Tag: Discernment

Posted on

Wolves and Fruit – Matthew 7:15-23

Last week, we heard Jesus lay out the binary choice we have – the wide, easy, popular path or the narrow, challenging one that follows Him. This week, he warns against the voices and influencers that would draw us onto the wrong path – voices that may even look and sound like they have our best interests in mind.

Jesus uses two images here – first the pastoral image of sheep and wolves, then plants and their fruit. Jesus uses that sheep/wolf imagery multiple times in the gospels, warning in Matthew 10 that his followers will be sheep among wolves. This is a direct echo of Jesus’ warning about the narrow gate and the challenges that come with it, but also the reassurance earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, not to worry, and that those persecuted are in fact blessed. He promises that the Holy Spirit, the real time, relational Person of the Trinity, will be with us and give us the words and the way to navigate this narrow path crawling with wolves. There is pushback to love and justice and mercy in this world. There is pushback to the good news of the gospel.

We also get this sheep/wolf metaphor in John 10 – Jesus calls himself the gate for His sheep, as well as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep when the wolf comes. The “hired hand” is scared off because he has no stake in or real love for the sheep, but Jesus knows and is known by His sheep.

We get two flavors of false prophets here – both those who are actively antagonistic to the truth of Christ, even if they disguise themselves as His followers, as well as the “hired hands,” the leaders and influencers who are only there for the material gains – even if they aren’t actively malicious, their lack of real love and foundation means they abandon the flock when needed most. They lack the courage to stand up for the truth of Christ and continue down the narrow path.

The next metaphor Jesus uses is that of plants and fruit, along with the clear warning that not everyone who claims to follow Him is really doing so. Not everyone who claims to know Jesus really does. Jesus warns about this in multiple parables in Matthew 25 – the Ten Virgins, the Talents and the Sheep and Goats. In each of these, we have people who actively say “Lord, Lord” but who find that they never truly knew the person of Christ. The measure we give is the measure we receive. When we truly engage in relationship with Christ, His love spills out into action, concrete compassionate behavior that loves the broken, the poor and the oppressed.

There is an unbreakable connection between knowing Jesus and doing His will. Jesus paints us a picture of sheep, constantly vulnerable and under threat, with threats on either side. There are temptations everywhere – temptations to abandon that vulnerability, to reject the promises of the beatitudes, to seek a world that is right side up rather than the upside down world Jesus promises, where poverty is blessing and powerlessness is power. Our good shepherd is calling us to “stay on target,” to keep following Him and ignore the wolves around us.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 27, 2025

Posted on

Judge Not – 7:1-5

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:

  1. Consistently think the worst of people.
  2. Only address people’s mistakes and faults.
  3. We identify a person by their worst moments
  4. We assume the hidden motives of other people
  5. We are harsh with people around the things we ourselves struggle with.
  6. 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