P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

Who’s to Judge?

CONNIE: So you’re walking down the street one day and you see a kid with blue-spiked hair, three rings in his eyebrows, a sleeveless black shirt, and tattoos up one arm and down the other. What do you think? Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Connie, I must say—that description of the kid coming down the street—I’ve been there, done that. I mean I’ve seen kids like that, and I must confess, all I can do is just stand and stare and wonder what’s going on—what’s this kid really trying to say?

CONNIE: Well, I know. And the natural reaction is to kind of find your way to the other side of the street.

LONNIE: But you’ve had an experience recently that’s kind of changed all that for you haven’t you?

CONNIE: Well I sure have Lonnie and I have to admit that I have done a complete about face when it comes to judging people, particularly kids, on appearance issues.

LONNIE: I know this story involves your teenage son Craig, and a rather motley group of kids that he met at Starbucks.

CONNIE: It has turned out that Starbucks is a place where kids like to hang out now. When I saw some of his new “friends” I was very harsh with my son and I said things like, how can you hang out with a bunch of losers? Look at them. They’ve got tattoos, pierced noses and ears, and I freaked out at how they looked.
LONNIE: What did Craig say?

CONNIE: Well, he got a little defensive and said, you know, Mom, if you really got to know them, you’d realize that they are good people. He also reminded me that I couldn’t pick his friends and you know Lonnie, he was right. I decided to just put away my judgmental attitude and relax, and get to know these kids.

LONNIE: What is the best way to get to know them?

CONNIE: Well, they are teenagers and they don’t have a lot of money, and you know how teenagers are always hungry. So I feed them, and they have started hanging out at my house more than at Starbucks. I started asking them questions and learning more about their lives, and when a kid opens up to you and you hear their story, it just about breaks your heart. While they’re eating pizza or spaghetti or just hanging out, they tell you about how their parents died, and how they crash on a friend’s couch to sleep. One of them told me how she lived in a group home and how she gave up her baby all before the age of 19. Another one of them had a really dysfunctional family situation, and he hated going home. So they would sit around and eat and I would talk to them, and I really fell in love with these kids and now they even call me Mom.

LONNIE: Wow, Connie, bless your heart. I am so impressed. So what do you see now when you look at one of these kids?

CONNIE: You know, their tattoos are still there, the hair color changes from blue to bright yellow every few weeks, and their body piercings are still there, but I don’t see that anymore Lonnie. I just see these resilient kids that respond so well to being fed, and paid attention too, and to love.

LONNIE: Connie, I really appreciate your sharing that. It’s quite a ministry you have—just being a mom to those kids—and I think we can all learn from it.

CONNIE: Well, I have my son to thank, because he helped me see beyond these kid’s exteriors, and someone else who has a real gift for that is Cheri Peters and we always love to have her here on the broadcast. Ken Wade spoke with her recently

KEN: Cheri Peters I just to welcome you to our program today.

CHERI: Thank you, Ken, it’s nice to here.

KEN: it’s always great to talk to you, and for those listeners who haven’t heard when you’ve been on before, just a little bit of background Cheri. I suppose about 25 years ago if a lot of good upright people had seen you on the street, they may have kind of moved to the other side of the street.

CHERI: Or got me to dental care! I had been a drug addict for ten years and I was homeless. I was not somebody that you would invite to potluck.

KEN: But Cheri, I can testify for those who can’t see you on the radio that you are a vibrant, beautiful Christian now, mainly as the result of meeting a Christian lady who was not at all judgmental towards you.

CHERI: You know not only was she not judgmental, but she longed for me to see Christ. It was almost as if she couldn’t wait. That I would get a glimmer of hope into who God was.

KEN: Because she accepted you and loved you for who you were, you were then able to find and see Christ through her, weren’t you?

CHERI: Exactly!

KEN: Now the thing that always thrills me so much is the fact that you haven’t just taken the love of Christ and kept it for yourself. You have started a ministry where you work with young people as well. Now Cheri, we got to talking about a young man by the name of Jim, describe Jim for me.

CHERI: It was so funny because the first thing that he said to me is, “I don’t want any of this Jesus garbage, I just need some help.” So he came in and he had 15 facial piercings, and he just had metal coming through his nose and his eyebrows, his bottom lip and his tongue, through his cheek, and he had about 8 or 9 in his ears. He had the real big ones that you had to actually clamp on. He had a tattoo of a dragon that started on his forehead, and the dragons nails were pulling into his head so you could see a little bit of the blood or tissue, and the dragon goes all the way down most of his body, coming out his hands and going down his back. When I saw him I just smiled and thought oh brother, this guy is a mess!

KEN: I have to be honest. I think I would have been frightened to see a person like that coming towards me. Now Jim got involved with your ministry which is mainly a lot of teenagers, and young people, Christian people involved in, television ministry, radio ministry…

CHERI: Going out to different communities, trying to do education on lifestyle improvements. Showing people how to get away from drugs and alcohol. I was doing this one outing where we were going to Wyoming, and we were going to talk to youth workers, legislators, the junior high, the high school, juvenile hall, and then three churches back home. Jim had just come in a few days before we were going, so I said, “Jim, why don’t you just start working with us and we’ll see what you need as far as your recovery, and you can see who we are.”
I took him with me on this trip, and I told him that I want you to just give a little testimony on why you want recovery. He said no problem, and I said when you go into a church, I want you to say the same thing. He said I’m not talking in a church. He’d get so angry. He said I just don’t buy that stuff, and he would just get so upset about that. But I said, you know, I’m not asking you to lie and say that you buy it. I’m just saying tell them why you want to recover. Why are you coming in this direction? He would be very uncomfortable in a church, and very comfortable in other settings. I was interviewing these young Christian kids on the radio, and they were so on fire Ken, that you would have wanted to kiss them on the face. It was delightful to work with them, and Jim just listened the whole time, and I could tell that he was affected. He actually told one of the kids that he wanted to bash his head into the wall after we were done, and the kids said, Why? That usually doesn’t happen when I give my testimony, it’s not the reaction I was looking for. Jim just said, you know, I just want that. I just want to be happy and find peace. So this kid tried to witness to him, and Jim just said, shut up!
Then we went to a church with about fifty kids in their youth group, and I gave my testimony and talked to them about coming off the streets, and it was really incredible. And then Jim got up and all he said was, I just want what you guys have. He didn’t accept Christ at that point, but everything was changed. We went to the juvenile hall after that, and then on to the school the next day. Jim was in the hallway, and we had 750 kids waiting to hear us give our testimony, and I walked by Jim and he said, Cheri, I’d like to accept Christ. I said, I don’t have time (LAUGH’S), I have to talk. So I said this is what you have to do. Tell God that you’re sorry, repent of your sins, tell Him that He knows who you are, and where you’ve been and that you need Him in your life, invite Him into your life and that’s it. It’s as simple as that, and I walked away. After the presentation I came back and Jim had this huge smile on his face, and he said I did it. I accepted Christ!

KEN: Well that is such an amazing story. That a person like that could…you know, it would be so easy to be judgmental and just push him away, but Jesus loves him just the same. You told me that he has actually been baptized and now he wants to be involved in Christian ministry himself.

CHERI: He wants to be a pastor, and he is checking out colleges. He just feels like he can hardly get over the fact that God loves him.
KEN: Well that is just a fantastic story, and I just want to thank you so much Cheri for sharing that, and for not being judgmental towards these people you work with but just reaching out to them with the love of Jesus.

CHERI: Thanks for listening.

CONNIE: God has a marvelous ability to do that very thing—to look beyond what we are, to look beyond how we look, and to see just what we need and supply it.

LONNIE: Indeed, that’s what grace is all about, and your story, and Cheri’s story—I must say, you gals have really touched my heart and encouraged me to be more gracious in the way I relate to those around me. To see with God’s eyes.

CONNIE: Well, Lonnie, I don’t feel like I’m doing anything so great—it’s just that—well, these kids have helped me learn a lot about judging people by their exterior—and choosing to treat people as Jesus would treat them.

LONNIE: Speaking of how Jesus treated people, we have a book by that name, written by our associate speaker, Morris Venden, and if you don’t have a copy of that book, I highly recommend it.

CONNIE: We’d like to send a copy of How Jesus Treated People to each and every one of our listeners, but it’s a full-size book, so we do need to ask for a donation of $10.00 or more when you request a copy, but you can ask for it just by calling our toll-free number, 1-800-872-0055 and having a credit card ready.
LONNIE: That’s our toll-free request line, 1-800-872-0055, you can call any time.

CONNIE: But don’t call right this minute, because right now it’s time to listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “Who’s to Judge.”

Who’s to Judge?

What’s your worst nightmare? Falling off a cliff? Being under water, unable to get to the top? Being chased by a scary monster? Or is it, perhaps one that many people report: Being falsely accused and prosecuted for a crime that you didn’t commit—ending up in prison with a life sentence, when you’re completely innocent?

If you’ve ever watched the movies like An Innocent Man, or The Green Mile, you can get a little of the feeling of what it must be like to walk in through those prison doors and hear them slam behind you, and know that they’re not going to open to let you out.

To realize that your life can be suddenly changed—even completely taken away from you—by a miscarriage of justice.

It happened to William Heirens. More than fifty years ago. And he’s still in jail—a man in his seventies hoping against hope that sometime before he dies, he’ll be given the opportunity to live the life of a free man again.
It all began with a pretty petty crime.

Oh, sure, Bill had been in and out of trouble for several years as a teenager.

He’d been caught stealing before. But then he’d gotten admitted to the

University of Chicago, and he’d decided to turn his life around. He’d done very well in his freshman year, but during the summer, financial pressures got to him, and he saw an opportunity to steal a dollar bill.

That’s right. One dollar. From a woman’s purse.

Trouble was, someone saw him doing it and called the police. In the ensuing chase he was hit over the head—knocked unconscious—and things went downhill from there. The police were looking for a suspect in a horrendous kidnapping and murder case from half a year earlier. And somehow they decided William must be their man.

The story of how he went from being accused of stealing one dollar to being imprisoned with three consecutive life sentences is long, sordid, and almost unbelievable. You can read all about it on the Internet at Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions website if you’re interested. It’s a frightening tale of justice run amok. William became the victim of public opinion that had been turned against him by sensational articles in Chicago’s newspapers.

It’s a terrifying illustration of the principle that if we go looking for evidence to convict someone of wrongdoing, we can probably find it—if we’ll just look hard enough.

Jesus understood that principle, and that’s why He warned us against jumping to judgment. And He did it so graphically that the amusing picture he painted sticks in our memory.

Of all the sayings of Jesus in the sermon on the mount, this one is probably the best-remembered because of the way He illustrated His point: “ ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye’ ” (Matthew 7:1-5, NIV).

Can you see the picture? A fellow walking around with an eight-foot 2-by-6 sticking out of his eye, and he comes up to a friend of his and says “Pardon me, Joe, but isn’t that a speck of dust in your eye? Here, let me help you remove it!” And he tries to move in close enough to see what he’s doing—but what happens—of course, the plank is in the way. He can’t even get close to his friend to help out.

Friend, Jesus understood our propensity for noticing the tiny little faults of others, while ignoring our own glaring inconsistencies and injustices.

And knowing it’s just part of human nature, He dealt with it light-heartedly.
But it really can be a very serious subject.

Especially when you’re on the wrong end of the stick. When you’re the one being judged—whether rightly or wrongly.

When people leap to judgment without having all the facts in hand, the results can be disastrous. The Innocence Project—an organization that devotes its efforts to helping reverse wrongful convictions when new evidence-testing methods such as DNA analysis can conclusively prove a prisoner’s innocence—reports that by late 2002, a total of 111 convicts had been freed from prison in the U. S. because they had been proven innocent after having been convicted and sentenced. Many of these men and women had been on death row, awaiting execution. In fact, in the state of Illinois, of the 25 people placed on death row since 1987, 13 (that’s over half) have subsequently been proven innocent and released from prison!

It’s a frightening statistic that reveals how often we rush to judgment—and get it wrong!

Now, fortunately, most of us aren’t required to make life-and-death decisions in capital crime cases—at least not very often.

But do we perhaps participate in killing in other ways?

A person’s life can be taken away piece by piece through slander, gossip, and backbiting—passing judgment.

And that’s what Jesus warns us against. That’s what He forbids us to do—pass judgment on each other in matters that would best be left in God’s hands.

When the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Him, what did Jesus say? “ ‘If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’ ” (John 8:7, NIV).

In other words, if you don’t have a plank in your own eye, well, OK, go after the speck of dust in your neighbor’s eye.

But which of us is so pure that there is nothing that could be held against us in God’s court of justice? Which of us is perfectly like Jesus in total righteousness before God? Which of us does not need the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness to cover up the filthy garments of our own sinfulness? As the prophet Isaiah put it, even our righteous deeds—even our good deeds—are like filthy garments in comparison to the perfect righteousness of God!

My friend, my brother, my sister, while you may feel very good about yourself—may sense that there’s little that you’ve actually done wrong—don’t fall into the trap of the Pharisees. Remember the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the publican. Both went down to the temple, and the Pharisee stood up proudly and thanked God that he wasn’t a sinner like other men. But the poor publican—what did he do? He just bowed his head in God’s presence and beat his breast and cried out “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Here was a man who could see the plank in his own eye—and he wasn’t looking at specks in other people’s eyes. And what did Jesus say about him?
“ ‘I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’ ” (Luke 18:14, NKJV).

The way to find mercy and true righteousness is to look to Jesus and His perfect righteousness, not to be looking around at others and thanking God that at least you aren’t as sinful as they are!

You see, one of the main problems with looking at others’ sins is that it takes our eyes off Jesus!

Have you noticed—the more you look at Jesus—the more you dwell on His perfect righteousness—the more you feel your need of His saving grace and the less you think about others’ sins?

Oh, my friend, that is such an important principle of successful Christian living. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus! You know, He’s the only One who can take that plank out of your eye. He’s the One who can forgive you for your sins.

Remember the story of Peter walking on the water. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. But Jesus didn’t condemn him. When Peter cried out “Lord save me,” what did Jesus do? Immediately He reached out His hand and pulled Peter up from what would have been a watery grave.
He’s anxious to do that for you, and for me, too.

So, why walk around with a plank in your eye, casting your gaze about in search of dust in other people’s eyes, when you can look into the loving face of Jesus and let Him take that plank right out of your eye?

Our job is not to judge others. That job belongs to God. And He will do it—in His good time. There will come a day when true justice will be done—by an all-seeing God who doesn’t make mistakes.

We began today, talking about miscarriages of justice that have come about because of misused evidence, forced confessions, and the like. I’m happy to report that today there are organizations like The Innocence Project that take up the cases of those who have been wrongly convicted.

But I’m even happier to report that whatever your situation in life, you have a Savior who will take your case! He’ll stand up for you in the judgment, if you’ll just commit your case into His care and keeping.

Why not take a moment just now to think about it—ask yourself the hard questions we all need to face from time to time. Have I been picking at specks of dust in others’ lives because I didn’t want to face the plank in my own eye?
If by any chance that’s the case, why not hand that plank to Jesus, right now?