The following are notes I took on Pastor Arden Hodgins’ Sunday sermon on Matt. 7:1-5. I’ll post a link to the sermon when it becomes available on SermonAudio.com.
The true Christian is “poor in spirit.” That is, he is constantly aware of indwelling sin and the bankruptcy of self. He is deeply sensitive to his depravity.
With this in mind, how does the true Christian respond to his brother who is unjustly accusing and judging him — if the accusation and judgment has no merit?
In at least eight ways:
1. Avoid a defensive posture and see whether there might be some truth in what our brother is saying. Even if most of what he says is untrue and unfounded, perhaps there is something which might be true. Since our main interest is in God and in holiness, let us accept rebuke from any and all people so we might grow in holiness. For example, when Abraham lied about Sarah as his sister, he nevertheless accepted the rebuke of an ungodly pagan king. How much more should we accept the rebuke of our brother if there is perhaps the tiniest grain of truth in it.
2. Realize if the accusation or judgment is not true, then something worse certainly is. Sure, we may not be guilty of the precise accusation we’ve been accused of, and of course we should be concerned about our reputation and good name and thus eager to point out the accusation is a false one, but in order to respond in a godly manner to false accusations in the first place we need to realize that our hearts are far more wicked and depraved than even what others might think. Only by accepting this can we then respond with humility.
3. Do not return evil for evil. We should rather return good for evil. In other words, let us not become our judgmental brother.
4. If it comes to a choice between the two, we should be more concerned with our character than with our reputation. There is a higher court than public opinion. Christ Himself was falsely accused and judged even by His own disciples at times, but He left it in His Father’s hands.
Of course, the Biblical way is that the weaker brother should not judge the stronger brother while the stronger brother should not despise the weaker brother.
But because of our sinful nature, this doesn’t always occur. It’s not uncommon for siblings to quarrel and fight. So we, too, will fight with our brothers and sisters in Christ from time to time.
Having said this, if our brother is still falsely accusing us despite our best attempts to point out the falsehood in the accusations, let it be. For the sake of maintaining peace in the church, let it be.
The Pharisees wanted people to think better of them than they really were, and performed many deeds in an attempt to persuade people. But the flip side of the same coin is that a person is so controlled by the opinion of other people that his entire world collapses if others don’t think of him in the way he wants to be thought of. Don’t fall into this trap. Even if it means our reputation is sullied for the time being, let it be.
Leave it to the higher court of God. God knows the truth of the matter.
5. Remember all that is happening is for a purpose which God has in mind, viz. His glory, and as far as we’re concerned, our sanctification. All things, whether good or ill, are for our sanctification.
Among other things, trials are for our sanctification. If the trial is a faceless persecution from the government, or a natural one such as disease or calamity, Christians are often able to accept the trial and rely on God for grace to help in time of need.
Why not adopt the same attitude if the trial is a person?
If the trial is an individual attacking us and falsely accusing us, it is for your good, for your sanctification, and for God’s glory. We need to regard people, even evil non-Christians, as sent from God to bring about our sanctification and His glory.
Perhaps God has allowed the person to attack and accuse us in order to strengthen our humility or our patience or our endurance. Or so that we would see our own depravity, and lean not on ourselves, thus our faith in God would be strengthened. Or perhaps God is making us more grateful for what Christ has done for us. Et cetera.
6. Take heed we do not overlook the real godliness in the one falsely accusing or judging us. After all, is he not still our brother? Of course he is. God, too, has chosen him, and so loves him, and cares for him, and provides for him as a father his son.
This might merely be a single snapshot in his life. An outburst of anger or frustration due to other causes which we are unaware of. If a snapshot were taken of our lives at any given moment, we, too, could be vastly different than what we profess to be.
So we should judge the one accusing us in a favorable light. Look at the whole of his life rather than one incident. Look at the entire footage rather than a single snapshot. View his life with a video recorder rather than with a camera.
Perhaps in our later years, we might be afflicted with a disease such as Alzheimer’s. And in the midst of such a disease which deteriorates our mental faculties, perhaps we will utter things or behave in a way which we would never behave in, to say or do things which we would never say nor do were we in our right mind. Perhaps even things contrary or at least ill-befitted to one with faith in Christ. Perhaps we might even finish our days in such a fashion. Would we want other Christians to think of us as we were as Christians in our right minds or as one stricken with such a degenerative disorder?
7. Remember Christ is wronged by the false accusations exceedingly more than we are. Yet He shows more mercy than we ever do. Christ takes great offense when one of His children are made to stumble. If anyone should cause one of His little ones to sin, Christ says that it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. But Christ nevertheless loves and prays for His children. Including the brother who is sinning against another brother.
As John Newton wondered, “Can we bear from one another what Christ daily bears from us?”
If one is a child of God, then one is loved dearly and prayed for daily by Christ Himself.
We, too, should love and pray for our brother as Christ loves and prays for him.
8. Remember that we have also been judgmental in the past. Remember that we have also been in the shoes of our “plank-eyed” brother. Especially when we were younger and more immature in the faith.
And remember that we could very well be our judgmental brother in the future as well. But for the grace of God in Christ Jesus go we.
Therefore let us love one another in Christ as we ought.
