Matthew 7:6

So while reading Matthew, I came upon the "judgement" section of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 7:1-6 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Do Not Judge

7 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. 3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

I understood 1-5 easily enough but was always a little confused about verse 6.  It felt as though it did not belong to previous verses, and it definitely did not belong to the following verses about seeking.  Although in a WAY it was a segue...  from Judging to Sharing.

Jesus takes this subject very seriously (well really anything he talks about He is serious about) as indicated by the "Hypocrite!" stuck in the middle.

Basically He is saying stop Judging people for the wrong reasons.  If you are judging to "show that someone has a problem" or that you are somehow better than they are... you have got it all wrong.  YOU (we all) have issues.  Maybe we don't have the same issue as someone else, but no one is clean.  "Take a better look at yourself before you try to 'help' someone else."

But notice that Jesus says NEVER JUDGE... he is cautioning us against judging from a wrong state of heart or mind.  It is something to be very cautious about... and I see it all the time, and no doubt commit the same all the time.

But then we come to verse 6.  I had to read a bunch of commentaries by venerated Christians to try and understand this one.  I came away with two concepts:  The softer of the two is "don't share the truth to people who are not ready for it"... in other words don't preach at them (at least that is what I get from that, I am probably wrong) if they are not in a place to receive it.  The other is a little stronger and that is don't share with people who are just looking for fodder or an argument to fight with you... people who already do not value the Truth (the word of God) and instead want to tear it apart at every turn.  What is the point?  It fuels them in the wrong direction (further away from God) and it bothers you.

Still, coming from a 1st person perspective, does this apply to the part about judging where you are applying scripture, or should I say throwing scripture at someone?  Or does this come from a 3rd party perspective of seeking Truth (or NOT seeking it)?  That is why I am thinking it is actually a segue from smacking people with scripture vs. seeking out Truth.  I am probably waayyyyy wrong.

Anyway, that is what I got out of it.  It pretty much applies to all social media these days.