Text: Luke 6:37
Topic: What does it really mean to "judge not"?

• There is so much to talk about in Luke 6:37-42, that it's almost overwhelming.
• I want to concentrate on is one sentence: "Judge not, and you will not be judged."

• We tend to invoke this on our own behalf when we feel attacked or when we feel guilty. "Hey, who are you to judge me?"
• Sometimes this verse is used by those outside the faith to accuse Christians of hypocrisy.
  • Illustration: In 2008's UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, authors David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons point out that nearly nine out of ten young outsiders (87 percent) said that the term "judgmental" accurately describes present-day Christianity.
• Whether or not Christians really are judgmental, that is the perception people have of us. So, it's pretty important that we understand what Jesus means when he says "Judge not."
• The key is recognizing that the word "judge" can be used two different ways in Scripture.
• Sometimes the word "judge" is used to speak of judging between two things—the act of differentiating or discerning.
• This kind of judgment is not what Jesus is commanding us to avoid. In fact, throughout the Bible we are called to discern.
  • Luke 6:43-45
• The word "judge" can also be used to speak of condemnation, which is the kind of judgment Jesus condemns.
• This is made clear in the second half of verse 37: "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned." Jesus is simply saying the same thing, two different ways.
• This is an incredibly important idea if you understand the context in which Jesus was speaking. The entire culture of first century Judea was predicated on the notion that some people were acceptable and others were not (Jews over Gentiles, rich over poor, healthy over the sickly).
• This is the kind of judgment that Jesus says is absolutely wrong, because when we condemn someone we are declaring that they have no value, no worth—that they do not matter to us or God.
• We judge in this manner because our worth requires someone else's condemnation.
• Illustration: Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached about the devastating nature of this type of judgment. It "substitutes the 'I-It' relationship for the 'I-Thou' relationship and relegates persons to the status of things."
• In other words, judgment causes us to see someone else not as a person, but as a thing—as less than human, less valuable. Once we do that to a person or a group of people, it opens the door to all kinds of terrible things: segregation, injustice, abuse—even genocide.
• We may discern another person or group to be wrong, but when that discernment causes us to value another person or group less, then we've crossed the line into judgment, condemnation, and exclusion.
• Illustration: A modern-day example of judgment that leads to condemnation is seen in today's political programs on TV and radio.
• When we see other people as wrong—not just wrong in what they believe, but in their core identity as people—it's easy to convince ourselves that we don't have to love them.
• We are never to judge, never to condemn, never to exclude, never to see anyone as without value or dignity—even the person we disagree with most.
• Illustration: Greg Boyd once wrote: "The Christian's job is to agree with God that every person you meet was worth Jesus dying for."

• We've talked about those who judge and exclude, but what about those being judged and excluded? What about the victims who've been relegated to sub-human status and are being mistreated by others?
• Jesus has something important to say to them as well. Consider the final words of verse 37: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
• When we are judged and condemned, we are to forgive.
• If we just had the first part about not judging or condemning, we could say that Jesus just wants us to do no harm—to live and let live. But by adding this command to forgive, Jesus is calling us to something more.
• As his people we're not just supposed to tolerate people we disagree with. We are called to be a people of forgiveness and reconciliation.
• Jesus wants us to move away from excluding others and toward embracing others.
  • Illustration: Desmond Tutu's No Future Without Forgiveness shares several moving stories about an entire nation (South Africa) finding healing through the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
• Does forgiveness mean we don't care about justice or that there are no consequences for evil? No! It means is that we leave justice and vengeance in God's hands.
• Our job, as agents of his kingdom on earth, is to break the cycles of hate—to move from a people of exclusion to a people of embrace, forgiving others just as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.

• Illustration: Jethani closes the sermon by quoting a large section of one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sermons.
• Let us not judge or condemn.
• Let's instead forgive so we can break the cycles of hate in our world.
• Let's embrace others—even those we disagree with—with the same love that God has lavished upon us.