Matthew 7:6
For the last two weeks we have been learning about judgment and accountability. We have defined the judgment that Jesus forbids as “uncalled for criticism” and we have seen that the accountability that Jesus desires, like all surpassing righteousness, is about our hearts before it becomes about our behavior. We have learned that everyone has a speck in their eye from our point of view and that all of us have a plank in our own eye from God’s point of view, that the true template of accountability is actually very simple: First I deal with my heart, then I can help with your heart doing everything I do for the purpose of the glory of God. If we follow this pattern it means that accountability is not about submission and authority as much as it is about humility and worship, a desire for my heart to be found right before God and for God’s glory to be revealed through my life, my relationships and my friends. Judgment points a finger at someone else so that my reputation can be protected or promoted, accountability points everything to God so that His name can be exalted and His character displayed.
Since context is always king when dealing with the Scripture we have to read today’s verse in light of last week’s, it can’t be allowed to stand alone and shouldn’t be disconnected from the heart of the Sermon that it is a part of. Our text continues Jesus’teaching of accountability, the verse is not about us finding out who the dogs or the pigs are or determining what pearls we have been given so we can be careful who we give them to, this verse is about the condition and protection of our hearts and it is about the establishment of the most important relationship in our lives so that we never exalt other relationships above it or diminish this relationship during our times of unrest or disappointment. You see, it all, once again goes back to our enemy of anxiety. Anxiety desires to drive us to judgment and judgment pushes us to question our trust of the One who holds our heart and give our trust to those that are not deserving of it. I believe that this verse, in its context, is a call to realize that Jesus is our most trusted friend and that these first six verses of Matthew 7 that we have studied over the last few weeks are a calling away from uncalled for criticism into accountability through trusted friendship with Jesus. Today we will simply learn that friendship with Jesus protects our hearts, protects our friends and protects God’s glory. True accountability to each other begins with deep friendship with Jesus.