Pastor Tom Grieb continues our From the Mount sermon series.

Christ’s words are just as current today as they ever have been.  He speaks a challenging word to the whole of life, and he does so in his Sermon on the Mount.  In that sermon Jesus goes from “preachin’ to meddlin’” when he says, “Judge not, lest you be judged.”

When it comes to judging others, we all do it.  We realize, though, that there is a distinct difference between making assessments about people and judging hypocritically or self-righteously.  Jesus knew full well that a judgmental spirit has a way of building walls, closing off conversations, and hurting relationships.

Presently, we are well-aware that our country is characterized by such a spirit.  People are divided along socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and political lines.  Such divisions leave us tearing one another apart.  Even the church is in on the act.  Salvos are launched between conservatives and liberals, one more critical than the other.  Such disunity surely grieves our Lord.

In the end, we’d do well to deal with the “plank in our own eye” before we seek to deal with the “speck” in another’s eye.  Jesus has little patience for those who see flaws in everyone else but fail to see the flaw in their own eyes.  That’s why Jesus is so adamant about us dealing with our own failings, before we ever think about dealing with the failings of another.