Respectable Sins 3 – Judgementalism

[0:00] Thank you guys for coming. We've been in a series of looking at the! Respectable sins of the church. I think that's actually an awesome series of nothing else just to get us in the mindset of realizing that there are sins like that we're often blind to.

[0:19] Depending on what culture we're in, what time we're in, we tend to value things and just think certain faults are okay. So it's kind of interesting if you look at like the early converts in the Viking culture, they were still very violent.

[0:37] And they were fine with it. You gotta kill a guy sometimes. It's just what you do. And we look at that and it's like no that's not okay. We don't kill people. It's just as wrong as it is today then.

[0:51] But their culture was such that they were blind to it. And so we have our own little areas where they would look at us and go like man, man, that's not okay. That's not okay. And so the one we're looking at today is judgmentalism. But before we get into that, Happy Mother's Day. It's a couple of mothers in here. It's really a travesty the way our culture has really devalued mothers.

[1:20] And so I just want to remind you guys like what you're doing is so important. This may arguably one of the more important jobs you can ever do. You are raising an immortal soul.

[1:34] You're pointing them in the direction that they're going to go for the rest of eternity. And for our culture to devalue that, that's just borderline demonic.

[1:45] Like, it's incredible the work that you guys are doing. And I hope you feel valued in what you're doing. So happy Mother's Day. But, yeah, judgmentalism. The big passage we'll be looking at today is found in Luke chapter 6, which is in your notes.

[2:08] Kind of get the famous passage, Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemned not and you will not be condemned. And before we really jump into that, I want to remind you guys just right off the bat that this topic has a couple of ditches you can fall into.

[2:22] One is we're judging people. We're looking at them. We're, you know, just deciding things. We're condemning people. That kind of thing. But the other one that you can fall into is just there's no discernment.

[2:36] You just, who am I to judge? I'm not going to speak out against evil. I'm not going to speak out against wrong. I'm not going to correct anybody kind of thing. And so there's a there's a ditch you can fall off on both sides.

[2:49] So we're going to be focusing on judgmentalism today. But just remember, keep that in mind that, yes, there is. You can take this too far as well. And I do have a list of like verses if you're like, OK, how do you deal with someone who is sinning?

[3:02] And I need to deal with this. I put a whole list of verses on the back back page that you can look up and get the other side of the argument of how to do this as a wise Christian.

[3:17] Kind of reminds me of Proverbs where it says, you know, do not. Oh, how'd it go? Basically, don't answer a fool according to his folly or you will be seen as a fool as well.

[3:29] But then the very next verses answer a fool according to his folly or he will think he's wise in his own eyes. And so there's how do you handle that? There's wisdom. You got to you got to discern this person.

[3:43] How do you how do you do that? And so all that comes into account with judgmentalism. But let's pray first. Dear Holy Father, I just thank you so much, Lord, just for this time we can spend together just studying your word, Lord.

[4:00] I just pray that you would give us wisdom, that you would give us insight, that you would just help us see ourself clearly in the faults that we have so that we can see clearly to help those around us.

[4:12] So, Lord, just bless our time here. Just pray that your spirit would work on our hearts. And I just pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So one other thing I wanted to touch on before we really get started, and I want this to be interactive.

[4:28] And so if you guys have any questions, please ask if some if I say something confusing, like please ask for clarification. I want to just make sure you guys understand what's going on and that we can get to the bottom if there's anything happening.

[4:47] But yeah, judgmentalism is a huge, huge thing in our culture. Back in 2006, 2007, the Barna Research Group and the Pew Research Forum, over the last 20 years they've been surveying non-believers and asking them, like, when you think of a Christian, what do you think of?

[5:10] And it wasn't flattering. It's not been good. The last 20 years have not been pretty. The two things that people think of when they think of Christian is number one is judgmentalism.

[5:22] Like, they are judging me. And the second is they're hypocritical. They're doing exactly what they say not to do. And it rings true.

[5:33] Like, I have a coworker who I don't think he's a Christian. God saved during the six kind of thing, but nothing in his life points to that. And there's just a couple of Christians in his life that have, he just, he's not antagonistic to Christianity, but he's just like, they are judgmental.

[5:56] And they have such big problems in their life, like, doing drugs and alcohol, like the big ones. And yet they're going to be like, hey, what are you doing? You know, living with a girlfriend kind of thing.

[6:07] And it's just, he's like, what are you doing? Um, and so it's, it's there, it's there. And so Luke chapter six, um, Jesus has just, uh, chosen his 12 disciples.

[6:22] So they're all brand new to following, following Jesus full time. Um, and he's laying out, um, what the Christian life is like, uh, what it's like to be a Christian following Jesus.

[6:34] What, what is life in the kingdom like? And, uh, this is basically Luke's summary of the Sermon on the Mount. Um, very, a lot of, uh, parallels here.

[6:45] And, uh, right before this passage, a good thing to keep in mind also is Jesus tells them to love your enemies. And so that's when we get into judgmentalism as well. Just even think of to the extreme, you have an enemy.

[6:57] How do you love them? Um, and so our passage starts in verse 37. It says, judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned.

[7:08] Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. That will be put into your lap.

[7:20] For with the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. And he also told him a parable. Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

[7:32] A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log in your own eye?

[7:46] How can you say to your brother, brother, let me get that speck out of your eye. When you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye, you hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye.

[7:59] Then you will see clearly to take the speck that is in your brother's eye. So let's take a look at that first verse, verse 37. We're going to be practicing a little bit of biblical interpretation 101.

[8:16] Some of the things you want to do is think about what are the key words in a passage. So verse 37. Hey, let's look at the knots there. Judge not and you will not be judged.

[8:28] Condemn not and you will not be condemned. What's going on there? Repetition.

[8:39] Okay. Repetition. So he is drawing attention to this by saying it repeatedly in different ways. Judgment, condemnation.

[8:52] Very good. Maybe don't hold a loose to a standard and don't hold yourself to. Yep. You are going to be held to the same standard that you are judging someone else with.

[9:04] Who's going to hold you to that standard? God? What's the other option? What's the other option?

[9:15] The person judging. The person judging. The men, right? Yeah. The person judging. Yeah. Men. Yeah. Yeah. So is God not going to judge you or is man not going to judge you?

[9:29] Or is it both? And it can go either way. There is wisdom in staying out of someone else's argument.

[9:47] Yeah, there's a verse in Proverbs that says, as one who grabs a passing dog by the ears, as one who meddles in the affair of others. Yeah, we had a little black Scotty dog.

[10:01] And my dad taught her, like, if you call her Irish, she's Scottish, you call her Irish, she'll just go nuts. And he taught her that by, like, grabbing her by the ears. And she would just go crazy.

[10:12] And that's what you're doing when you step in and you judge someone and you get involved. You're grabbing a passing dog by the ears. Like, it's just, there's that danger there.

[10:22] But there's really two indicators, I think, that this is referring to God. Like, you have that inclination. Like, that was the right way to go.

[10:33] And first of all, there's, like, I don't know. I've been judged by people that I was really kind to. So there is, like, a sense of, that doesn't always hold true with people.

[10:44] It does a lot, but not always. But with the judge not, that's a command, don't do that. And with the you will not be judged, that not is the strongest negative, like, emphatically will not happen in the Greek language.

[11:03] And so there's a contrast there. Hey, if you, like, withhold judgment from somebody, you will not be judged. It's not going to happen. Almost like a guarantee.

[11:17] And another thing that's going on is there's the pattern of this passage kind of follows a Jewish tradition of not wanting to use the name of God.

[11:29] They were very hesitant to say God's name. There's even, like, I don't know if you know this, Jehovah and Yahweh come from the same Hebrew word. They're very different in English because the Jews, they did not even want to say that on accident while they're reading Scripture because they were so concerned with not using God's name in vain.

[11:49] And so they put, like, indicators, I forget what it was, but they put indicators like, hey, don't say this word in there. And German scholars later thought that was the name of God. And so then when you translate that from German to English, they don't say ja, they say ja, and so you get Jehovah.

[12:06] So anyway, you get indications that this is happening here where it's an understood. We're talking about God here. We're not going to say his name, but this is referring to God.

[12:19] You don't judge. He is not going to judge you. You don't condemn others. He is not going to condemn you. And the next verse, you see kind of the reversal of that.

[12:32] End of verse 37. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.

[12:42] Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And so once again, with that, like, hey, if you don't do this, he is not going to do this.

[13:00] You get that opposite of, like, you forgive. If you're generous, he is going to give you the same but so much more. It's kind of like that pressed down.

[13:10] I think of, like, my mom baking with brown sugar. Like, you don't just scoop it out. You press it in there, and you get twice as much brown sugar in there. It's almost like a brick of brown sugar he's thrown into the batter.

[13:21] And potato chips, I guess. Like, you know, you open the bag, and it's like 75% air. Yes. It's not like that with God. It's pressed in there.

[13:32] It is packed. It is shaken until you can't get another chip in there. And that's what he's giving to you. And so just through this whole thing, it's easy to feel like injustice is happening if you don't judge someone.

[13:46] But just remember, God is paying you back. And love your neighbor as yourself because he is going to just pile on these blessings back to you.

[13:59] Any questions about that or comments? Jesus goes on to tell a few parables. He said he also told them a parable.

[14:12] Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? And a disciple is not above his teacher. But everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

[14:25] Oh, what else does that have to do with judgmentalism? Well, it's like you're using an example. People said they were Christian but had drugs and everything else going on.

[14:38] Well, if they're leaving somebody, it's not going to end up very well. Yeah. Now, that's an extreme. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe we're all on path in our way of being more like the teacher.

[14:56] But none of us are probably there yet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, this connects to the rest of the passage.

[15:09] Yeah, as you're reading through scripture, it's always important to, especially if there's a verse that seems like a little bit out of place. When I was first reading this, this seems a little random.

[15:21] So look above, look below. Like, what's going on here? How does this fit in there? And, yeah, you really see he starts to get into, especially with the log in your own eye thing, and you're trying to get the speck out of that other person.

[15:35] There's a problem here where you've got a log in your eye. Like, you can't see. And yet you're trying to fix that other person. And so is that going to go well?

[15:49] It's like, no. The blind, leading the blind, you're going to fall into a pit. Spurgeon once said that, he was quoting Gregory, he said, the hand that means to make another clean must itself not, let me read it, sorry, must not itself be dirty.

[16:10] This hand is going to make this hand clean. It can't be dirty. I think like a doctor, if they were, they had dirty hands, fixing your wound is going to be counterproductive if they have not washed these things.

[16:23] They are going to do more damage than if they just left you alone. And so can the blind leading the blind, you're going to fall into a pit.

[16:35] It's just going to happen. A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. That sounds great, right?

[16:51] But if you look at it, I don't think it's talking about us following Jesus. It's talking about you're trying to disciple somebody. You're trying to make them better. You're trying to take that speck out of their eye.

[17:01] You're trying to fix them. But the problem is, if you're discipling them, they're going to become like you. And if you are blind to what's going on, it's not going to end well.

[17:16] It's not going to be pretty. This is a warning. It's a strong warning. In Matthew 23, 15, it says, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, which is a convert, make a single convert.

[17:37] And yet when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you yourself are. Yeah, that's awful. That's awful.

[17:48] Like, may that never be about us. And so before you judge someone, before you try to get in their business, and before you try to fix them, are you able to see clearly?

[18:02] Are you... Are you really sure you want them to become like you? A little harsh. But he goes on to explain it.

[18:15] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

[18:29] You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly that take the speck out that is in your brother's eye. All right, so what are some of the key words in that passage?

[18:44] Think about, like, repeated words. Not.

[18:58] Yeah, not happens a lot. You do not notice. See?

[19:11] Yeah, see? That's key. I think it's interesting that ultimately it is something to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Yeah.

[19:23] So I'm not saying never concern what's going on around you. to put people in your circle. Yeah. But you better work on yourself. Yeah.

[19:34] Yeah. Yeah, that's that double ditch. There is a time to, there is a time to address people. There is a time to deal with someone's sin.

[19:46] And Colossians talks about when you do it, I think I have it written by something. Don't want to misquote it. Galatians 6.

[20:10] Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, though.

[20:23] Lest you too be tempted. And so, yeah, there is a time to do it. But it better be, you better be spiritual. You better have that log out of your own eye.

[20:34] You better be able to see clearly what's going on. And then, there are a lot of warnings there. Do it gently. And be careful. You are in incredible danger every time you try to address somebody's sin.

[20:50] You're in danger. So, yeah, so, yeah, that's really good. It doesn't mean never address it. But there's some big problems here. What other words are repeated?

[21:01] take? Yeah.

[21:13] Yeah, taking that speck out. Take the log out. And there's a big contrast there. A log versus the speck. And, you know, Jesus is probably going for the laugh there, where it's kind of comedic.

[21:27] You think of a two by four in your eye, in your face, and you're concerned about someone else's speck. And you're trying to do it with, I saw some, well, I think it was a Bible project where they did something on this and they got, like, literally a two by four out of there.

[21:43] She's, like, walking around this marketplace just knocking everything down and it's just, like, judging people the whole time. What are you doing? And so, yeah, we, we gotta be able to see clearly before we take someone else's speck out.

[22:02] And the other thing is that they're, that see, that blindness, it's crazy that, like, they are completely unaware, we are completely unaware that we're doing this.

[22:14] I promise you, everyone else can see the two by four. My friend, he can see the sin in these other people's lives and yet they're judging him. And so, there's, like, this aspect of, like, don't be blind.

[22:29] Just go into it. Whenever you feel tempted to address someone else's sin, your first instinct should be, okay, hold on. What would make me not see this situation clearly?

[22:40] What do I have going on with me that is going to be a stumbling block to this whole thing? And let's get right with that first. And that will be really helpful in a lot of situations.

[22:54] As a parent, I probably do that a lot with my own kids, where it's like, I see the sin, I need to address it.

[23:05] I'm a parent, it's my job to address it. Like, it's literally what God put me here to do. He tells me to do it. And yet, if I'm angry, if I'm in a hurry, if I'm just doing things where it's like, I'm not in the right state of mind, and I address them harshly, or I address them, I'm not fair, I'm not bringing in all the context or something, like, I might actually do more damage than good.

[23:33] And, so, Doug Wilson once said, if you're angry and you're trying to discipline your kids, just like, don't even deal with your kid at that moment.

[23:44] He said, I promise you they'll do that sin again later. You could deal with it later on down the road. Don't do that now. Wait until you get that log out of your own eye, and then let's go address that.

[24:00] And, Jesus calls you a hypocrite when you, if you don't do that. There's a little bit of, the meaning of the word has changed a little bit in the last 2,000 years.

[24:13] the, when we think of that now, we generally think of, like, oh, you're doing the exact same thing that you told me not to do, which is really close. That's kind of part of the meaning. But, originally, it was more, it comes from the Greek plays where they would wear a mask.

[24:29] The actor would wear a mask, and they were called hypocrites. And so, they're playing a role that they're not actually, that's not actually them. You know, you're not actually the word on stage, but you're acting like him, you're talking like him, you're saying the thing he says, but deep down inside, in your heart, that is not who you are.

[24:51] That's not who you are. And that's, so hypocrite is a little broader than we, you know, I like to think that's someone else. but man, if you have a log in your own eye, if you're not quite right there, there's an aspect of you're hypocritical in a way because your outward confession of Christ is not matching what's going on in your spirit, in your soul.

[25:15] And so, it kind of reminds me of the Pharisees were called hypocrites a lot, and you get that Pharisee who Jesus talked about, he came to the temple to pray, and he's like, thank you God, that I am righteous, thank you that I tithe, and I come to the temple, and I offer sacrifices, and I'm not like this tax collector over there, like, thank you that I'm so good.

[25:44] And, and then the tax collector won't even go up there, he won't even look up to God, he just beats his breasts, and just says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus said, I tell you what, that tax collector walked away justified that day, that Pharisee did not.

[26:05] And, uh, that's the warning of, of the hypocrite there, um, it just requires some humility, and, uh, a little bit more about the log, uh, there's several pits we can fall into, um, while we're, uh, while we're dealing with judgment, uh, James chapter four, uh, you can turn your Bible there if you have one, um, James chapter four, we'll start in verse 11, um, James four says, do not speak evil against one another, brothers, one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law.

[26:53] But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy, but who are you to judge your neighbor?

[27:09] Oh, you guys, that's a really confusing passage when I first read that. Uh, any ideas what's going on there? Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.

[27:20] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. There's that question, like, wait, how is judging someone make you a judge of the law?

[27:37] But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but it's judge. There's only one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and destroy, but who are you to judge your neighbor?

[27:53] And so I would say, like, the first thing that we need to approach this with is just a sense of humility. If we are judging someone, there's a real sense of God says we are placing our throne above God, and we are taking control of the situation when scripture is very clear.

[28:17] The law, usually talking about the Old Testament, Micah 6, 8 says, but he has told you, old man, what is good. This is what God says is good. And what the Lord requires of you, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

[28:40] And there's a real sense also, when Jesus summarized the law and the prophets, he said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength, your mind, and the other is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.

[28:54] So I don't know, when you combine those things of how do I, I love God, I love the people around me, and I'm going to combine that with, I'm going to show justice to someone, which again, pointing to that, there is a time and a place to address someone else doing something wrong, that's part of justice.

[29:16] If you see someone robbing somebody, you don't just, oh, I'm not going to judge them. There is a time and place where it's like, okay, it may not be my place to go and like, I'm not going to stick them in jail, but hey, call the police, get the authorities who do have the proper authority to address that situation and they can deal with it.

[29:37] There is a thing as justice. Love kindness, walk humbly with your God. And so if you're loving someone else the way you want to be loved, and you are being kind to them the way you would want someone to be kind to you, and you're doing it in a sense of humility of like, you know what, God is the ultimate judge, and I'm going to walk humbly under that.

[29:58] I'm going to let God deal with things that I'm not in a position or authority or in a right headspace to deal with. That's how you approach judging other people.

[30:15] Any questions or comments on that? It kind of seems to me the passage is a drawn-out lesson in pride.

[30:30] which begins with, judge not, you're putting yourself in the position of God. You're putting yourself in the position to judge and condemn.

[30:41] Which, if you're doing that, makes you the blind man. And you're leading other people into the folly that you have in your pride. And the same, I'm looking at other people instead of looking at myself.

[30:58] Where my first look should be inwardly, you're going to bring up someone else's sins, and you had a good friend in church, and you found out this feeling or cheating on your spouse or something, you're not going to want to be quiet about that, but the reason that it needs to be brought up is because you love them, not because you want to go, you did that, stop doing that, I'm not like you, you're asking me in the spirit of bringing us closer to God rather than loving them one or farther away.

[31:36] If your reaction is immediately to church because you know the way that's right and not, rather than in love, you put yourself in the position of being hypocrite.

[31:48] Yeah. R.C. Sproul pointed out that, you know, the whole like love your neighbor as yourself thing, we are very gracious when we judge ourself.

[32:03] We see the reasons why, we see the circumstances, we know, like, you know, we're willing to give ourself a pass way, way more and take all that stuff into account.

[32:14] Like, hey, let's judge graciously here kind of thing and have the excuses and if we're not doing that to someone else, like, that's the type of judgment we should be having.

[32:27] But like you said, when we do take that speck out of their eye, there is a sense of, like, we're doing this out of love. When you're taking it out of your brother's eye, this is a fellow church member who you love, they're family, you love them, and you genuinely care for them.

[32:47] You don't want them to fall into that pit. And those passages that I gave you of like, how do you deal with sin, you see that over and over again. Do it gently, do it out of love. The whole goal is to come back as a family, like, in unity, together, in love, in right relationship with one another.

[33:08] Like, we're wanting to make a church family that is just in fellowship together in a healthy, good way.

[33:19] And so there is absolutely a time and a place to do that. But you've got to deal with yourself first. And this is so hard, but you've got to do it even with your spouse.

[33:35] Jordan Peterson one time was talking about when you get in a big fight with your wife for your husband. Sometimes you just got to separate and you've got to go, like, okay, she's 90% wrong.

[33:50] But, like, what is that 10%, that 1%? Like, you're contributing something to this. What is, like, the actual thing that you are doing wrong in this relationship, in this situation?

[34:05] There's got to be something. And you've got to start there. Like, that's the only place you can start. And so, yeah, you just see that over and over. And again, it doesn't really be moderated by what is your intention.

[34:23] You know, it's the same as intentionality is, you know, like the key here. Yeah, yeah. Are you wanting to build the kingdom of God?

[34:36] Are you going to build your self-esteem knowing more about the Bible? Yeah. Definitely.

[34:50] And I think there's a sense, too, of, like, if you are, what's your intention? and if you have built up a relationship with someone who, like, they don't just know you as, like, the guy who's judging them all the time, you know?

[35:11] Like, if you have shown them love, and you have, and you are their friend, and you are, like, you've kind of built up that collateral of showing them grace and mercy and kindness, you've done that over, you've been humble with them, and then you approach them with something, like, you're probably still grabbing a passing dog by the ears, so be careful, but there is a sense of, like, I'm going to take that from somebody, just like at work.

[35:37] I had a manager who, every time he came by, he would find, like, that little thing that was wrong, and I didn't get a lot of positive, like, any positive feedback, or, he wasn't helping me, like, do my job better, it was just, like, hey, what is this thing?

[35:52] And it's just, like, you start to bristle after a while, right? And that's human nature. I should have been more humble. You know, I should take that on.

[36:02] I was wrong, but it's, like, we don't want to be that manager. Any other thoughts on that?

[36:22] Yeah. And I'm looking for like, for me to take some attention because of the person. And so, I don't know, do you have any thought on how to, like, I don't know, figure out when do I really say something?

[36:39] When is that I need to speak out of to this person? Yeah. One thing, oh, I gotta find it.

[36:52] I'll try to do it from memory. I have too many notes, I'm getting confused. So one thing I would think through when you're going to address somebody, you think they are going against God's word, they're sinning in some way.

[37:10] The first thing I would do, like, is it at what level are they sinning or what level are they wrong? Is it a clear cut, can you point to a verse in scripture, multiple verses even, they are sinning, this is wrong, like, it's just wrong.

[37:28] You know, it's like, if they're stealing, you know, the big ones, like, you know for a fact, okay, that's just wrong, and that should be addressed in some way. Some of the more dangerous ones are when you start to get into ones where it's like, oh, it's a little gray.

[37:43] And so, scripture may not be as clear on it as, you know, so like the meat sacrifice to idols thing. That's a one we don't really often meet with, but it's a thing where it's like, hey, this is like idolatry.

[38:02] A part of idolatry, they would sacrifice the animal and then they would give the meat and sell the meat, but it was considered a part of worship to that God. And so, if you took that meat and ate it, and most of the meat sold in the market was meat served to idols, and so if you're doing that, is that okay?

[38:22] And so, in the Bible, in the New Testament, they really wrestled with that and they said, okay, it is okay, but a lot of people have problems with it and they're fighting about it. I think another example today would be like the mode of baptism.

[38:35] Do you sprinkle or do you submerge them? Scripture is not clear cut on that. There is an argument to be made on both sides, and so, as a pastor, Walt has to baptize someone.

[38:51] He has to make a decision on that. Is he going to sprinkle them? Is he going to submerge them? And so, he has to do that, but we have brothers and sisters down the road who sprinkle. And so, how do Walt then, you know, my old pastor, Pastor Carter and Dayton, they baptize differently.

[39:11] How do they interact with each other about that? And so, you just need to be aware of like, at what level does scripture address this, and at what level are they wrong? Some things are like a social tradition that we have.

[39:26] North versus South. The North is very honest. The South is very polite. And we can view that as, well, they're wrong.

[39:40] You know, someone from the North comes down here and they're like, what is all this false praise you're giving? I didn't earn this. This is annoying. Did I actually do a good job or not? And there's ways to go.

[39:50] And the fourth dangerous thing that we often do is we view our self as just our opinion that is correct. we're really in danger of that.

[40:02] I'm just right. You know, Bob Kaufman, he says, yeah, I'm right, I'm Bob. You know, and it's just like, yeah, that is still me. There's probably a lot of us.

[40:12] I'm right because I'm me. Like, of course I'm right. And we bring that to situations. So, back to your question, sorry, it was really long. how do you address someone who is sinning, who is doing something wrong?

[40:25] Deal with yourself first. Approach it humbly. Try to discern what level of wrong are they actually doing. Is it a clear-cut sin or is this like a social thing?

[40:38] Is this just me? And then Matthew 18 is a great passage. if a brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

[40:54] Or it's this like, it's this private thing of like, you're approaching a brother, and if he listens to you, you have gained a brother. And that's the goal right there. You want them to listen, you want to gain that brother.

[41:08] But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that a charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. This is where you get other wise people that you trust involved.

[41:23] once again, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. That's when you get an elder involved. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

[41:44] Basically, it is Walt's job, it is the elder's job, that if someone is living in unrepentant sin, they are to be kicked out of the church, as church discipline.

[41:58] Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by the Father in heaven.

[42:12] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. And so that's another thing to remember. God is at work with that.

[42:24] Once it gets to church level, when the pastors get together and deal with that, God is with them through this process. Does that answer your question? A little bit?

[42:35] A little bit? It also shows a responsibility in the church. Not really so much hours. Being a part of the body and taking it to the altar.

[42:52] So I think we're running out of time. So yeah, in closing, there's more I wanted to say, but I would close with Micah 6-8 again.

[43:08] as you approach this, remember, God has told you, oh man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.

[43:27] If we're approaching that, once again, there's justice. We're not letting bad things happen. I love Matthew 18 because it really does help protect people in the church at some level.

[43:40] Remember, Matthew 18 does not apply to every single situation. If there's an extreme situation of some kind of abuse that is extreme and illegal and all that stuff, we don't go to them privately.

[43:56] That's not what this is talking about. there is a sense of we should be after justice, but we should do it loving kindness, love kindness, and do it humbly before your God.

[44:14] We are under God's throne. We should be doing this in a way that we're going, you know what, I probably have a log in my eye. I need to make sure I'm in a good spiritual state.

[44:25] I need to make sure I'm doing this gentle. I'm not doing this for revenge. I'm not doing this because I'm bitter. I'm not doing this just to get out of spite, to get back at them.

[44:36] I'm not doing it for any of those reasons. I have forgiven them. I love them. I want to see them come back, and that's the way we're going to do that. Any last questions? Let's pray.

[44:50] Dear Holy Father, I just thank you once again, Lord, for just this message, Lord. I just pray that you would once again just work in our hearts, Lord.

[45:03] We all need to have the log removed, and so Lord, I just pray that you would work in our hearts to do that, that you would give us the wisdom that it takes to deal with situations.

[45:13] Lord, I know each and every one of us has some struggle in this area, Lord. I just pray that you would uproot that, that you would expose that to us, and that we would just be quick to repent, and quick to be humble, and quick to show the mercy that you have so graciously shown us, Lord.

[45:31] So, just pray that you would bless the mothers in this room. We're so thankful for just the role that they play in our lives, Lord, and we just thank you so much.

[45:41] In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.