On a recent Sunday morning, while doing my chiropractor-ordained exercises prior to heading to church, I was listening to the Time of Grace TV broadcast featuring Pastor Mark Jeske. The title of his message was “What’s in Your Mouth? Judgment or Mercy?”
It was based on the first five verses of Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. This is a part of the extended teaching that Jesus delivered to the crowds which had begun following him after He had been preaching and healing the sick throughout Galilee, that begins in Chapter 5 with the Beatitudes.
These are the words spoken by Jesus that Pastor Jeske focused on, as recorded in Matthew 7:1 – 5: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
As he reached the concluding portion of his message … Pastor Jeske brings it all down to you and me in today’s world, as he pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and states:
“I have a letter from one of our readers and viewers I’d like to share with you. She’s got a very thought-provoking comment. She writes this: ‘Please pray for the body of Christ,’ by which she means the believers, ‘that we may stop wasting precious time judging the world and rather… tell them about our wonderful Savior. The world looks like the Scripture said it would; but do we?’”
Isn’t that a simple and to-the-point way in which we need to be looking at the whole matter?
Somewhat in parallel with this is something that’s been a soapbox speech for me for a long, long time … if we Christians, instead of arguing with each other over denominational and doctrinal issues, would unite as one body of Believers and challenge the world, we’d have a far greater impact on the happenings and changes that more and more are going against our beliefs!
Do you agree?
Marlin
God bless you and you are so right. We often want to change the culture instead of reaching the lost with the most wonderful story every told.
Bless you
Bro Rick