When Truth Comes With Contempt
Judgmental Christians.
For some people, those two words bring up an eye roll. For others, they bring up a memory. A parent who always seemed disappointed. A pastor who sounded angry even when talking about grace. A church culture where everyone knew the rules but nobody seemed free. A social media feed full of people who had Bible verses in their bio and venom in their comments.
That kind of thing can make faith feel unattractive fast.
A lot of people have not rejected Jesus as much as they have backed away from a version of Christianity that doesn’t look like Jesus. They’ve heard Christians talk with contempt. They’ve heard arrogance about their own Christian holiness. And rather than feeling love, these individuals felt criticism and distance. They heard Christians talk about sin, but rarely heard anyone talk about their own.
In Matthew 7, Jesus says one of the most quoted lines in the Bible: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” People quote that line in all kinds of ways, sometimes to avoid any moral conversation at all. But Jesus is not telling us to stop caring about good and evil. He is warning us about the kind of judgment that looks at someone else with sharp eyes while refusing to look honestly in the mirror.
He keeps going: “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Then comes the image that almost feels like satire. “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”
Jesus knew exactly how ridiculous religious pride can become.
A person with a log sticking out of his face walks over to perform eye surgery on someone else. He may even be technically right that there is a speck. The issue is that he has become dangerous because he has no awareness of himself. His vision is blocked. His posture is wrong. His help will probably hurt.
That picture lands because most of us know how easy this is. It is much simpler to study someone else’s failure than to face our own. It is easier to diagnose another person’s sin than to confess the places where we are proud, jealous, bitter, dishonest, addicted, selfish, or afraid. Judgment can become a way to avoid repentance.
Jesus does not leave the speck in the other person’s eye forever. He says, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
First.
That word changes the order. Start with yourself. Start with humility. Start with repentance. Start with the painful, freeing work of letting God tell the truth about you. Then, maybe, you will be the kind of person who can help someone else without crushing them.
That is a very different kind of faith. It does not avoid truth. It lets truth begin at home.
This is also where Jesus becomes so compelling. He was the only person in the room who could have looked down on everyone, and He didn’t. He was holy without being smug. He was clear without being cruel. He could sit with sinners without pretending sin was harmless. He could confront religious leaders without becoming what He opposed.
If you have been turned off by judgmental Christianity, the invitation is not to ignore what you saw. Some of it may have been real. Some of it may have been wrong. Some of it may have been Christians acting nothing like Christ. But don’t let the worst version of His followers become the only version of Jesus you know.
Read Matthew 7 slowly. Listen to Jesus expose the kind of judgment that loves correcting other people but refuses correction itself. Then ask a better question: what would it look like to become the person God intended, one who embodies the image of Christ as they reach out to help others?
That kind of person is deeply needed.
Imagine truthful conversations with a gentle spirit, holding convictions without a feeling of superiority. Imagine a world where repentance was normal because everyone knew they needed mercy. Where people could disagree without dehumanizing each other. Where Christians were known less for the sharpness of their takes and more for the likeness of their lives to Jesus.
That is what the Spirit of God looks like when we allow Him to work in our lives. This is what we see in Jesus.
So here is one step for all of us: Let's ask God to help us look honestly at ourselves, showing us how we can be the person He created us to be. Ask God to show us the log we may be missing. Not as shame, but as freedom. Because the people who know they need grace are usually the safest people to talk to about our lives.
And if you are still unsure, start with Jesus. Ask God to show you who Jesus really is. Ask Him to help you understand that everyone is learning and growing into becoming more like Jesus, in their own time. And then just keep your eyes on Jesus himself. Watch Him. Listen to Him. Pay attention to who He corrects, who He welcomes, who He heals, and who He warns.
He is not the stereotype. He is better.
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