We are all prone to play the comparison game – in our personal lives, in our professional lives, even in our churches. It’s particularly easy for churches like ours where we really are reacting, even recoiling from the way other churches have behaved and treated people. It’s very easy to judge ourselves as righteous and others as unrighteous, despite what Jesus says here.
It’s challenging, because how do we strive for righteousness if we cannot assess what is righteous and what is not, and compare ourselves to that standard? In fact, Jesus specifically goes on to tell us to assess trees by their fruit, to watch out for false teachers, to not throw our pearls before swine. How do we do those things without judging? If our righteousness is supposed to exceed that of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, how do we do that without judging?
The Greek word here is krinō, and it can mean simple discernment, but it can also mean condemnation. It is more the latter Jesus is speaking to – when we do make assessments as we must, we should not pair that with condemnation and an overall determination of the worth of the individual in question.
Jesus wants to open our hearts up to each other and to God, to enable us to live to the full. So when he says “by the standard you judge, you will also be judged,” this is a relational issue, not just a set of rules. If we are judgemental and hard hearted, that stance and behavior impacts all our interactions with others. When we are thinking like Ebenezer Scrooge in our hearts, others can sense that and will respond in kind.
The Symptoms of an Ebenezer Scrooge Aura:
- Consistently think the worst of people.
- Only address people’s mistakes and faults.
- We identify a person by their worst moments
- We assume the hidden motives of other people
- We are harsh with people around the things we ourselves struggle with.
- When we play “us” vs “them”
If we have received generous grace, should we not be generous in doling out grace ourselves? This includes having charitable assumptions about the behavior of others, rather than assuming the worst about why other people do the things we do.
One thing about this that is particularly challenging is finding ways to be discerning in how we spend our time and who we engage with and let influence us on one hand, without falling into “us vs them” games and judgemental condemnation of people for differing beliefs and values.
None of this is easy. Condemnation is easier than discernment, just like destruction is easier than creation. It requires letting the Holy Spirit work within us to break down our own internal strongholds, to build up internal edifice of compassionate discernment.
It is easy for us as Christians to weaponize our understanding of right and wrong, but Jesus here calls us to a more nuanced response. We cannot be blind to sin or hurt, but must respond to it with grace, patience and creativity.
May Jesus equip us in this challenging task and may we be a force for His love in all of our interactions.
— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, June 22, 2025