You’re outside enjoying a nice day, maybe sipping on a cool lemonade, when all of a sudden, a speck of dust hits your friend’s eye. It may be just a particle of dust, but it felt like a lightning bolt straight to their face. Now imagine the next second goes by and a giant log hits you square in the eye. Painful right?
Now if we had a giant log stuck in our eye, we probably wouldn’t turn to our friend and say, “Here let me take that speck out of your eye, even though I have a log in mine.”
We would first take the log out of our own eye. Then we could clearly see to take the speck out of our friend’s eye, right?
So why do we try to do the opposite?
In Matthew 7:1-7, Jesus uses this exact parable. A parable is a story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
He is teaching about how we should think of and treat others. In this case, the focus of judgement. The main idea of the teaching here is Jesus is warning against passing judgement upon others to make oneself more righteous. However, we as a people have warped that into something that it is not.
Our culture uses Matthew 7:1 as an anthem to promote tolerance for all behavior. This was absolutely not Jesus’ intention when saying “Do not judge, lest ye be judged.” The same culture seems to think that Jesus commanded a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching.
This is a common misunderstanding, but that’s not what Jesus meant.
Jesus calls Christians to show unconditional love, not unconditional approval. Even if you’re not a Christian, you’ve probably seen how unfair it feels when someone calls out flaws while ignoring their own. Jesus is speaking directly to the human tendency.
Jesus did not prohibit the judgement of others, but instead requires that our judgement be completely fair, and that we only judge others by a standard that we also would like to be judged by, with the intent of helping others. The posture of this is humility, not “I see your speck, let me fix you.”
For example, if a man were to look at a robber and say, “I can’t believe you would do such a thing, you are an evil inhumane person,” then go out and rob someone then that would be unfair judgment.
Because in the end, God will measure unto us according to the same measure we use for others. This should be a powerful motivator for us to be generous, loving, forgiving and treat others with respect.
So, if you are the receiving end then maybe have an open ear first and try to understand where the other is coming from. And if you are trying to lovingly help someone then do so with the intent of sharing the love of Jesus.
