I was reading through the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 in the ESV regarding judging others when it occurred to me that this verse is almost exclusively studied regarding “judging others”. I must admit that this is the focus of the passage, and I will speak to that briefly-but the last verse in this passage brings it home in that in place of judgement, we are to help restore our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s a rough, torn and broken world we live in. The United States is in a new state of existence; something I am going to speak to in an upcoming entry. For today, I want to look at WHY we often judge one another instead of helping to restore them. 

Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-5 regarding Judging Others:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 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? 5 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."

To be fair to the context of this passage, this does NOT mean that one is never, in any sense or to any extent to judge another person. Verse 5 indicates that when one’s own life is spiritually healthy and pure that he should take the speck OUT OF his brother’s eye. That said, this verse makes clear that as a follower of Christ that we are not to be censorious or critical of others. 

We are (always) called to judge sin, but within the context of understanding that we too are sinners-and with the goal of helping restore our brother or sister who has sinned back to a rightful, healthy relationship with Christ. That takes a lot of moxie in today’s world because people are often unteachable, unapproachable, and arrogant. In other words, most folks today, including many Christians don’t want to be told anything they might not want to hear or may not agree with. 

That being said, I want to focus on the very last verse (v.5) which says:

“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” (v5).

The word “TAKE” here is a VERB. Remember from elementary school that a “VERB” is an ACTION WORD not a “NOUN” which describes what ought to be done-presumably by others, namely the church. Remember, we are the church.

LIVING OUT THE VERB
“…then you will see clearly to TAKE THE SPECK OUT OF YOUR BROTHER’S EYE”. We must be right before and with God as a start point. But once we are properly in line with God’s Word and in relationship with Him, we are CALLED to HELP others find their way back, perhaps leaving a sinful thing to return to God. Again, this is an action YOU and I are to take to help others. It’s easier to stay quiet and keep to ourselves. That’s not a true friend and that’s DEFINITELY not acting biblically. It takes ENERGY and costs something. We can’t put a tithe in the box and pay the church to fix the world because we ARE the church.

SO WHY DO WE TEND TO JUDGE OTHERS and throw our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to the judgmental heap pile? Because most of us are scared, sometimes a coward, and more often than not-too lazy to want to use the emotional, physical and spiritual capital (it will cost us) to help another person. In other words, it’s easier to either ignore the issue or dispose of them as a person rather than jump into the mud pit and help restore them.

I see this all the time in the Christian community. For example, famous author and speaker Dinesh D’Souza is one that stands out. Dinesh was in the final throws of his divorce when he took a girlfriend when he got caught with his new girlfriend before the divorce was final. While a sin, it was not handled properly, and we lost a great soldier for Christ due to two self-righteous Christian national leaders who decided to play Jesus-police instead of helping confront and restoring Dinesh. How do I know this? Because I spoke with both Dinesh and the two men who exposed Dinesh.

I spoke with the two gentleman who exposed his seeing Dinesh with the girl who he shortly there-after married and he told me his side of the story. My conclusion was that instead of approaching Dinesh to help him tweak his approach with the girlfriend, these two nationally known figures exposed him to the public with the goal of destroying his reputation-with no desire to restore him-but to take him down. What a shame. If we were to take down every pastor who sins, all of them would be taken down. The same is true of you and I.

The proper way to handle a person who is out of bounds biblically speaking is to sit with them, see if they are teachable, and lovingly and directly confront them with the goal of restoring them. At the very least, we should privately speak with them to show them their lost way and give them the chance to self-correct. In the end, the biblical mandate is for us to “…take the speck out of your brother's eye” (v5) and not beat them with the log in our own eye.

IN CLOSING I want to bring to light one simple truth which is that we often think of ourselves much higher than is truthful. This includes you, me and all of us as believers in Christ. We tend to see ourselves as saved and superior as opposed to lost and lingering toward hell. And if honest we tend to demand “justice” for others but expect mercy from God for ourselves. Please think about this passage the next time you encounter a fellow believer who needs your help to course correct. Let’s make sure that we are taking the energy to GIVE and not simply TAKE from them.

WHEN GOD REWARDS OUR GIVING
It has often been debated as to IF and WHEN God rewards us for our good deeds. In the Bible, Jesus discusses three pharisaic practices of piety that all us can fall into if not careful and the consequence of handling those practices rightly or uprightly. They include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Today, we are going to look at the first of these, which is “GIVING” and I will show you where and when God rewards us-and when He doesn’t. Let’s get started.

In the Book of Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells His followers how they (and we today) are to “Practice living out the Kingdom Life” which ultimately results in our receiving a REWARD from God our Father as opposed to other human beings. It's all about doing things God's way as opposed to our own way.

When we fail to keep God’s ways and carnally follow our own, we end up worshipping or drawing attention to ourselves. As a result, we receive an ARTIFICIAL REWARD in place of the authentic reward from the Father. This, then, is the beginning of a three part series covering the subject of God’s Rewards in relation to GIVING, PRAYER and FASTING. Today, we are going to address the FIRST, which addresses GIVING-how we are to give and the rewards given to us by God the Father.

REWARDS FLOW FROM A GIVING HEART
Jumping right in, Jesus opens Matthew, chapter six, speaking about practicing our righteousness or righteous acts “before other people” (v.1). Why would one act righteously in front of others, you might ask? The answer is “ …in order to be seen by them” (v.1). It wasn't too long ago when giving was something done modestly and in private-and to do so publicly was rare outside of political figures. Today, sadly, it's considered the "right" thing for everyone to self-promote themselves above others.

GOD'S WAY-THE RIGHT WAY TO GIVE
Jesus goes on in verse two to speak to the PROPER way to give so that we are to avoid our good deed(s) being seen by others in verse 2, saying: “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.” In other words, there is a real consequence for or taking God's praise as our own. 

THE CONSEQUENCE: Jesus goes onto explain the consequence of letting others deliberately know that you have given to others in verse one, saying: “…for then you will have NO REWARD from your Father who is in heaven.” WHY would God NOT REWARD a good deed? Because, as Jesus explains in verse 2, we are not to be like the religious leaders who were hypocrites in that they did what they did in terms of giving for personal attention, as opposed to giving praise, honor and credit to God. 

Better yet, WHY would anyone take the credit for what God has given them to begin with? The ANSWER IS: “…that they may be praised by others” (v.2). In our carnal nature, we want to be known by others for our generosity in giving to others. By parading this openly or simply making our good deeds known among others, we put OURSELVES in a positive light among others within the Christian community. It might even put us in a positive light within the secular community depending on what the good deed is or what the giving opportunity. For example, if we help a person in the inner city and tell everyone what we did, even non-Christians might praise us for doing such a thing in the name of charity, social justice or works that are faith related.

END RESULT
Jesus makes abundantly clear in verse 2 that such giving negates the Father's reward, saying: “Truly, I say to you, they HAVE RECEIVED their reward.”

When we make our good deeds and generosity seen before others, our reward ends up being given to us carnally. This is as opposed to our true reward if given by God. Carnally means we are seeking adoration or fake glory through the praise of other human beings. As a result, we forfeit the reward(s) of God our Father. We can’t have both. If someone happens to find out about our good deeds or act of giving by some way other than our own, we should not entertain discussing it, but change the subject and move on. By donig so, we will gain God’s reward in that it is God and not ourselves who provides and gives all good things; we are simply a steward of them.

Jesus goes onto say in verse 3, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And our Father who sees in secret WILL REWARD YOU” (v.4).  This is WHEN God dispenses His reward. 

The bottom line is that when we give of ourselves, as best as we can, we are not to make it known to others. Letting others know “THAT WE GAVE," and "HOW MUCH” or “WHEN” we give of ourselves gains us credit before others, especially within the church. As such, our reward is given to us through  the acknowledgement and praise of others. According to God, a truly selfless heart gives unconditionally and is kept between the giver and the receiving party of the gift.

By being humble and giving selflessly in the NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give all honor, glory and credit to God who owns and gives it all to us as stewards of His blessings and resources. And when we do that, we invite the blessings and reward(s) of God the Father upon us. This is when God blesses us for GIVING to others. To GOD be ALL the Glory. Have Peace in the New Year.

While the country of Turkey is legally set up as a "Secular Nation", the truth is that 98 percent of the Turkish Population is Muslim, but call themselves a “SECULAR” nation. TODAY, I am going to give you my thoughts from a Christian perspective on the flourishing country we call Turkey. Let’s get started.

While 98 percent of the population are Muslims, the obvious is that Christians are a minority religion in Turkey. Turkey is the only Muslim country in the world that has no State religion as the Constitution guarantees religious freedom, and tolerance is the "stated" rule. 

In truth, the bottom line is that there is no real “freedom of religion” in this Islamic country of Turkey as Turkish authorities are branding Christians with so-called “N-82” or “G-87” security codes, which are used to label a person as a “THREAT TO PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY”. These effectively function as “ENTRY or RE-ENTRY” BANS into the country. Once Turkish government is wielding these codes to prevent missionary activity in the country. 

On the contrary, I was unable to find any instances of legal action taken AGAINST MUSLIMS for sharing the Islamic faith by the Turkish government. Hence, NO, turkey has no freedom of religion and is an Islamic country. The good news is that Turkey is a flourishing country economically speaking. The good news is that the younger generation(s) in Turkey don’t particularly care for a forceful, Islamic cultural regime running things in the present. 

This should bode interesting for the world as Turkish manufacturing their economy grows, it is most likely that Turkey will continue to become more moderate in years go come-much like Saudi Arabia. 

WHAT CAN YOU AND I DO? FIRST: We can pray for the country of Turkey. SECOND: We can pray for their leaders of Turkey to be more accepting of Christians peoples to exist and live out their faith freely. THIRD: We can pray for the Christian church and for the remaining remnant of Christians left in Turkey. FOURTH AND LASTLY: We can speak up for Christians in Turkey and support Turkish missionaries who are taking the real risks.

IN CONCLUSION: Turkey is a rising economic star which usually leads to greater freedom. Let’s pray that God would bless Turkey with a heart for as much religious freedom for Christians as they have economic success. And with that—May God bless Turkish Christians and all Turkish peoples to their rightful, historic place, and restore them to their rightful land in Turkey.