The Sermon on the Mount, Day 36
November 9, 2009 |
Read Matthew 7:1-6 and do the following exercises:
- Perhaps more than anything else, Christians are known in our culture for being judgmental and hypocritical – two of the very things Jesus condemns in this passages. Why do you think that is?
- All of Chapter 6 could be summed up with the words “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (6:33). How does Jesus’ teaching about seeking God above all else provide a logical foundation for being the kind of people that don’t judge?
Tags: Exercises, Judgment, Matthew, Sermon on the Mount
Categories: Sermon on the Mount
wes said...
1So far we’ve seen that the Kingdom of God is a gift that is to be received and it comes to the people we’d least expect it to come to. We cannot earn our way into the kingdom by being self righteous. How can we who have received so much grace judge others? There is a sense when we judge others that we are declaring them unworthy of God’s grace (how despicable!?, etc.) The reality is that we are really in same position, wholly in need of grace.
11/9/09 9:07 AM | Comment Link
Matt said...
2In response to the second question or meditation point, how often do we say to others – while being convinced ourselves – that we are pursuing God. Yet that God we pursue is in fact our own false version of God…”God” made “god” in our own image.
This false god that may have some resemblance to the true God, gives us the authority to pass judgements on our fellow humans. It is one sin begotten from another.
We believe that we have been given authority through the Holy Spirit. Yet how often is this illusion of authority twisted and used to condemn the souls of those we view as unlovable? Like Wes said, judging people as unworthy of God’s grace.
11/9/09 10:36 PM | Comment Link
Ryan said...
3I think we need to stop worrying about the appearance of being judgmental, and start worrying about actually being judgmental. Part of the reason the world thinks Christians are judgmental is that we claim to have exclusive absolute truth, and exclusive truth is definitely out of vogue in our culture. If what we believe is true, we can’t worry about that. Instead we should think about how much we frown on sin in others. We definitely don’t want to encourage sin, and if we really love another believer and we see them in sin we should point it out, but being judgmental, I think, is in some way thinking that another person is below you because of their sin. Also, I think this is only for believers. How can a follower of Christ expect one who doesn’t to obey His teachings? They are excluded from any of our sin-judgment. Just my opinion.
11/10/09 7:00 AM | Comment Link