Today I read Matthew 7, the final chapter in the Sermon on the Mount. Once again I am reading the Joseph Smith Translation of the King James version so the things we talk about may be slightly different than just a straight reading of the King James version might render. The first thing Jesus tells His disciples is to avoid judging people unrighteously. Because the way we judge others is the same way we will be judged.
Now, because of the portion of this chapter that has been lost, it reads "Judge not, that ye be not judged". But really, such a command is kind of silly if you think about it. Everyone makes judgments all the time, every time we meet a new person or really even interact with our friends, etc. We are constantly making judgements about people, situations and other things. And that is good. But the JST adds the clarification that is missing from this verse by telling us not to judge unrighteously. For example, if we see someone with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth, it is perfectly acceptable to decide that is not a person you wish to associate with. It is NOT however, acceptable to judge them in your mind that they will be condemned because of that smoking habit. That is an unrighteous judgement and it is not our place to decide such things. In my opinion it is also an unrighteous judgement to judge someone before you even get to know them. It is completely unrighteous to judge someone based on outward characteristics alone, and yet we all do it seems. To dismiss someone because of the color of their skin, or the clothing they wear or their mannerisms is to judge unrighteously. Now, sadly, we live in a day and age that the way someone dresses is usually a statement of who they are as are their mannerisms, and so sad to say that most snap judgements we could make about a person based solely on their clothing and mannerisms would be all too accurate these days. So while it is ok, and even necessary to make some judgements and decisions in this life, we need to make sure we are doing so appropriately and for the right reasons.
The next part of this chapter that the Savior talks about is hypocrisy. He talks about being concerned about the mote that is in another's eye while ignoring the beam that is in our own eye. I have often thought of this in relation to an article I read once. I once read an article in the Ensign, an LDS church monthly publication for those who are not LDS, entitled, "Overlooking the smell of smoke" or something like that. And it was talking about how as followers of Christ, if we see someone in church and they have a stink of tobacco smoke about them, we are quick to judge and condemn them. And yet, as the article points out, isn't it enough that they are in church? Yes, they have a weakness and a sin, but isn't it a good thing that they are in church, indicating that they want to be better and are trying? Why would we condemn someone who smells of smoke, an outward appearance of sin, while we know for a fact that we are not perfect either and may have just as bad or a problem with sin or a different type?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT for perfect people. It is for people who are trying their best to overcome their weakness and become perfect men and women. It is for people who fall, a lot, and get back up to try again. Perfect men and women have no need of church, or as the Savior will tell us Himself later, the whole have no need of a physician. We are all working towards perfection and most of us will not achieve it in this life. But we can do our best and the last thing we need to be doing is judging each other about our shortcomings. Personally, in the past when I have seen, and smelled, someone in church who smelled of tobacco smoke, I have been proud of them. How hard would it be to come to church with such an obvious sin? It would be like if you had a problem with being faithful to your spouse, bringing your mistress to church with you for all to see. Those with smoke on their person in church, as long as they are humble and repentant I should add, are very brave souls indeed.
The Lord then tells us not to cast our pearls before swine and to ask and it shall be given us. I have often wondered at the phrase do not cast your pearls before swine. It is strange to me because we are told to stand as witnesses for Christ at all times and in all places. I had often wondered why we are told to be careful who we preach to or who we explain the gospel to. But it is just as the Lord says in this chapter, they will trample them under their feet. The reason we don't explain the entirety of the gospel to everyone who comes along is because they will not understand it and will not be ready for it. And we have all met people like this, people who explain that they do not understand or care for organized religion. If you were to earnestly try and explain the gospel to those people, most of them would not be very polite in their refusal. I believe the Lord is cautioning us to use care when we are explaining the gospel to those who do not understand it.
The last part of the chapter honestly circles back around to the beginning of the chapter. The Lord tells us that by their fruits we will know them. The Lord is cautioning us to beware of false prophets, but it really applies to everyone. The Lord tells us earlier to not judge unrighteously, well, the way to avoid this is by not making those instant decisions about people like we talked about earlier. When you see people, they will show you who they are if you watch them long enough. Especially in this day and age where people don't feel the need to temper what they do or say at all anymore. We live in a day and age where people are very in your face and if you don't like it, then you are being intolerant. But the truth is, there is a right way and a wrong way to act. And people in today's world are doing everything they can to undermine what is right and what is wrong. Not everyone of course, but there are definitely some out there that that is their mission. And it is up to us as disciples of Christ to stand up for what is right and to make sure that we keep striving to let the world know that there really is a right and wrong way to behave and act.
This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount and I have always enjoyed reading and pondering it. The Lord gives some really good counsel in these three chapters and gives us a lot to work towards because no one is doing everything in all 3 of these chapters. Hopefully though we are trying and working towards it so we can be like the wise man who built a house upon the rock instead of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Until tomorrow.
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