UnChristian: Too Judgmental
Matthew 7 and Selected Scriptures
Connect:
Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.
Discuss how resolutions made last week in “growing more like Jesus” worked themselves out – what God did in and through you (Phil. 2:13) Celebrate and thank God for those together and pray with those who experienced some “Lows” this week, for God’s encouragement for them.
Prayer:
Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.
Review:
We are launching into a new series looking at ways that Christian engagement in politics is perceived by those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Each week we are taking a key aspect of reputation, grounded on research of the Barna group, and looking at this while avoiding defensiveness, seeking to understand, and engaging authentically in the conversation.
In the last couple of weeks we looked at hypocrisy, political engagement, the manner of our witness, our posture on moral issues like homosexuality, being too sheltered… and this week on being “too judgmental
The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…
o What did you learn about God?
o What did you learn about people?
o What did you learn about yourself?
o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?
Reflect:
For most of us, there is a gap between seeing a need and meeting a need. Talk through some examples of that. When and why do we stay disengaged?
Discuss the following Scriptures and read the verses in context:
Why would God command us to discern but not to judge? ( Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 12:47-48, Matthew 7:15-17, Psalm 19:12-13, 1 Corinthians 10:12, Colossians 2:2-3,)
How do I recognize if I am being judgmental? ( Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 7:3-5, Romans 14:1-4 and 10-12,)
Why are we unable to judge rightly? ( 1 Kings 8:38-39, Jeremiah 17:9-10, James 4:11-12,)
How does God's kindness lead us to repentance? ( Romans 2:1-4, Luke 5:4-10, Luke 19:1-10)
What should we be doing instead of judging? ( Matthew 23: 1-4, Galatians 6:1-3, Ezekiel 34:15-22)
Respond:
Scott ended the message this week that we have the responsibility to discern truth from lies, good from bad… but the right to pass judgement on a person belongs to God and God alone. Spend some time together praying that the Lord will help us to recognize, in the moment, where our responsibility must hand off to His right as “judge of all the earth”.
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