“Criticism” might as well be a four-letter world in our culture. We love to give advice, we love to criticize. But no one like to be criticized. In this passage from Matthew, Jesus points out why criticism has such a negative view in our culture:
Stop judging others and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, “Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,” when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Don’t give what is holy to unholy people. Don’t give pearls to swine! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you!
Matthew 7:1-6Matthew 7:1-6
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Judging Others 7 1 Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you. 2 . God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them. 3 You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don't see the log in your own eye? 5 You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye. 6 Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.
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Unfortunately, people often use this passage to justify their behavior, or at least, prove to themselves that no one has the right to tell them they are wrong. But they misunderstand Jesus to mean that his followers should be “non-judgemental”: stick to their own problems and not intrude on what others believe is right. This is not what Jesus is getting at. Rather, Jesus says that condemning someone when we ourselves have similarly unresolved issues is foolish, if not even despicable. We are told in numerous places that we should be wise, discerning, judge fruit, etc. But that is not the same as puffing ourselves up as wise or knowledgeable – or even “spiritual” – when we, too, struggle with sin.
This doesn’t mean that we have no right or place offering help or counsel when we have dealt or are dealing with an issue. Sometimes an alcoholic needs someone who has struggled with and addiction to alcohol to speak words of wisdom into their life, words of encouragement and hope and challenge. But condemning someone for their behavior without rightly assessing our own is just what Jesus said – hypocritical. We should see in this appellation the idea of something false, acted, not true to nature. In other words, someone who condemns without looking at their own person first is not living in reality.
It really does not matter whether the advice or counsel is “true”. In this case, Jesus does not mean to contradict that the friend has some speck in his eye. The point is not that the judgment is false – but that it is contrary to sound judgment. Before we act on an impulse to share criticism we need to seriously consider what the result would be if the same accusation came flying back at us.
Verse 6 does provide an interesting footnote. When we are hungry to dole out “wisdom”, we must consider the audience. It is pointless to throw our “valuables” to the dogs. If we consider our advice as something of value, then we see that Jesus is trying to make people realize that sharing “counsel” does not automatically make people think you are wise and knowledgeable. In fact, many times, offering advice to those who are unwilling to hear it only hurts relationships, lessening our influence. So even wisdom that is not “hypocritical” should be handled with care. The truth is not a license for speech!
Jesus’ point in sharing all of this is to help us understand that we should not use advice and counsel, criticism and judgment, as tools to make ourselves look good. Trying to make ourselves feel better by pointing out others’ weaknesses is not the Spirit’s way.
reflection
- Have you ever given advice that you really should have applied in your own life first?
- How would you react if a friend pointed out a character flaw or sin you were struggling with? How have your reacted in the past?
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