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 omeone
once said that the opening verse of this study is now the most quoted
passage in the Bible and not John 3:16. The opening verse of our passage
is Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” (NASB).
This passage is very popular! It is not unique to just one culture. Let
me illustrate. There is a Japanese proverb which states, “Search
seven times before you suspect anyone.” Confucius is quoted as
saying, “It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities
that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate them.” The
famous Rabbi Hillel of Jesus’ time said, “Judge not your
friend until you have stood in his place.” There is an American
Sioux proverb that says, “Before I judge my neighbor, let me walk
a mile in his moccasins.” An Arabian proverb reads, “Examine
what is said, not who speaks,” and Mother Teresa said, “If
you judge people, you have not time to love them.” No one likes
to be judged. We are all familiar with judgmental people. We are familiar
with our own failings in judging people unfairly and harshly. Everyone
judges others. It is like drinking water. We all do it. Harry Ironside. Dr. H. A. Ironside was
a famous preacher. He was a man that Dr. J. Vernon McGee highly respected
and desired to be like. Those who knew Dr. Ironside well said that he
would tell the following account about himself. Dr. Ironside had decided
to travel on a cruise ship from the United States to Europe. When he
arrived on board, he discovered that he would be sharing a stateroom
with another man. After meeting the man, Dr. Ironside felt uncomfortable
about leaving any of his valuables in the room. He did not trust the
man. Consequently, he took his valuables to the office onboard the cruise
ship and explained to the steward why he wanted to leave his possessions
in the ship’s safe. The steward agreed to do that, and then told
Dr. Ironside before he left that the other man had been there only minutes
before Dr. Ironside arrived and wanted to leave his valuables for the
same reason.
Both men had quickly judged the other person and come to
the wrong conclusion. But that is usually what we do. We look at someone,
hear him, and make a quick evaluation.
Lady At The Airport. This is another true
story. It is about a woman who went to an airport early to catch her
flight. She came with a book and a package of cookies. After she arrived
at the gate for her flight, she sat down and settled in to read her book.
After a while a man sat down two seats away, leaving one seat between
them. After awhile she noticed that the man was fumbling to open a package
of cookies. He eventually opened it, took one, and ate it. She was stunned
that he would be eating her cookies. So she decided to not say anything
and quickly took the next cookie so that he did not eat them all. After
a few minutes he took another one, and then she quickly took another.
She was irritated but said nothing. This continued until one cookie was
left. Then he broke it in half and ate one half. Now she was really upset
that he did not leave the last for her. After a while he left. Eventually,
she boarded her flight, arrived at her seat, and after sitting down reached
into her purse to get a tissue. Then she discovered that her package
of cookies was still in her purse. She felt terrible. She realized that
she had been too quick to judge the man. She had eaten his cookies and
he had kindly and graciously shared his cookies, including his last one,
without saying a word.
Our Response. Dr. H. A. Ironside and the
woman at the airport were both judgmental. We identify with both situations.
We have judged others unfairly too! We have been judged unfairly also!
When we know that we have been judged unfairly, it hurts and we are offended.
Our response to our hurts is not unexpected. We may respond by saying
unkind words, complaining, or demeaning the person to others. We ignore
the following proverb,
He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who spreads slander is a fool. (NASB) Proverb 10:18 According to Proverbs we are fools when we slander the one who offended
us. We also speak evil about another person ignoring Titus 3:2.
. . . malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. (NASB) Titus 3:2 Gossip can be a sophisticated form of slander. One can hide
the hatred of the soul by sharing “important information” that
others “need to know.” We can pretend to care about someone
while we enjoy sharing the bad news. It is difficult to know if someone’s
heart is pure or cunning when he or she is speaking about another person.
Gossip often occurs when hatred is in the heart. God has said that love
covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8), and hurts too!
R. G. LeTourneau, owner of a large earth-moving equipment company, told this story. “We used to have a scraper known as the model ‘G.’ Somebody asked one of our salesmen one day what the ‘G’ stood for. The salesmen, after thinking a few seconds, replied, ‘Well, I guess the ‘G’ stands for gossip, because like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt and moves it fast.’” [1] |
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