Wednesday – Change It – Judgement
People often quote Jesus to escape judging anything as right and wrong.
But he meant the opposite, it’s a command to judge! But to judge based on God’s standards and not our own.
It’s not a call to be blind, but generous and caring.
We’ve included a fun short film that illustrates this humourously. Look for the “Short Film” link on the web, or the second video in the app menu, or at vimeo.com/66753575
Jesus wants us to first become aware of our own situation, then another’s.
If we pretend to be judges by our own standards, we can’t plead ignorance of the law we administer.
Are you prepared to judge someone by the same standards?
Pretend you arrive at heaven. You’ve had a recording device hanging around your neck all your life, and God says “I will go easy on you, I’ll judge you by your own standards, instead of godly standards.” So he plays back all the times you set a standard: Listen to me, don’t talk behind my back, don’t use that tone of voice, etc. How would that go?
Jesus doesn’t want us to cease to be human – we were created with reason. He just wants us to cease trying to be God.
He puts all humans on a level playing field, where we can together explore how God’s standard is much better than any we’d make up.
Be a brother…that’s the language used here.
Question: Go through the last week’s interactions with your colleagues, family, friends and even strangers. What standards do you set up for others? Then go back through the list and check off those you’ve kept yourself.
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Tuesday – Study It – Judgement
Jesus said this about judgement:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 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? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, 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. (Matthew 7:1-5 ESV)
This is one of the best known, but most misunderstood and abused sayings of Jesus.
Often people will quote this passage to suggest Jesus says no one should ever judge anyone else. It makes it seem like Jesus was saying to turn a blind eye to injustice, brokenness, hurt in our world.
One take on why people quote this passage, is that when we see other people hurting, we often love ourselves too much to tell the truth…we want no pain for ourselves so we let others hurt, and use this as an excuse.
Jesus is not saying there should be no courts of law, no one should help another person out of a bad situation they don’t recognize.
How do we know? He judged.
Right in this passage, he spoke about hypocrites. He expected his followers to judge, discern, too. In the Sermon on the Mount, he told them to be more righteous than Pharisees. Later, he speaks about false prophets. He wants his followers to see the difference – to judge.
You can also see, right here in this passage, he commands his followers to engage in judgement: to be aware when there is a speck in someone’s eye.
So what’s the difference, between good judgement and bad judgement? Good judgement is to see truth, then speak the truth in love. A healthy critique based on standards we can both recognize and try to follow is okay.
As Paul said in Romans 14:4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4 ESV)
The problem is when people go looking to judge others by standards they don’t keep. This turns to harsh self-righteousness, as if we are becoming the master of others.
We all do it – if someone criticizes us – we will immediately look for a way to criticize them.
We’ll see more tomorrow, but first,
Question: What is difference between critique and judgement?
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Monday – A New Idea – Judgement
Have you ever felt judged?
According to Psychology Science magazine, it takes just a 10th of a second for us to make snap judgements about character, trust, and competence based on visual first impressions.
When you first heard Rob Ford was accused of using crack cocaine, how did you react?
Many reacted with judgement, having already decided he was “that kind of person”. But according to a poll of people’s support for potential mayoral candidates for the next election, 27% still support him, and that did not change with the most recent allegations. This has a lot to do with prejudices one way or the other.
We make judgements all the time. Is that good, or bad?
Question: How do you react to the idea of judgement? Is it ever okay for someone to judge another? Why or why not?
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Friday – Reflect – Worry
We pray and reflect about this week’s topic: Worry
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Thursday – Act On It – Worry
Today we look at how Jesus teaches us to stop worrying
Helene Hadfield said she doesn’t worry about her husband while he’s in space, despite the high level of risk involved in his work.
“If I did, I would go crazy. You can either spend your time worrying or spend your time enjoying the whole process and knowing Chris was loving every second of the time. For me to worry, it would be counterproductive because it would take away from his joy,” she said.
“And I trust him. I trust that he can fix things and he knows what’s going on and he’s trained for so many years and he’s so competent. But most of all, I just know that he loves what he does so it doesn’t matter what the risks are.”
She has faith in her husband, but of course he’s not God, he’s just a man in the sky!
For our worries, the solution involves deeper faith, but in God. This is why Jesus says, “You of little faith.” He’s not telling people with no faith to get on it. He’s talking to his followers, people with some faith, and he wants them to deepen their reliance on him.
Apply him to all areas of life…trust him with his creation, rather than thinking its all ours.
Having God’s kingdom as first priority means we can have all sorts of second priorities. Think back to the image of our water glasses last week – pouring into God’s kingdom overflows into our worldly needs.
But if I worry about building my kingdom, I am consumed by worry.
Note that Jesus isn’t saying he’ll give you all your wildest hopes and dreams. He’s offering a bird’s level of food and a flower’s level of clothing! Oh, and citizenship in his kingdom. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.
Challenge: From your worry list, what do you love more than God? How can you love God first, and those things second? In what decision today can you extend a little more trust to God than before?
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Wednesday – Change It – Worry
Today we see why worrying is useless…for us, at least.
We can’t make our lives longer. We can actually shorten our lives with worry. The line that Jesus used could even mean making bodies longer…which is definitely not something that happens after adulthood.
God provides in nature – not a direct drop from heaven – but he’s readied nature.
UN: The greatest scandal of our age is the fact that just under 1 billion people on the planet go to bed hungry every night. This is despite the fact that we produce more than enough to feed every single person in the world. The problem is not a shortage but rather that the undernourished who need food most cannot access it.
God also provides through others – generosity
God does this in a world where trouble and accidents happen. We will not avoid them. This is not a promise you won’t meet with trouble.
But don’t worry, or become anxious about it. You were made for eternity anyway. Jesus is saying you are much more than that – made for heaven.
Think of a Panda – it eats bamboo almost all the time it’s awake. We humans are made for much more than sustenance. In famines, this kind of single focus may be necessary. But this is not the usual condition for us.
More relevantly today in the West, we are meant for more than selfish ambition. We are made for loving, giving, caring, serving.
Question: What has God already put in our world to answer your worry concerns?
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Tuesday – Study It – Worry
Last week, we talked about priorities, and that putting God and his kingdom first pours into other areas of life.
This passage follows on from there, since it begins with “therefore I tell you.” It’s like Jesus is saying IF you choose God, light and heaven, it has consequences for your life.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)
Now, to clear up a few misconceptions, Jesus has nothing against material things – they matter! He made them and although our world is broken, he intends to redeem the material world, not just our spirits. Jesus cares about the body & world – he made them both. But he wants to worry about it, not for us to worry about it.
He has nothing against making plans – watch a bird build a nest! They are not lazy, they work hard, but they are reliant on what is provided for them in nature. Worry has no place there.
We all need purpose in life – we are made to be seekers – not aimless.
We can live for any number of aims, though. Career, power, perfection, love, etc. Jesus reduces all our possible ambitions/purposes to two options: selfish security or heavenly kingdom.
Having goals, plans and material things isn’t the problem. Worry is the problem – when these things become sources of anxiety that cut to the core of who we are.
Question: What’s the difference between prudent planning, and anxious worry? How does that show up in your life?
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Monday – A New Idea – Worry
There has been lots to worry about this last month. 8 in 10 worry about Homegrown terror. After the Timothy Bosma story, how many are now worried they’ll be abducted when they sell their truck?
I did a google search on worry – the first page of results talked about debt, mental health, parenting, economy, housing market the job market and more.
We also asked people on the street, what kind of things do you worry about?
And we know many of you are worried about toll commuting takes on relationships, family, finances and health. But we often feel stuck. It leads to sleepless nights, inability to make decisions, anger, ulcers, stress, more.
Question: What do you worry about, and how do you worry? Make a list.
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Thursday – Act On It – Priorities
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24 ESV)
Illustrate with two cups (money, God) beside each other. Can only fill one.
Remember Monday – I asked you to list your priorities in order. One per rank, no ties.
Illustrated with stacked cups.
Still can only fill one. And money isn’t the only thing we can prioritize in life, it’s just one of the most common, and Jesus said it was one of the most seductive challengers to God’s place in our lives.
Almost effortlessly it is able to lure us into its sphere of influence. When we grow from dependent children into adults, before we know it, we are living lives in its service. It calls us, it drives us, it threatens us, it rewards us. We don’t know if we have enough here, too much there, need to make more, invest more or borrow more.
Money is a deep rooted power. It reaches to the very centre of who we are and what we live for – the heart and eye we spoke of yesterday. Jesus ascribed to money almost ultimate power. “No one” he said “can serve two masters, one cannot serve God and money.” You can only serve one master faithfully.
This isn’t about taking on two jobs – he deliberately uses the language of slavery from his culture – where people sold themselves, in entirety, to pay off a debt – and could naturally not sell a second “self” to someone else. Jesus says money has that kind of demand on our lives – it is the most likely thing to challenge God in our lives.
The point he was leading to was this: You cannot serve both God and money! If God and the vision of God’s reign is not the ultimate focus of our lives, something else will be. For many of us the something else will be money in its various forms. Money has a power all of its own. It has the power to take the very place of God in our lives. Money can lure us into its service.
But putting God as our first priority doesn’t mean we deny our children, spouses, and other good things in our lives. God made them, said they were good. This is not an either/or. God wants to fill every area of our lives with his love, his power, his leadership.
Illustrated with four cups on level 1, and a full God cup on level 2. Pouring water into God’s cup overflows into the others.
When we start to open ourselves to God, welcoming the reality that he poured himself out for us by dying on the cross, we quickly find he pours out into all areas of our lives, and then into others.
People who give of their time in service of others will tell you time and time again how incredibly fulfilling it is…that happiness doesn’t come from wealth, financial or otherwise, but rather because they have handed over all areas of their lives to God’s care as Lord. They are able to be contented and happy in all things, and that is a kind of wealth in itself that overflows into all area of life.
Challenge: Take another look at your list of priorities from Monday. What does Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount say to you about each of these? Have any of them been prioritized over God’s will? IF so, ask God to be Lord over, and pour into that area of your life.
Cast: Redeem the Commute
Tags:
Wednesday – Change It – Priorities
Jesus’ second illustration about priorities in life. Said it with a confusing saying that needs to be explained for people in our day: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will […]