“Jesus didn’t say that, when you become good, you can judge those who aren’t.”

Steve Brown: Jesus didn't say, when you become good, you can judge those who aren't. Let's talk on Key Life.
Matthew: That was Steve Brown. He's an author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life, a program all about God's radical grace. We're committed to bringing you Bible teaching that's honest, straightforward, and street smart. Keep listening to hear truth that'll make you free.
Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. I'm going to take the time I ended the broadcast yesterday by reading a text to you. It's such an important text that it bears reading and memorizing and applying all the time. This is Matthew 7:1-5. Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there's a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you'll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." I told you yesterday that I'd checked a number of commentaries—I have an extensive library—and found myself irritated at the way people, and I've done this myself, the way people try to get around what Jesus is saying in that text I just read to you. Jesus is not saying that some don't have logs in their eyes and are thus permitted and qualified to judge others. The heart of what Jesus is teaching is that logs are universal. His opening words, that we should judge not, are meant to be received by everybody in every time, everywhere, in every place. Now, let me clarify something before we look at some other fun and unsettling truths. I'm a realist and sometimes even cynical, but not so much that I don't see true goodness and compassion and kindness. Listen to me: beauty is everywhere. So are achievement and excellence, and whenever it is present, it should be pointed out and encouraged. Encouragement isn't praise for self-righteousness, but rather a necessary ingredient for genuine righteousness. We should praise the little girl who is pleased with her attendance star, the preacher's sermon who hit it out of the park, and the woman who earned a PhD after a lot of demanding work and misogyny. Being cheerleaders for one another is part of the ministry of God's family. I'm called to be your cheerleader, and you're called to be my cheerleader, because there is goodness. There is beauty. There is wonder. There is excellence. Jeremy, who is the producer of this program, sits in a glass booth and I look through a window when we do this broadcast. Jeremy is incredible as a producer, but you know what he's even better at? He's an incredible musician. He plays several instruments. He plays in bands all over the world. His music was used by ESPN for their Christmas music, and it was heard all over the nation. He is something else. Why am I saying this? Because when I say that and Jeremy hears me say it, I'm doing a biblical thing I'm called to do, and that is to praise excellence. When you see goodness, praise it. When you see righteousness, say so. When you see beauty, speak about it. That's what God's people are supposed to do for God's people. Not only is there goodness and compassion and kindness, but also you got to know there's evil, deception, and hatred. What Jesus said about not judging is not a call to blindness or to compromise the truth. I'm learning, and it's slow some days, to recognize both the good and the bad and to be honest about both. Frankly, I think rewriting history when it is accurate, not political propaganda, is a good thing. We find out that our heroes have clay feet, our leaders are imperfect, our stars don't shine as brightly as we thought. That's a gift. It's just that the appropriate response to all of that should be not "How could they?" but "It could have been me." The young man entered the old attorney's office, and the lawyer, without looking up from his work, said, "Take a seat, son. I'll be with you in a minute." The young man said, "I'll have you know, I'm Senator Smith's son." Then replied the lawyer, without looking up, "Take two seats." Emily Dickinson, the 19th-century American poet, wrote a profound short poem and I love it. "I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? Then there's a pair of us—don't tell! They'd advertise—you know! How dreary to be somebody! How public like a frog, to tell one's name the livelong June to an admiring bog!" It is dreary to be somebody. But it's more than that, it's hard. Trying to be somebody is trying to be an outsider to the human race. It's hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. That's because it's a lie almost everybody believes, except Christians who should know better. Now, let's take a moment and at least begin to look at God's gift to believers, even when sometimes it doesn't feel like a gift. It's the gift Paul refers to when he says, "I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment." That's Romans 12:3. First, it is refreshing to be free of the need to maintain the illusion that we're different and special. We aren't. And a good portion of our guilt and shame and fear and regret comes from pretending we are. We are loved, check it. We are valued, you can check that off too. We are acceptable, check that too. But that's different. I remember the first church I served as a young pastor. I was a seminary student at Boston University. It was a small church down on Cape Cod, so small that they couldn't afford to pay a real pastor, so they settled for a seminary student. I remember being surprised at what was expected of me, not only the job description but the expectation that I had to be spiritual, more spiritual than they were; nice, nicer than they were; and wise, wiser than they were. So I tried. I really did. I tried, and then I hit a wall of reality and I realized I couldn't pull it off. It started when I attempted to grow a mustache to look older. Instead, it just made me look silly. In fact, I had a razor in my hand, preparing to shave the mustache off, when the phone rang. It was a woman, a church leader. She asked me what she saw on my upper lip at the post office that morning. I told her it was a mustache, and she said, "Well, it looks horrible. Shave it off." I replied without thinking, "I think you're too fat, by the way, but I don't tell you so." Eventually, I did shave it off. So many people came to my wife, Anna, and asked her to get me to shave the mustache off that she finally said, "If you don't stop telling him that, he will have that thing until Jesus returns." They stopped, and I finally shaved it off. When I told the congregation I was going to shave it off, believe it or not, they applauded. Oh my. That's kind of like all of us, isn't it? And Jesus says if you've got a mustache and it's ugly, that's the mustache of arrogance and pride. Shave it off and once you do, you'll be free. You won't have to pretend. You won't have to try to be somebody you're not. You can dance and laugh and sing in the presence of the God of the universe. Hey, you think about that. I'm out.
Matthew: Thanks, Steve. You know, we should be each other's cheerleader, but Jeremy, the short skirt and pom-poms are just too far. It's just a metaphor, man. Hope you're enjoying this tour through the biblical basis of Steve's new book. We'll continue from here tomorrow, so hope to see you again then. Hey, I want to let you know about a special booklet called *Through the Eyes of Grace: Acts and Romans*. This is taken from Steve's classic overview of the New Testament. How did the early church get its start? You know, the leadership, Pentecost, the fellowship of believers, the persecution? It's all in there. Next week, Steve and Jerry Parries will take a unique look at Paul's missionary journeys, and I think this booklet is going to be nice to have on hand for that. So, get your free copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at [email protected] to order that booklet, or go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for the absolutely free booklet called *Through the Eyes of Grace: Acts and Romans*. Before you go, would you consider giving to Key Life to help the work of our ministry? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or you can simply text "keylife" to 28950, then follow the instructions. And please know that no matter how you give, big or small, one-time or ongoing, every gift matters and every gift really helps. Thanks. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.