James Merritt - Don't Rush to Judgement
If you’re a guest of ours today, you’re watching online for the first time. We started a series back in September that we’ve been calling Get Used to Different, and it’s based on the greatest sermon ever preached, a sermon on the Mount. And what we’ve been saying is really over and over and over. If you’re going to follow Jesus, not just with your lips, but with your life. If you’re really gonna put it all in on Jesus, if you’re gonna put all your cards on the table with Jesus, then you better get used to different. You’re gonna be different. You’re gonna live different. You’re not gonna go with the flow, you’re not gonna worry about what the crowd thinks. You’re really going to be different. You’re not gonna be like the rest of the world.
And I don’t know of any passage in the Bible that we’re gonna study ever again that is more to the point than the one we’re going to look at today. If you bring your booklet with you that we gave out several months ago, you’re on page 18 in your little booklet, but I wanna give you what I believe. In fact, I don’t believe it. I’m convinced of it. It is the most misunderstood, misused, misapplied verse in the entire Bible. Matter of fact, I am convinced it is the world’s favorite verse. People that don’t like the Bible, people that don’t believe the Bible, people who hate the Bible, people who never read the Bible, they love this verse. They love to quote this verse. They have memorized this verse. They’re so glad this verse is in the Bible.
And some of you already know what it is. But if you don’t, here it is, «Judge not, that you be not judged». You hear it every day, all the time, everywhere. And that Trump card is played somewhere, every way and every day, and someplace in our country, Sunday through Saturday. Who are you to judge me? Who are you to tell me that my lifestyle is wrong? Who are you to tell me that what I think is not right? And by the way, that no judgment allowed mindset is becoming popular among Christians in the church.
I read something the other day, blew my mind. If you are under 45 years of age, and I’m not gonna ask you to raise your hand, 'cause some of you get mad if you’re not. But if you’re under the age of 45, or you wish you were, Summit Ministries in the Barna Group took a poll. You ready for this? They found that Christians, churchgoing Christians under the age of 45 are four times more likely than people who are over the age of 45 to agree with this statement. «If your beliefs offend someone or hurt their feelings, it’s wrong». If your beliefs offend someone or hurt their feelings, it is wrong.
Now, I grew up in a day, some of you will not remember this, it’s gonna be like sound like a foreign country to you. But I grew up in a day when I walked into my first grade class and then 10 Commandments were up on the wall. I grew up in a day when you could see the 10 Commandments in government offices. You could see them in school rooms, you could see them in office buildings. But now we’re told the separation of church and state says, you can’t do that. But let me tell you, there is an 11th Commandment. It’s in the walls of Congress. It’s on the walls of the White House. It’s in every public university. It’s in every high school. It’s in every elementary school. It’s in every public building you could imagine. Oh, it’s not on the wall, it’s not written out. But this is the 11th Commandment. You shall not judge.
David Gelernter, you’ll find interesting. He’s a professor at Yale University. I didn’t know this. He explains that the word judgmental is really a very recent word. If you got a dictionary, if you can find a dictionary that was published in the 1970s, you won’t even find the word judgmental in the dictionary. Nobody ever used that word until the 1970s. As a matter of fact, before then, for century after century, judgment was a good thing. Judgment was considered a positive thing. But now today, if you’re judgmental, you’re negative, you’re critical, you’re harsh, you’re pejorative. And that just happened recently.
So we’re gonna ask a very valid question. Is judging a bad thing? Is it always wrong to judge? Is it ever right to judge? And if it is ever right to judge, can you do it, and how are you to do it? Now here’s what I want you to understand. I’m not backing off what Jesus said. He told the truth, «Judge not, that you be not judged». I agree with that. He said it, I believe it. Here’s the problem. What many people think Jesus said is not what He said. And what the world thinks Jesus meant is not what He meant.
Now, Jesus said what He said meant what He meant, meant what He said, said what He meant. I’m not even going there, I get that. But it’s not what many of you think. Because here’s what you’re going to learn today in a simple sentence. Jesus is going to tell us, «You make sure your heart is right before you call out what is wrong». «You make sure your heart is right before you judge what is wrong». So how should we judge if we even can, and when should we do it? So I’m gonna say three quick things. Ready? Jesus says, number one, «We’re to judge cautiously». We’re to judge cautiously, all right?
So let’s look back at the world’s favorite verse. Ready? «Judge not, that you be not judged». Here’s the problem. There’s a real misunderstanding with that word judge. Because both in the Bible and in the English language, that word judge has two different meanings. So let me give you an example. One way you use the word judge, it means to discriminate. It means to evaluate. It means to make a difference. Let me give you an example. Every now and then Theresa will let me off my leash to go to the grocery store, all right? Yesterday was one of those days, all right? So we’re bringing food to our small group tonight. She wanted to make dessert. So she says, «Okay, I’m gonna let you go to the grocery store». «Thank you, and that’s so nice of you».
I’m gonna let you go to the grocery store. She said, «Now, I know I’ll have my phone right next to me because you’re always gonna be calling me. And you’re right, right»? Because for example, husband, see if you can relate to this. She’ll put on their milk. Now, if I buy the wrong brand of milk or I probably buy 2% when she wanted 1%, I walk in the door, what do you think she’s gonna say? «Why’d you buy that»? «You told me to buy milk». «Well, but I wanted 2%». «You didn’t say 2%, you just said milk». So I’m always calling, «Do you want this? You want that? You want this brand of that brand, all right»? So she said, «I want bananas». So I go over to where they’re selling bananas. You know what I did? I judged those bananas, which is too ripe, which is not ripe enough, which is just ripe?
Now, it did not bother those bananas that I judged them. They were not offended in any way whatsoever, right? Nobody, no, no banana. I looked at one banana and said, «Yep, you won’t cut it». I looked at the other banana and said, «Nope, you’re not going. You’re the one that’s gonna make Theresa happy». That’s a good judgment. I just discriminate. I just evaluated. There’s a real positive sense the word is used, but there’s also a very negative sense. And that’s the way the word that this is the way that Jesus was using that word. Here, there’s this second meeting.
So when Jesus says, «Judge not,» here’s what He meant. Judging is when you put yourself in a place of superiority and you condemn and criticize other people a way that’s either unfair, unjustified, or both. So lemme go ahead and give you two things you should never, ever judge. And we all do it all the time. You ready? First of all, never judge motives. You can judge what somebody does. You can’t judge why they do it. «Oh, they’re just trying to make money». Well, maybe they are, but you don’t know that. You don’t know their heart. «Oh, they’re just doing that to show off». Well, maybe they are. You don’t know that. You don’t know their heart. You cannot judge motives. Stay in your lane. It’s God’s job to judge the heart 'cause only He knows the heart. You cannot judge motives. You cannot judge why somebody does what they do.
«Well, I know why you work so hard. I know why you prepare all these messages. It’s obvious you’ve done your homework. Why you study»? You want everybody to pat you on the back and tell you what a great preacher you are. I can say before God, that is not why I do it. But if you think that, you’re judging me, you don’t know that. Maybe it is. You don’t know that, you can’t judge my motives. Second thing, we’ve all done it. Don’t judge appearance. Never judge a person by the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, the house they live in. Don’t judge a person from the inside or judge a person from the outside. Don’t ever judge it a book too quickly, I mean, judge too quickly. You never judge a book by its cover. Give you a great example. Theresa can relate to this.
My second church that little country church, we were in the seminary and we were pastoring one little small country church, went to a bigger small country church. And so I just got voted in. I’d just been selected to be the next pastor of the church, right? So after it was over, everybody’s coming up to meet you. Well, this big guy comes up to me. David Rohrer came up to me. David had, I call it the Grand Canyon gap between two teeth. He had a gap that wide between two of his teeth, all right? He also had a big belly, and I’m not trying to make fun of him, he’s in heaven. But David’s shirt stopped at his belly button, okay? You’ve seen people like that, right? Then on top of that, not only he has gap tooth, not only he’s got this big belly that you’re not even covered with his shirt, he’s wearing white socks. Always beware a man that wears white socks.
So David Rohrer comes up to me and he says, «Now preacher, I don’t have a lot of money. Not a lot I can do for you». But he said, «Preacher, James had just been born. He was only about a month old». He said, «We’ll help you take care of that little baby. You and Theresa ever wanna go out on a date or you wanna go do something, you leave the baby with us. If y’all ever need a break, we’ll take care of that little baby». Man, we got in the car, Theresa and I did go back to the seminary. We’re gonna move down there. We got back to the car and I said, «I’m gonna tell you, I met the biggest whack job I think I’ve ever had in the church». «Who is that»? I says, «This guy named David Rohrer».
I think he’d met Carol. She’d met Carol. «What’s wrong with him»? I said, «Well, he’s got this Grand Canyon gap in his teeth. His stomach is not even covered by a shirt and he wears white socks». He became my very best friend. He became like a dad to me, like a grandson, like a grandfather to my son, James. You don’t judge by appearance. You don’t jump to conclusions. We do it all the time. This is so cool. There was a girlfriend one time and she wanted to call her boyfriend. His name was Mike. And so she dialed the number to call her boyfriend, but she dialed one wrong digit. She missed one digit. Well, it just so happened that she got the number of a guy who had the same name as her boyfriend. What her surprise, when she dialed, a woman answered the phone and she said, «Hello». And the girlfriend said, «Is Mike there»? She said, «Well, yeah, he’s in the shower». She said, «Really»? She said, «Would you just please tell him his girlfriend called,» and she hung up.
Well, about an hour went by and she didn’t hear anything. And so she hit redial and dialed the same number. Well, this time a man answered. He said, «This is Mike». She said, «Say that again». «This is Mike». She said, «You’re not my boyfriend». He said, «I know. I’ve been trying to tell my wife that for the last hour». Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t judge by appearance. You have to judge cautiously. So what did Jesus mean? That’s why He says this in verse 2. «For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged». That’s true. There’s a boomerang effect to judgment. You judge me the way you’re gonna be judged. I judge you the way I’m gonna be judging the same way. And with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you. I call that the golden rule of judgment. The way you judge is the way you’ll be judged.
So before you judge anybody, you better ask this question. «Is that the way I want someone to judge me»? You ever heard the term first impression? Don’t ever judge people by a first impression. That’s what I did with David Rohrer. Because if you judge people by first impression, they’re gonna judge you. I mean, would you want someone… And by the way, lemme tell you something else. Never mistake the moment for the man. Would you like for me to judge you at your worst time, at your worst moment? You say, no. Then why do we do that? Be very cautious. Be very careful how you judge. Don’t make snap judgements by initial impression or by first appearance.
Now having said that, you’re gonna learn that judgment is right. When you judge the right person at the right time, in the right way, in the right spirit, by the right standard. And you say, «Well, what is that standard»? This. That’s the standard. That’s the only standard you use. Not your preferences, not your desires, not what you want, but by the word of God. So let me make this extremely easy. I am not judging when I say adultery is wrong. I’m not judging when I say homosexuality is wrong. I’m not judging when I say abortion is wrong. I’m not judging when I say racism is wrong. I’m not judging when I say selfishness is wrong. I’m not judging when I say envy is wrong. I’m not judging when I say gossip is wrong. I’m not judging when I say greed is wrong.
Do you know why I’m not judging when I say that? I don’t have to judge them because God already has. I’m just repeating what He said. He’s the one that makes the rules. Now the irony, here’s the real irony. I tell you something I’ve learned. If I’ve been your pastor any length of time, can I ask you a stupid question? Do you think your pastor’s ever been called judgmental? Can I just get a look like, yeah, I think you have. Sure I have. I’ve been written about, I’ve had articles written about me. I’ve had Twitter, Twitter feeds written about me. Sure I am. But here’s the ironic thing. When you speak the truth in love and that’s all you do, you just tell the truth in love. There are people out there that are gonna do you well. You’re just being judgmental.
And you know the irony of that? They’re being judgmental for calling me judgmental, and don’t even realize it. Wait a minute, you’re judging me 'cause you say I’m judging someone else. And the amazing thing is, so often the person who is the most judgmental is the person who’s calling somebody else judgmental. Because when you call something wrong that God calls wrong, that is not judgemental. That’s just speaking the truth in love. But now let’s go deeper. What did Jesus mean when He said, judge not, that you be not judged? What do you really mean by that? Do you mean you don’t ever judge? He said, «No, no, no, you do judge». And that’s why what he’s about to say next is very, very surprising. And it’s gonna make all of us very uncomfortable. Because Jesus said, not only should you judge cautiously, Jesus said, you should judge conscientiously.
Now you know what that word conscientious means, right? It means to be conscious of yourself. So in verse 3, Jesus is gonna ask two questions. Why should you judge anybody? And when you do, how should you do it? Because what you’re gonna learn. When you answer those two questions correctly, why should I do it? When should I do it? How should I do it? When you answer those questions, then you’ll understand what it means to be judging without being judgemental. So here’s what Jesus says. «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»?
Now, if you’d been there 2000 years ago, you would’ve laughed out loud, 'cause Jesus paints this hilarious picture. You see, you see the word, here the word, plank. That word plank is, we call it today a two-by-four. That’s what a plank would be. A plank would be a two-by-four. So here’s what you’ve got. Jesus says, «Here’s a man who is staring down a speck, just a speck in one person’s eye while he’s got a two-by-four sticking out of his own». Now here’s the irony of all of that. Do you know what a speck of sawdust is? A speck of sawdust is a piece of a plank. That’s all it is. It’s just a piece of a plank. That’s what a splinter is. A splinter is just a piece of a plank.
So here’s a problem. Here’s our big problem when we judge someone. So often we criticize… I can put that up. We criticize a fault in someone that we have in own life. We do it all the time. Lemme give you a great example. Have you ever noticed how gossips talk about people who gossip? «Hey, I heard something, now I was told not to tell it. So don’t you tell anybody». What? Now, I don’t gossip. I would never gossip, right? So people who gossip, gossip about people who gossip. And what we don’t realize so often, so many times is so true that somebody else’s fault that you criticize is just a chip off your block.
In fact, lemme give you a little principle of human nature. It is true of everybody. We were all born with this desire. We were all born with this ability. We can see the speck in someone’s eye 15 miles away, but we can’t see the two-by -four standing in front of a mirror. Really, I mean, it’s kind of an amazing thing. We look at somebody else’s faults with a microscope. We look at our faults with a telescope. We examine other people’s faults, we excuse our own. Now, lemme tell you why. I came across something in my study for this sermon. This fascinated me. I’d never heard it before. I bet you haven’t. There’s a psychological principle. It’s called fundamental attribution error, okay? I’d never heard of that. I didn’t know what in the world is that. But then I read it, I said, «Good gosh, I’ve been guilty of that myself».
Here’s what it is. Watch this. Fundamental attribution error describes our tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to their character while attributing our behavior to our circumstances. All right, and we’ll give you a great example. So the boss calls for a meeting downtown Atlanta. «I want everybody to be here. We’re gonna start the meeting at eight o’clock». And you get up, you drive down there, you leaving plenty of time, and you get there at 7:45. And somebody comes walking in about 8:20. Here’s the first thing we think. «Ha, if they’d gotten up earlier, they’d have made it on time like I did». But if you walk in late, traffic was heavy. That’s fundamental attribution error. That’s exactly what that is. We have a tendency to blame other people’s faults on their character, but our faults on our circumstances.
So as a matter of fact, this is not just a psychological principle. Did you know it’s a physical principle? This is fascinating. I love this kind of stuff. Ophthalmologists tell us, there’s a place in your eye where the optic nerve passes through the optic disc in your eye and it is a literal blind spot. We all have it. Every one of us have a blind spot. It’s about 7.5 degrees high and about five degrees wide. Now we don’t ever notice our blind spots. You know why? Because our brains have been wired to blank them out. And that’s why we’re all susceptible to misjudging. All susceptible to misunderstanding. That’s why you’ve got rear view mirrors. That’s why you’ve got these mirrors.
Now, if you’ve got one like in my car where if somebody’s too close to you, this little light comes on. Why? 'Cause you’ve got a blind spot. And there’s a certain point where that car gets close to you, you can’t see that car. You’ve got to begin, it’s got that blind spot. Now here’s the truth. You may be thinking right now, «Well, hey, I got a question. Tell me how somebody can see a splinter in someone else’s eye, but they cannot see a two-by-four in their own»? The answer’s really easy if you think about it. Do you know why we can see a splinter in someone else’s eye a mile away, but we can’t see a two-by-four on our own if we’re looking right at it? Can I tell you why? Because we’re not looking for the two-by-four. We’re looking for the speck. You see what you’re looking for. I mean, that’s the truth. They’re looking for the plank. They’re looking for the speck.
Let me tell you something. I have pastored five churches. I have never pastored a church that did not have speck inspectors. Never. Every church I’ve ever pastored speck inspectors, I mean, they are specialists at spotting specks. They can always find the fault. They can always give a criticism. They can always pass judgment. The problem is, when it comes to our faults, our failures, our flaws, we’re blind as a bat. But when it comes to somebody else’s faults and somebody else’s failures, we’ve got eagle vision 20/20, we can see it 15 miles away. And that’s why everybody else’s faults seems so much bigger than ours.
So now don’t miss the point Jesus is making, 'cause He’s not making the point you may have thought. Jesus never said in this passage, don’t ever judge anything. Don’t ever judge anybody. That is not what He said. What He said was, «Before you judge anyone else, judge yourself. Before you look out the window, you look in the mirror». So the next time you see a splinter in someone else’s life, you don’t just say, «Well, don’t judge, I won’t say anything. I’ll just put my head in the sand, turn my back. Pretend it’s not there». No, no, no, no, no. No, the first thing you do, do I have a two-by-four in my own? But once you take that out, then you can say, «Hey, you got a splinter. You got a speck in your eye».
We’re to judge ourselves first. Jesus is not telling us, don’t judge. He’s saying this is how you do it. As a matter of fact, if you think I’m making this up, let me tell you something else Jesus said about a week or two later after He made this statement. In John 7:24, here’s what Jesus said. «Stop judging by mere appearance,» just what I told you a while ago. «But instead…» Say those words out loud. Real loud. You don’t hear the world say that. No, no, no, no, I’m not telling you not to judge. What I want you to do is judge correctly. Judge rightly, judge humbly, judge fairly, judge accurately. Judge conscientiously. Judgment begins with us before it ever goes to anyone else.
Now, with that said, Jesus said, «All right, now let me tell you how you do this. Lemme tell you how to judge and do it the right way. We’re to judge conscientiously, and we’re to judge cautiously». But then Jesus says, «We’re to judge compassionately». All right, now we’ve come to what Jesus meant and what He said. Here’s the key verse. He says, «You hypocrite…» He hated hypocrisy. «You hypocrite». He didn’t say, «You hypocrite, don’t you judge»? He didn’t say that. He said, «You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye».
Now, the two words I want you to notice there, that word first, that word, then, the word hypocrite. By the way, now, do you understand what a hypocrite is? A hypocrite is not someone that judges what’s wrong. That is not a hypocrite. A hypocrite is somebody that’s always looking out the window, but they never look in the mirror. A hypocrite is someone who’s always looking for your speck, but they’re not looking for their two-by-four. So Jesus said, «Look, you’re not wrong to look out the window, but first look in the mirror».
And the reason why most people misunderstand what Jesus said is 'cause they wanna try to make Jesus say what He didn’t say and to mean what He did not mean. That’s why I put a big, big, bold print. He said first, then, first, then. Now everybody wants to remember the first clause, right? Hey, judge your own house, judge your own self. You keep me out of it. No, there’s a then. Then you’ll see clue to remove the speck from your brothers. Ah, then you’ll know. Then you’ll see how it’s done. People wanna say that. 'Cause when you see someone that’s doing something wrong or they say something wrong, they believe something wrong, they deserve to be confronted. You just make sure that you have first dealt with yourself.
As a matter of fact, I talked to somebody last week in Colorado. We were in Colorado last week for a church conference. And I heard it again. I hear this almost three times a month. «Well, I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual». Now what I find out about 95% of those people, they’re not either one, but that’s what they say. Oh, I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual, right? Well, what do they mean by spiritual? Can I tell you one of the definitions of a spiritual person? You are a spiritual person when you know how to judge correctly. That’s a mark of a spiritual person. You know how to judge at the right time, in the right place, the right person with the right motive, in the right spirit, using the right judgment. Then you are spiritual.
Now if you think I’m making that up, I didn’t even say that. The Apostle Paul said that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:15, «The spiritual person». Do you consider yourself a spiritual? «Yeah, Pastor, I’m a spiritual person». All right, then you judge all things. Spiritual person doesn’t judge no things. He says they judge all things. So what is the spiritual person? Real simple. A spiritual person judges others the way God judges others. He sees others the way God sees others, lovingly, redemptively. But again, that’s what the word judge means. It means to discriminate. I mean, you do it. So let me give you an example.
Right now, I’m having lunch on a fairly regular basis with a man in our church. And he’s one is a man he works with. This man is gay. This man is… He’s not here, so I can say this. He’s not in the left field, he’s in the upper deck. He believes in reincarnation. I mean, just crazy stuff, really. I mean, I love him, but it’s just crazy stuff. So we were having lunch a couple weeks ago, and I said, listen, I’ll just call him John. I said, «John, look, we’re after the same thing». He said, «What do you mean»? I said, «We’re just after truth». I said, «Man, if what I believe is not true, I wanna know it. But if what you believe is not true, y’all don’t wanna know it».
And we’re just after truth. He looks at me and he says, «Well, yeah, but I don’t think we mean the same thing by truth». «So what do you mean by what you just said»? He said, «Well, you know, there’s, you’ve got your truth and I’ve got my truth, and you know, it’s all relative». I said, «So what you’re saying is, there’s no absolute truth». He said, «Yep, that’s what I’m saying». I said, «Huh, you don’t even believe what you just said». He said, «what do you mean»? I said, «To say there’s no absolute truth. That’s an absolute truth. So you don’t even believe what you just said».
I said, «Furthermore, you said, you know, you said lie and I just don’t always live by the truth». I said, «Sure you do». I said, «You gonna go back to work, we gonna go to work». He said, «I’m gonna go back to Atlanta». I said, «So you’re gonna get on Interstate 85 and you’re gonna go south? Is that right»? He said, «Yeah». I said, «Well, suppose you believe that everybody going south is actually going north». I said, «Trust me, if you try to pull that off on 85, you won’t live long. You don’t even believe what you’re just saying».
So the point that I’m making is, it’s okay to judge those kinds of things. A spiritual person is able to discriminate between what is right and what is wrong based on the unchanging standard of the word of God. And then when you see something that’s wrong, you’ll stand against what’s wrong and you’ll speak against what’s wrong. So lemme just stop here and say something. I kinda chased this rabbit at 9:15. I’ll chase it right here 'cause I didn’t kill him the first time.
There are a lot of people, more than I wish were there. There are a lot of people who are standing up in a place just like I’m standing up in. They’re standing behind a pulpit just like I’m standing behind a pulpit, and they’re standing on a platform just like I’m standing on a platform. They just got one problem. They’re not spiritual. Because if there are certain subjects you won’t talk about the pulpit that the Bible talks about, you’re not spiritual.
Oh, we don’t talk about abortion. Well, I do. I do. Real easy, abortion think that’s a complex question. No, it’s not. Abortion’s not complex. I’m gonna make some ladies mad so save your email. Abortion is not about the right of a woman to choose. It’s about the right of an unborn baby to live, period. Period. I’m not trying to make you mad, I’m just being honest with you. And by the way, while we’re in the neighborhood, you can’t get pro-choice people to argue with you. You know why? 'Cause they can’t. 'Cause I want you to listen to me.
Well, I believe every woman ought to have the right to choose. To choose what? To abort a baby. Okay. The same exact argument was used 150 years ago to justify slavery. Well, I think a white man ought to have the right to own a Black man. No sir, no man has the right to own another man. And no woman has the right to take the life of an unborn child. Nobody. And while I’m in this neighborhood, abortion is the ultimate breaking of the golden rule. You understand that? Because those of you out there that are right now so mad at me, you could fry an egg on your head, and wish you hadn’t showed up today. You’re breaking the golden rule because I gotta ask you a simple question. How would you like to have been aborted? 'Cause you wouldn’t be here right now if you had been. That’s the golden rule.
Do unto that unborn baby what was done to you. But there are a lot of preachers, they won’t preach that. You know why? They don’t wanna hurt anybody’s feelings. Somebody will leave the church. People will get mad and oh, they’ll be called judgmental. By the way, some of you have been under my ministry for a while. Can I ask you a question? Do you think people ever called me judgmental? Just asking. I’ve had articles written about me. I’ve had stuff put on Twitter that would barbecue a hot dog. «Oh, you’re judgmental». No, I just speak the truth in love and tell it. It’s not wrong. Yes, marriage is to be between a man and a woman, period.
All sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is sin, all of it, okay? Well, but you’re being judgmental. No, I’m not. I’m being spiritual. That’s what a spiritual person does. He says, «Okay, what does this book say»? Not what do I think? What does this book say? And what the book says. If this says it’s wrong, I’m going with him. It doesn’t say it’s wrong, I’ll keep my mouth shut. So all of which is to say, a spiritual person is able, he understands what’s right and wrong based on the word of God. And he says it. So I wanna say it one more time. No, it is not wrong to confront a person if a person’s doing something wrong or saying something wrong.
As a matter of fact, it’s wrong if you don’t. 'Cause think about this, if we didn’t have judges who judged, we’d be in complete anarchy. I mean, can you imagine? Can you imagine if you’re in a jury room, and a man’s on trial for murder, and it’s obvious he did it. The DNA proves it. There are eyewitnesses that prove it. You’ve got videos that prove it everywhere. He is guilty as sin. But you get in that jury room and one jury says, «Oh, we can’t convict him». Why not? Judge not, that you be not judged. You have anarchy. That’s what you’re supposed to do. When somebody commits a crime, you judge it. When somebody commits a sin, you judge it.
When somebody says something is wrong, you judge it. When somebody does something that’s wrong, you judge it. So it doesn’t matter what they’ve done. You know, so I’ve said all that just to say, no, you never judge a tree by its leaves, but you should judge a tree by its fruit. No, you don’t judge a book by its cover, but you should judge a book by its contents. No, you shouldn’t judge a person by the color of their skin, but you should judge a person by the content of their character. As a matter of fact, the word of God demands two things.
We’ll wrap this up. The word of God demands two things. First of all, it demands mutual accountability. Everybody’s accountable to somebody. I’m accountable to this church. This church can walk. You can walk in here today, call a business meeting, motion second. If you get enough votes, you can vote me out and fire me today. I’m accountable to the church. Everybody’s accountable to somebody. And the reason why we’ve got anarchy on these college campuses is because we forgot that single principle. And while I’m in that neighborhood, I thank God for all the school teachers we have in our church that teaches in public schools, you fight an uphill battle every day. I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the system. But I don’t know why we’re so surprised. I can’t believe what these college students are doing.
Are you kidding me? We have reaped what we’ve sown. You think you can take God out of the school and the 10 Commandments outta the school and you can say everything’s right. Everybody’s okay. There’s no wrong and not reaped what we sown? I’m not surprised. I’m surprised it had to happen sooner. There’s supposed to be a mutual accountability. But then the word of God teaches there’s a moral responsibility. We’ve got a responsibility to call wrong, wrong, to call evil, evil. And to stand against injustice wherever it’s found. And to do that, you have to judge.
So let me sum this up. Say three quick words, we’re gonna say amen and pray. Three words to remember when you judge anything or anybody. All right, number one, respect. I don’t agree with you. I think a woman don’t have the right to choose. I don’t agree with you. I respect your right to say that. I respect your right to believe that. Just like you ought to respect my right to believe and to say what I said and what I believe, I respect. But then you inspect. What that means is, I’ve got a right to inspect what you say. Okay, so you say a woman has the right to choose. I want you to defend that. I want you to logically, biblically, spiritually defend that. Oh, by the way, while we’re in that neighborhood again, I sure am glad that Mary did not exercise the right to choose to abort Jesus.
Think about that ladies when you walk out the door. Think about that ladies, I’m forcing you. Think about that ladies when you walk out the door. Where would be me today if Mary had aborted Jesus? I’ll tell you where we’d be, on the road to hell with no exit. Yeah, I have the right to inspect. You have the right to inspect me. I’ve got the right to inspect you. And when I do my inspection, and I say, «Okay, what you’re saying is wrong, what you’re doing is not wrong,» then do I have the right to do this? And that is correct. I have the right, I have the responsibility to help people see, you’re in error, you’re not in truth. You’re going the wrong way. They’re going the right way.
I want what’s best for you. God wants what’s best for you. What you’re doing is not what’s best. What you’re saying is not what is best. I wanna help you find what is God’s best. So close your Bibles, turn your iPads off, get all that done. I’m gonna say 60 seconds and we’re done. And we’ll pray. If you’ve heard what I have said today very clearly, it makes the cross of Jesus Christ shine like a diamond in the noonday sun. Say, why? Can I tell you why I’m going to heaven? Can I tell you why you can go to heaven? Can I tell you why I know I’m right with God? Can I tell you how you can know you’re right with God? Because 2000 years ago, a man who didn’t even have a speck in his eye, saw the two-by-four in mine, and he took the two-by-four out of my eye and he put it in his.
So I’m not gonna be judged by the great judge 'cause my sins have already been judged by the great judge at the cross of Jesus Christ. So now the question is, what you gonna do with what I just said today? Let’s take those of you today who you’re gonna meet Jesus. Like, I’m gonna meet Jesus, 'cause everybody’s gonna meet Jesus. But are you gonna meet Jesus as your savior or as your judge? You’re gonna meet one way or the other. But if you meet Jesus as your savior, you won’t be judged 'cause you’ve already been judged at the cross. And then what about the rest of us who’d say, «Oh, I’m a believer, I’m saved».
I gotta execute two things. Number one, are you a speck inspector? «Well, I am». Stop it. Look in the mirror before you look out the window. However, to some of who would say, «Yeah, man, I’m not gonna correct anybody. I’m not gonna inspect anybody». No, no, no, no, you don’t have that option. First then. Some of you need to get that plank out of your eye and have the courage to get the speck out of your brother’s eye. So my question really now is to those of you who you died right now, you died this moment, you’re gonna meet Jesus as your judge, not as your savior, as your judge. Why don’t you reverse that? Why don’t you say something like this in your heart right now? You could say it right now. He will hear you.
Lord Jesus, I wanna meet you one day, I’m going to meet you one day. I do not wanna meet you as my judge. I wanna meet you as my Savior. I wanna thank you that at the cross you judge, you took the judgment for all of my sins. I wanna thank you that because of your death and your resurrection, I’ll stand before God one day and hear God look at me and say, not guilty because you took the judgment for me. So Lord Jesus, I believe you died for my sins. I believe that God raised you from the dead. I believe you’re alive right now. Come into my heart, save me, forgive me. Give me the gift of eternal life.