September 6 - judge not

September 6 - Judge properly

There is a verse in the Old Testament that really sets the tone for today’s conversation. Joshua 24:15 says this, 

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 

Joshua was talking to a group of people who were struggling to be consecrated to the Lord. They continually wanted to be like everyone else. They wanted a king, they wanted their cities, and even their wives to be like that of every nation around them. But Joshua laid out a clear line. Choose. . . Who will you be like? 

Then the made it clear. You can choose who you want, but as for me and my house. . . We will serve the Lord. 

It’s a funny Christian culture that I observe around us today. People tend to think they are good if they are just being better than the people around them. The standard most of Christian culture settles at, is simply to do better than culture. You can hear it when people say things like, “Well at least my kids aren’t. . . . (fill in the blank)” or “Well I might have done such and such, but at least I’m not like so and so. . Did you hear what they did?”

We judge our movie choices, our language, the things we promote, and the people we listen to with a simple bar that just gets them to the stage of - good enough. But what happened to choosing to be HOly? What happened to making sure we sought God with all of our heart? So much has crept into Christian culture, that we often have no differing markers in our character than that of the rest of the world. 

It’s like we forget that we are called to holiness. 

And this isn’t something we can obtain. It’s just something we can pursue. And as we pursue it, we find ourselves becoming more like our heavenly father. But when we fail to pursue him, we end up being pretty similar to the rest of culture. 

So Jesus moves on in his sermon on the mount and addresses this notion. Listen to how Matthew 7 starts out. 

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye’, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck form your brother’s eye. 

Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw away pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. 

Why do you look that the spec of sawdust in you brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 

When Jesus says this, he is contrasting someone who knows better with someone who has no idea. Your brother has a spec of sawdust in his eye. This is something that he might not notice, and is something that he can’t necessarily identify. You on the other hand, know full well that the plank in your eye is problematic. 

So Jesus is saying, you don’t have right to judge others while you continually ignore what is obvious in your own life. And, again, you know better. So for you, it should be so obvious, that you will do things differently. 

See, we are called to a level of holiness. And as we pursue the Lord, we should find that level to be ever increasing. As we pursue the Lord, we increase our level of understanding to what it looks like to follow him. So now, what used to be a spec of sawdust because we didn’t know better or understand what it was doing to our relationship with the Lord, Suddenly becomes so noticeable that we can’t continue to go on without changing it. 

This is where it gets tricky. It doesn’t mean others will see it the same in their own life. You won’t suddenly have a group of people agree with you that somethign should change in the way they live their life. But for you. . . You know better. You have been convicted. It has now grown into a plank that you should keep from ignoring. 

So. . . 

What has the Holy Spirit been convicting you of? 

If you don’t have an answer to this . . . you should take time and ask the Holy Spirit to search your life. Because if you do, you will hear something that you are being challenged to grow in. And then, what are you going to do about it? 

Alright here is today’s challenge. . . 

Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you what needs to be stretched, grown, and even removed from your life. It might seem like a spec now. . But as the conviction comes to remove this thing in order to grow closer to the Lord - it will grow into a plank in your eye. Remove it, so that you can be a blessing to others! 

So today, wrestle with the Lord. Find out what area of your life he is wanting you to grow in. Then, don’t worry about what others are doing or if they deem it acceptable or not. Go after it with all your heart and allow God to meet you in the middle of the journey!!! I promise you, it will make all the difference in the world. And if no one else chooses to accept this growth and follow you as you follow Christ. . . Say, ok. .  “choose for yourself today who you will follow. But as for me and my house. . .I will serve the Lord. 

And as you do this, I pray you will know more of what you believe and why you believe it to be true. Until tomorrow, I love you, and as you allow the Holy Spirit to convict your life, May God bless you!