Don’t Judge (Matthew 7:1-6)
Does anyone remember the OJ trial? High powered attorneys piled up on
one side, with all of the resources of the District Attorney’s office on
the other side. But no matter how rich or powerful, each person had to
submit to Judge Ito. In retrospect, Judge Ito may have surrendered more
control in his courtroom than was healthy for the process. But as the
judge in the case, he had the authority and even the expectation to run
the courtroom and oversee all of the personalities and information in
the trial. How often do Christians act like they have this kind of
authority? The reputation of the church for ‘judging’ people is both
well-earned and a result of some miscommunication. Jesus tells us that
citizens of the Kingdom leave the judging to the King. There are
consequences to wading into judging others that He warns us about, and
there are reasons we aren’t allowed to put ourselves in the position of
judge. So let’s take Jesus’ instruction to heart throughout the body of