The Judgment of Judgment: Discernment Without Condemnation (Sermon on the Mount Series)

Voxology

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2021

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do we discern truth and error, good and evil, right and wrong—without falling into the trap of condemnation? Continuing the Sermon on the Mount Series, Mike Erre and Tim Stafford unpack the often-misunderstood teaching of Jesus from Matthew 7:1–6, exploring the difference between judgment and discernment in the life of Jesus followers. It's a hard-hitting conversation about our tendency to categorize, condemn, and get a "hit" of self-righteousness from judging others—and how Jesus calls us to a radically different way of seeing people.

You'll learn how to spot the difference between helpful, humble discernment and harmful, isolating judgment—and what it looks like to both call out sin and remain rooted in love and self-awareness. Mike and Tim also wrestle with the implications of social media, cancel culture, and Christian subcultures that attach labels like "Christian" to all kinds of ideas and products not found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Key Takeaways: • The Difference Between Judgment and Discernment – Why Jesus isn't prohibiting the practice of discernment, but instead condemns the separation of people into categories of worthiness. • Self-Righteousness and the "Hit" We Get from Judgment – How we're often energized by outrage and condemnation, and how that distances us from compassion and relationship. • The Sermon's "Log and Speck" Analogy – Removing the metaphorical plank from our own eye before confronting the speck in someone else's requires humility, vulnerability, and deep community. • Judgment Begins with the Household of God – Why Christian accountability belongs first within the body and should be rooted in close, trusted relationships. • Rethinking the Christian Label – How the Bible invites us to practice discernment with nuance rather than simplistic labels like "Christian" or "secular." • Becoming a Community of Discernment – Why we must reject both harsh condemnation and naïve cultural consumption in favor of ongoing, communal discernment shaped by love, humility, and truth.

Guest Highlights: • Ashley from Calgary – Kicks off the episode with a beautiful reading of Matthew 7:1–6. • Seth Erie – Offers a wholesome and hilarious mid-episode blessing, reminding us of the joy found in authentic community.

Resources Mentioned: • Matthew 7:1–6 – Read on Bible Gateway • 1 Peter 4:17 – "Judgment begins with the household of God" • 1 Corinthians & Paul's Pastoral Letters – On church discipline and discernment • "AA and 12-Step Recovery Community" – Compared as examples of non-condemning honesty, community, and accountability • "Christian Subculture" critique – Examining flaws in applying Christian labels too easily • Mike's experience at Onsite – A therapeutic retelling of discovering compassion through others' stories • "Jesus as a Super Spreader" T-shirts – Cited as examples of actions worth critique but not condemnation

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As always, we encourage thoughtful engagement. Feel free to email questions to hello@voxpodcast.com and connect on Instagram and Facebook.

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Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to hello@voxpodcast.com, and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

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Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

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The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Vox podcast.
0:05.3	We are so glad you're tuning in today.
0:07.6	Michael Erie and Timothy John Stafford here.
0:11.2	We are grateful that we get to play a small part in your life.
0:16.7	And we want to thank, before we even get started,
0:19.5	we want to thank Alan and Gina for joining our team on Patreon.
0:26.6	Patreon.com Vox Podcast with Mike Erie.
0:30.2	New name coming.
0:32.1	We're now looking at logos and color palettes and designs and websites and it's all very exciting there
0:41.6	there are probably dozens of people eager to hear the new name so we'll keep you
0:48.2	be a stretch we'll keep you posted so uh what we want to do today uh we didn't get any good and juicy
1:00.4	reviews did we last week no well i think we got like some nice ones oh yeah we never want to read
1:07.4	those never we don't want to encourage the yeah the niceties yeah yeah um but uh
1:15.0	so we're just going to dive straight into the sermon we're just going to go because this one you don't
1:20.5	want to this one no talk about water why are you yeah you got some rain out in California, don't you?
1:28.2	Yeah.
1:28.4	Yeah, that's all anyone can talk about in California when it rains because it's like, it's such a surprise.
1:33.9	Oh, I remember.
1:35.7	Oh, yes, it's this thing called weather.
1:37.8	I know.
1:38.3	Yeah.
1:38.5	And I always loved that the place in the country that has the least interesting weather has HD Doppler 7,000 mega.
	...

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