JUDGE NOT, LEAST YE BE JUDGED! (loudly – Like old time Preacher). That sure sounds good from the pulpit, doesn't it? But really. Can we just put an exclamation point after it, chisel it in stone and make it a commandment?
One of the top five questions I’ve been asked over the years by Christians and non-Christians alike is this one. “Aren’t Christians supposed to NOT judge others?” Sometimes they’re angry and accusing and sometimes they sincerely want to know. Sometimes they’ve remembered something about not pointing out the speck in another’s eye when you have a log in your own. It’s a great question but a difficult one to quickly address because the official biblical answer is “Yes and No”.
Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
At first glance VERSE 6 seems out of context here. But it definitely doesn’t fit into the context of what follows in verse seven. And when we look at VERSE 6 more closely, I think we’ll find that it does fit in with the earlier verses on judging others.
We’ll refine this as we go along but the short and quick answer is this: Of course we are supposed to judge others. Judgement is the concept of determining between right and wrong behavior in another person. The word used by Jesus in the Greek is KRINOS meaning simply to decide or determine. So right off we see that we are unable to just lift this verse out of scripture. Obviously Jesus is not saying that Christians should not make decisions or determinations.
The dictionary definition of judgement is this: The evaluation of what is evident in order to make a decision and the secular dictionary uses the words “wisdom” and “discernment” in describing how one should make a quality judgement. Wisdom and discernment are words used to describe Christian qualities and Holy Spirit given gifts. So both the secular worldview and the Christian worldview are tracking together on what we need to have to make good sound judgements. We need wisdom and discernment.
If we were really able to suspend all judgement and become so neutral in our thinking that we no longer made any determinations about things and other people, our life would become unviable, dangerous, and unsustainable. Good judgement of behavior and character must be applied to ourselves and with everyone we come into contact with. We apply good judgement in how we live our life, what we watch on tv, where we are employed, what church we attend and most especially we need to apply good judgement with other people.
Robert was madly in love with Sue. He was a good Christian man who was vulnerable and naive and completely non-judgmental about Sue’s past and wanted to marry her. He knew he’d be her fifth husband. Husbands one and two disappeared without a trace. The death of husband number three was under suspicious circumstances and she was suspected of poisoning husband four but the prosecutor could not get convictions because of lack of evidence. The happy couple go to Hawaii on their honeymoon and they go snorkeling together. To make a long story short, Robert did not use wisdom and discernment in the selection of his new bride and his body was never found.
Darillyn is a happy-go-lucky single mom and a good church-going Christian who refuses to judge anyone. She knows that the man next door was convicted of child molesting. But really who is she to judge another person? She lets the neighbor babysit her children and when the inevitable happens, he is arrested but so is she. She is ultimately convicted of using poor judgement – the actual charge was child endangerment.
Suspend judgement on the internet and you may soon find yourself a victim of identity theft, download a virus that destroys your computer or fall for a scam that drains your bank account and sends all your money to a bank in Nigeria.
You and I both know people – maybe even in our families – maybe even the person whose face we see in the bathroom mirror... People who are still paying the consequences today for poor decisions and lack of judgement. So our God-given common sense shows that we can’t lift the words “judge not” out of the New Testament to make it a standalone commandment.
Remember good exegesis – the objective, scholarly interpretation of scripture – means that we have to examine every verse in the context of surrounding scripture and in the context of the entire Word of God. So let’s do that. Let’s see what God’s word says about judging others.
TURN TO Luke 6:43. Before we go there glance at VERSE 42, you’ll see that we are in Luke’s version of what we just read in Matthew. What are we seeing? Planks in eyes. But now watch how Luke continues the thought: VERSE 43 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. And in this same scripture in Matthew, that apostle quotes Jesus as saying, “And by their fruits you shall know them..”
Jesus says we ARE to judge others by the fruit of their lives. Meaning what their words, actions and behavior produce. Jesus was saying open your eyes to error, evil and sin. Watch out for others. In Matthew 10 Jesus sends out His apostles on their first missionary journey and warns them in VERSE16 " Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
The serpent is one of the words in the New Testament used to describe the devil. Jesus is saying, go out in the world but watch out. When it comes to other people, you need to use good judgement and be as clever as the devil. The enemy can easily pull the wool over the eyes of the naive and Jesus says don’t let that happen. Ask God to give you wisdom and discernment when you are judging others.
But Jesus also reminds us that we should not stand in hypocritical judgement of another person. First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. To condemn others over something that we do ourselves is hypocrisy at it’s worst. That doesn’t mean because WE are not perfect and sin on a daily basis in thought, word and deed, that we are not to assess others. It does mean to remove what’s poking in your own eye before you point out the speck in the other person’s eye.
What Jesus is saying in Matthew 7 is that some of us may need to stop bothering with the failings of others and pay a little more attention to the serious issues in our own lives. Sometimes the things that bother us the most about another person are those very things that we struggle with ourselves. That’s why we need to honestly do a sin check in our own lives before we confront others.
Ultimately you and I are responsible for our own lives and not how others live theirs. At some point in the future, we’ll be standing before Jesus and He is going to be looking at the fruit that our life produced. Did we leave behind a trail of good or a trail of evil as we progressed on our journey in this world? And in our judgements of others, were we fair and empathetic? If we addressed another’s sin, did we do so with love and grace? And, were we always ready to forgive? “Lord forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.”
One of the challenges we have today are the non-Christians and cultural Christians who are shaking an angry fist at the church saying, “You are not to judge me... You need to accept me the way I am.” But ironically they are passing judgement on the church and doing exactly what they are accusing the church of doing. Their eyes are blind to the hypocrisy of their own behavior.
Let’s see how to respond. First the words of Paul and then the words of Jesus. And remember that a Christian is biblically defined as a follower of Jesus. A person may label themselves “Christian” because their parents were and they went to Sunday School as a child, but if they are not following Jesus, they are a Christian by culture but not by faith. Well, but if they believe that Jesus is God, doesn’t that make them a Christian? No. Satan and his demons believe that Jesus is God and I’ll go ahead and state the obvious, Satan is not a Christian.
The belief alone that Jesus is God doesn’t make you a Christian. But through the grace of God you have come to a place of repentance and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. As your knowledge of Jesus through God’s Word and your obedience to Him increases, you find that you are growing in His likeness. You’ve become a follower of Jesus. Whenever Christians are referred to in the Bible, they refer to followers of Jesus and so do we today. This is important for us to get because Paul tells us to treat Christians – followers of Jesus – differently than those who are not Christians.
TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 5:9. In verse nine Paul refers to a previous letter that addressed sexual sin in that church. There was a misunderstanding among the recipients of that letter and Paul now writes to correct that. VERSE 9: I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner -- not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."
Let’s get very clearly what Paul is saying here. You SHOULD judge your Christian brothers and sisters. Paul is saying don’t even associate with those Christians who are living an unrepentant sin-filled lifestyle. Well, that seems kind of harsh. But Paul is saying this here because when good people hang out with bad people, more often than not, the bad rubs off on the good. If you’ve ever had a child or grandchild who was raised in the church and who walked away from their faith through the ungodly influence of backslidden friends, you see the wisdom in Paul’s words.
We ARE to judge other Christians but we are NOT to judge those outside our Christian faith. Whether they label themselves as Christians or not, if they are not following Jesus, they are outside the faith and God will judge them according.
TURN TO Romans 14:1 And here we find a much misinterpreted passage of scripture that is often taken out of context. Paul is writing to the new church in Rome. The Gentile believers and the Jewish believers are having difficulty getting along together in their new Christian church. From the Jewish perspective, the old laws still applied. Special days of feasting. Special days of fasting. And all the Old Testament dietary laws about what to eat and what to avoid. From the Gentile perspective this is old news. Jesus came to set them free from the law and especially all the Pharisutical man-made laws that were practiced by the Jews.
Gentiles and Jews – both who loved God and both who believed in and followed Jesus, but both just practicing their faith a little differently. And both yelling and pointing accusing fingers at each other and telling each other the proper way to “do” church. Sounds like the church today. And so Paul writes to Gentile believers and refers to Jewish believers when he says..
VERSE 1. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. Skip down to VERSE 10: But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God."
This scripture has been used to convince that we should not judge the sins of others, but Paul is not talking here about sin, error or evil. In fact, these followers of Jesus were united in the indisputable things, a belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Virgin birth of Jesus, the Deity, Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus. But the disputable things? Fasting days? Feasting days? How one should dress? Woman’s head coverings? Should you eat meat or go vegan? Paul says, don’t worry about that little insignificant stuff.
And Romans 14 is very specifically about how those in the body of Christ – the church are to treat each other. We need to be careful to not take it out of context and try to make it apply to something that Paul never intended.
Now we go back to Matthew 7:6 as we confront one of the hard sayings of Jesus. When we truly understand what Jesus is saying, this may become uncomfortable for some of us to hear. 6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. Dogs in this context are not our wonderful pets, they are wild animals that will attack and turn on you in a moment. In this scripture, think of the dogs as a pack of wolves.
Jesus is saying you MUST use good judgement when you are presenting the Gospel or ministering to others. Jesus is saying, do not present or give to others what is holy and sacred. Giving the Gospel message to some people will cause them to turn and attack you like a wild dog and tear you to pieces. In many Muslim countries today, just speaking the name of Jesus will cause you to be put to death. Some special interest groups in America will attack you, do everything possible to get you fired from your job or close down your business if they find that you are a Christian. Jesus is saying that your faith is a precious and holy thing. Beware of those who are quick to attack and tear you to pieces.
And do not throw the pearls – the good things of God to those who have rejected Him. They will just trample them underfoot like a pig. I know a person whose faith is very important to her. She sees how clearly God changed her life and how He continues to bless her. More than anything she wanted to share her faith with her brother and one Christmas she gave him the most special gift she could think of. She gave him a Bible. He unwrapped it. Looked at it and handed it back to her. He said, “I don’t want that..” That’s what Jesus was talking about in VERSE 6. Don’t give holy things to a pig. They will just trample it underfoot. That Christmas morning. When the world gathers to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That girl’s brother rejected the Holy Word of God, as he trampled on his sister’s heart that day.
Don’t give God’s message or scripture to those who heap scorn on His Holy Word. That doesn’t mean that we are not to evangelize to the lost. But Jesus says you are to use good judgement when you do so because there are those who will tear you to pieces when you do. That doesn’t mean that we are not to speak God’s word to our own loved ones, friends and those who God has brought into our lives. But Jesus says you need to use good judgement. Avoid giving the Holy things of God to those who will thoughtlessly trample them underfoot. Use good judgement – wisdom and discernment – and give those holy things only to those who will cherish and honor them.
Should we judge others? Yes. Looking at another’s actions and behaviors and what is being produced – the fruit of their lives. If we see unrepentant sin, wrongdoing or evil, we have a few choices on how to deal with it. We may chose to just withdraw from that person for our own physical, emotional and spiritual safety and protection.
If that person is a family member, spouse, parent or child, and we believe that God is calling us to respond to their sin, then our response should be constructive and not condemning. And we should always lovingly confront in the perspective that we ourselves are imperfect sinners. That realization of our own sin doesn’t absolve ourselves from the responsibility of confronting a loved one. But knowing that we are sinners saved by grace allows us to confront others with empathy and grace.
Judge others. If the person is NOT a follower of Jesus Christ than God says you need to leave that person to Him. That doesn’t mean you stop praying for that person. It just means that you are not to judge them by your own Christian values and beliefs. If the person is a Christian, than Galatians 6:1 says: Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.
When we ourselves are truly following Jesus, that’s our job. To speak the grace of God, the love of Jesus and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit into the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
