Judging others

Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)

"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.”

                                                           

Is it scriptural for a Christian to judge another person?  Good question.  If you took a poll of almost any group of people, the overwhelming majority would say that it is wrong to judge others.  Yet, they likely wouldn’t know where in Scripture it says not to judge.  Scriptures that seem to say it is unacceptable to judge others include Romans 14:10,13, I Corinthians 4:5, and James 4:11-12.  However, there are other Scriptures (e.g. I Corinthians 2:15, 5:12-13, 6:1-4, Hebrews 5:14, John 7:24) that seem to say that it is acceptable to judge others.  Jesus, in these verses, starts by stating you are not to judge, but He does not stop there.  Likely most people only remember Jesus’ first three words in this passage, but these three words are not the complete sentence.  Jesus says that you are not to judge others if you do not want others to be judging you.  If you judge others, you also will be judged.  It is also implied that you will be judged by God to the same degree that you used to judge others.  The Message Bible says it this way:  "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.” 

The word “judge” means to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong.  You may judge, but it must be according to the Word of God, not according to hypocritical or arbitrary human rules.  There has to be judgment of others who are violating biblical standards or crime, racism, prejudice, lying, false teaching, undisciplined children, and all other bad behavior will collectively destroy our society.  Yet such judgment must always be with the realization that whatever standard you use to judge others you yourself will also be judged against that standard. 

These words of Jesus tell us that whenever you are judging someone else for whatever wrong you think that they are doing, you are likely doing the same thing yourself or at least vulnerable to doing the same thing yourself.  Some years ago I was very angry with a person and sought the counsel of a very wise couple.  Expecting them to sympathize with me, they pointed out that the complaints I had about this person dealt with areas of weakness that I too had.  At the time I did not appreciate their comments, but upon further reflection and candid self-analysis, they were right.  So I learned the hard way that while seeing the speck in another’s eye, I did not see the plank in my own eye.  

Jesus is saying you are not to condemn, look down upon, be negative, or delight in another person’s failings because if you do, other people will do the same thing to you.  However, you are to confront another person if he/she has offended you or is doing something that the Bible says is clearly wrong.  You are to confront another directly and not talk about that person to others. Do not listen to someone who tells you that you are not to judge when you confront that someone with a sin you are seeing them commit (or a sin of omission such as failing to help others, forsaking church attendance, failing to be honest).  People who are the loudest in saying you should not judge are those who are guilty of sin and fail to see how it is hurting them and others.  If you are judging another according to the Word of God, if you have studied the Word of God carefully, and if you have carefully examined your own life to make sure that you are not committing the same sin, such judgment is acceptable and supportive by Scripture.

One of the main reasons why it is important for Christians to feel free to judge others is to prevent the church from failing.  Read I Corinthians 5:12.  Allowing the sin of a church member to go on without confrontation can seriously endanger the entire church.  So we all have the responsibility to confront others when we see them sinning, but we must first have solid knowledge of the Scriptures and must always first examine ourselves in order to be scripturally and morally correct.  And, of course, prayer must precede any confrontation of another to make sure that what you are judging another for, you are not guilty of the same offense.

Are you dealing right now with a situation with a believer who is a good friend who needs confrontation?  Pray over these words of Jesus and study the other cited Scriptures to help you decide what you should do (or not do).