as him asking us not to judge people as a defensive technique to keep them from judging us first. In other words, our insecurities are often things we lash out against others for. I don't believe that's the primary meaning of what he was saying, but there is some truth in it. The old woman who used to be promiscuous in her youth may feel shame for that and be particularly harsh against girls who dress provocatively. If you shoot first, you divert attention from your own weakness and vulnerability.
The way Jesus means it is more in the sense of hypocrisy. The rest of the verses show some insight into what he is saying. What he is saying is that you're not better than others, so if you're harsh with them, you might as well be harsh with yourself too. And that doesn't help anyone, especially if you've convinced yourself that you're going to help others with their faults without seeing your own. If someone hates themself secretly for being an alcoholic, are they going to be patient and compassionate with a heroin addict? Very doubtful! More likely they'll lecture and shame them, humiliate them for their choices, tell everyone what a loser they are, and so on. Not very Christlike.
But the same is true on a smaller level with sin in general. People who see themselves as having their sin handled through their own strength tend to be arrogant towards those whose sin is on the surface. Their interactions with others are a bit like they're dealing with naughty children. But we're all naughty children and all innocent by Christ's blood. If we want to help others, we have to be able to do it from a position of humility, not a position of self-righteousness. A good rubric I use is if the person you're trying to help change didn't listen to a thing you said, but someone else was able to get them to change, would it bother you or would you be happy for them? If it would bother you, you're probably going about things from a position of arrogant control.
It is very important as Christians that we be able to judge situations fairly. If we want to be helpful to others, we cannot be puffed up with an unrealistic view of our own self-gained righteousness. Help has to come from a position of humility and compassion. Other people's sin is likely our sin as well, or if not, they are still in a similar position as us by having sinned in the first place. If God has forgiven and cleaned our sin, he can do the same for them.
There's nothing wrong with noticing another Christian's sin. And some sins are enough to warrant an emotional response. But if you find yourself looking down on that other person, or getting irrationally angry at what they've done, you may be a bit of a hypocrite without realising it. Examine yourself and remove that beam of wood from your eye, or you won't be effective in helping them to find freedom.
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