Christian Podcast Central
Matthew 7:1-6
1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Welcome to one of the most ignored and blatantly disobeyed passages in all of Bible to the needless and unspeakable hurt of so many of us.
May I bare my soul as Jesus bared His?
Believe it or not, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed what was then, what is today, an all-too-common spiritual practice of unconscionable spiritual abuses. Abuses that were taking place in so many of the synagogues of Jesus’ day, and in so many churches today. (and I don’t use these words lightly or for hyperbole)
For the sake of our souls, we MUST understand what Spiritual abuse is, why it happens, whether or not it is or has happened to us, and how to guard against it.
First off, let’s take a look at the word “judge”. Jesus used the word krino, which is a legal, courtroom term pertaining to someone who exalts himself or herself over another person to question, confront, rebuke or correct that person’s behavior or character based on the self-appointed judge’s own standards. In other words, someone who refuses to mind their own business by placing himself or herself in the position of “god” (who is truly our only judge).
This is spiritual pride run amuck. All under the guise of holding one another accountable.
Now, this is not to be confused with genuine accountability, which is an agreed partnership between people to keep behaviors and characters in check with God’s standards.
So, let’s see what the Bible has to say about the matter. The word “accountable” is used three times throughout the New Testament (Romans 3:19, Hebrews 4:13, and Hebrews 13:17) and each time, the only person who is given the role of judge or one who holds people accountable is God Himself.
Honestly, if people would simply take Jesus’ words to heart, that in and of itself would absolutely transform our Christian experiences for the better. And frankly, it’s not that hard to do.
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