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August 26, 2025 17 mins
Pastor Lonnie's message reminds us that while it’s easy to notice flaws in others, Jesus calls us to approach people with humility and grace. His command in Matthew 7:1 isn’t about ignoring wrongdoing; it’s about avoiding judgment that isn’t ours to make. Before we try to fix someone else, we must first address our own faults, live with integrity, and lead by example. When we speak into someone’s life, it should be an act of loving intervention, not meddling interference, always leaving the final judgment to God.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, all of us.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
We know someone who's a lot. Here's what I mean
by that.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
That one friend or a coworker or a family member
who just drains your patience. Drains your patience.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
They've got rough edges, they're high maintenance, they're oftentimes obnoxious
and has no control over their tongue in what they say.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
And sometimes those folks can be hurtful.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
We all know people like that, and when that happens,
our attitude towards them will start to shift a bit,
and we start evaluating, and we start judging.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it is usually in a moment like that that
Jesus calls us out.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
In the reading this morning, Jesus drops one of the
most famous lines that's quoted, and that is, do not judge,
or you will be judged.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
What the world are we to do with that, especially
when we have persons who are a lot? How do
we deal with that? Now, you you've heard that expression before.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
In fact, even people who who don't really read the
Bible they quote that. I recently there was an interview
with Billy Joel and the interviewer asked him the question,
and it had to do with what he thought about
a colleague of.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
His who had a moral failure, and.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Billy Joe's response was judge, not unless you be judged
and went on and everything was okay.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
We use that all the time. But here's the catch.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
When that is such a popular phrase in our culture,
it is also one of the most misunderstood statements in
the Bible. And I'd like for us to chew on
that a little bit this morning. When we read that,
some people think that Jesus is saying, well, don't ever

(02:46):
speak up when you see a wrong But that's not it.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Jesus isn't saying.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Don't make moral choices or don't take a stand.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
But what he is saying here is when.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
You look at someone else's life, you better proceed with caution.
And here's the challenge we face as godscientious, Bible believing
christ following Christians. We look at this, the challenge is,
how can you stand.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
For your convictions and not be obnoxious.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
It's kay, you stand for what you believe to be right,
but you still someone people like to hang around.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
There's something there can we help someone.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Without coming across as a hey, I'm better.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Than you, Christ's follower.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I think that's what Jesus is getting at We all
know people who are like that.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
So what is Jesus getting at here?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
He is essentially saying, if you're not on the jury,
don't give the verdict. Because there's some things we are
on the jury for and there are other things we
are not on that jury. And part of the discernment
is where do we make those kinds of judgments? There
are times in our lives when we do need to

(04:15):
make judgment calls and we are on that jury, like
should I date that person it's a judgment call, or
should I let my kids go to that place, or

(04:39):
should I lend my car to a guy who's totaled
two cars previously? We make judgment calls. We're on those
kinds of juries.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
We're to do that. Jesus is saying, don't.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Ever not make those decisions, because elsewhere he has a clue.
And when I think of this in the Sermon on
the Mountain, I also like to relate to what Jesus
also said about judgment elsewhere in John's gospel, but I
think he has a little clarity to this.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
And when Jesus said stop judging.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
By mere appearances, but instead he uses a word judge correctly,
So there is a dynamic thing in our judgment cause
and here's the thing that I think.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Jesus is getting at here. When we judge.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Without knowing the facts, we can get it wrong. We
can really get it wrong. And honestly, most of the
time it's we don't know the whole story, and it
may not be our story to know anyway, because it's

(05:48):
none of our business.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
I like what C. S. Lewis wrote. In a number
of places.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
He would write about the dangers of prying into someone's
inner spiritual state and trying to judge whether or not
that person is truly a Christian. Many of us are
aware of his famous book Mere Christianity, where he details

(06:17):
what led him as he moved from doubt to faith.
And in the Preference of Mere Christianity. C. S.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Lewis writes, and he stresses.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
That Christianity is about following Christ, not about measuring who
is in or who is out, or trying to sort
people into categories of real versus not real. Here's what

(06:48):
he wrote, and this was in the Preference of Mere Christianity. C. S.
Lewis wrote, it is not for us to say who,
in the deepest sense is or is not to the
spirit of Christ. We do not see into men's hearts.
We cannot judge, and are indeed forbidden to judge. So

(07:15):
rule number one, if you're not on that jewelry, don't
give a verdict. Let God handle that. That is a
God thing. And I love how Jesus teaches. He's given
this really kind of a heart in your face lesson
about judging.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
And then he makes.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
A statement that is hilariously clear in the word picture.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
He says this. He says, why do you look.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
At the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and
not pay attention to the plank in your own eye?
I think we need a vaccine for plank eye disease.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
I think that would be a very good.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Vaccine, and maybe we need some social distancing from that
disease as well.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Now I realized that is it's an artist. It's a
kind of a.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Crazy image, a crazy image of a guy with a
two by four sticking.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Out of his face.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
And then going, hey, buddy, you got something in your eye.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
I'm sure they laughed at that.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
I think Jesus was humoring his audience, and I believe
that image is supposed to make us laugh. But it
is also not only to make us laugh, but to
make us think to think.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
And we've all done this. We treat other.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
People's speck like it is a huge big deal.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
At our own plank like well, it's no big deal
at all.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
But before you criticize someone, Jesus says, just stop and
check yourself and ask, am I really in a position
to call this out?

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Are you on that jury?

Speaker 2 (09:19):
Perhaps you've got a plank problem, perhaps.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
A problem to deal with.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
But then Jesus continues with a solution, and here's a
solution to that.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
He goes on. He says, first take the plank out.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
Of your own eye, and then you will see clearly
to remove the spec from your brother's eye.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
We look at ourselves first off.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Notice he doesn't say, don't ever help anyone.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
He says, make.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Sure that you're living it first, or your credibility is
going to go down the tubes.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Say it before you're living it.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
I remember when we had kids at home. I couldn't
tell my kids to keep their rooms clean. If I
kept my office, if it looked like a hurricane hid,
I just couldn't do it. If I would be late
for everything, I couldn't expect for them to be on time.

(10:28):
If I couldn't control my temper, how could I expect
my kids to control their temper? Parenting or leadership or friendship?
It all works better when we're able to first.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Lead by example.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
That Jesus is getting at because our advice carries weight.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
When life back set up, that's when it carries weight.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
That's the most powerful evangelistic statement one could ever make.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
And then if this was.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Not enough of a surprise, as Jesus goes from judging
to this kind of image of taking care of the
speck and the log in our own eye, then he
throws an absolute curveball, like what what?

Speaker 1 (11:25):
What is he getting at?

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Because then in the next statement, Jesus says, uh, he says,
don't give.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
The dogs.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
What is sacred, don't take your pearls and throw them
to pigs. What an image? What where are you going?

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Jesus? Was there a mind lapture? What are you after? Here?
Saying that? At first?

Speaker 2 (11:50):
It sounds kind of harsh, doesn't it? It sounds very harsh,
But I think this is what Jesus is saying here,
and it's a code, and it is a harsh reality
that not everyone wants your advice.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Okay, not everyone's asking for it. Not everyone is ready
to hear your determination of truth. They may not be
ready to hear that. And further, this is painful.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Some people don't want the spec removed from their eye.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
They don't. They've grown comfortable to be looking at life
through blurred, sloppy vision.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
They don't want to change, and someone's not interested. They're
not inviting it. They have grown accustomed to the spec
in their eye and they don't want to change.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Go on, go on, but do it lovingly. But there
will be others.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
There will be others that when you give them something
that helps them grow, that helps them to where it
connects the love of God in their life, they're going
to treasure it. You're not casting your pearls before swine

(13:39):
things to be trampled under feet. They recognize that what
you've been able to share with them, that's a pearl.
Maybe it's someone and you realize, hey, I care for you.
You keep going the way you're going and doing what
you're doing. Friend, that's you know, if you keep doing this,

(14:04):
this person you're married is going to say I'm done.
And the person who can listen to that, and they
welcome that in remarkable things can happen. So when someone
shows you how to be a better person, a better parent,

(14:25):
a friend, a leader, a christ follower, grab that pearl.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
And hang on to it. Now, here's the takeaway for
this morning. The thing do you remember, and that is
that your influence.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
Your influence will work best when your life matches your words.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Let God do the judging. At our job is to
do the loving.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
When I think of the church's mission and evangelism, we
have an evangelism team and.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
They're working tireless. How can we reach out?

Speaker 2 (15:10):
And they come up with all kinds of new ideas
on evangelism because the church of the local church is
one of the only institutions that exists for the benefit of.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
People who are not already here. Think about it. You
join a club and it's sports members. Here's the club you.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Joy to say, Now, how can we reach out to others?

Speaker 1 (15:29):
It's really a.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Turnaround, And I would submit why we have programs and
things that we do to encourage us and support us
in that The best outreach is what I would call
lifestyle evangelism.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Live through the love of Christ. Don't be a sacred jerk.
So the love of God and all you are about.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Would you please stand let us pray.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
God.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
We want to thank you for reminding us today that
you're the judge and we're not. We are quick to criticize,
quick to size people up, and we are way too
quick to forget about our own plank eye moments. Lord,

(16:24):
help us this week to make a trade, to trade
judgment for compassion. Help us to notice the good in
people before we point out the bad.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Give us the humility to look at our own.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
Hearts first, and the courage to live out our faith
in a way that.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Makes others curious about you and not turned off by us.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Teach us to teach us when to stay quiet.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
And to love people write where they are.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
We want our lives to shine with grace, not smugness.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
But most of all, Jesus, we thank.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
You for loving us in our mess. Thank you for
offering forgiveness instead of condemnation, and help us to give
others that same gift.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
Amen.
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