Judging Others
A lot of people struggle with the concept of judging others. On the one hand, we are told by Jesus “do not judge (7:1)” but on the other hand, we are told to be accountable to one another in Christ. This argument comes up a lot in regard to homosexuality. Christians often take the “do not judge” attitude which I think is out of context of these verses. Jesus was a friend of sinners – tax collectors, prostitutes, theives, etc – so even though he recognized them as sinners, he didn’t judge them and refuse to associate with them, but loved them instead. So recognizing a homosexual as a sinner is not judging them unless your actions are anything but love. Once we turn a cold shoulder to a sinner, we are forgetting to take the plank out of our own eye.
Another reason using this verse to judge sinners is out of context is the word “brother”. This series of verses seem to imply accountability among Christians. There is a fine line between self-righteous judging (and believe me, I know how to do this quite well) and accountability – motive and love separate them. If a Christian cannot hold another Christian accountable in love, then it shouldn’t be done.
So are we never to confront sin? If we are following Christ’s example to the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), then we are called to confront sinners. But first we must recognize two things. First, Jesus’ words were spoken out of love. Second, Jesus offers her an alternative to her sin. He doesn’t scold her and say “stop that”, but he tells her of a better way – the way of the Gospel. Also, Matt 7:5 says “first take the plank out of your own eye”. So if you are going to remove the speck from your “brother’s eye”, then you must examine yourself fully for any unrepented sin – through prayer and time. Don’t be hasty – pray to God for wisdom & love and he will grant it (Matt 7:7-12).
Also, we must take into consideration with whom we are speaking (7:6). If the person has a history of bad fruit, then perhaps more prayer and love then confrontation is needed (because they’ll be incapable of listening without the Holy Spirit first softening their hard heart). If the person has a history of good fruit, then perhaps prayer and love followed by confrontation is needed.
So just remember, the thing that will separate self-righteous judging from accountability in Christ is exactly that – remembering who we are in Christ and the example he has given us to follow – that is, our actions must always be accompanied by love.¬? No, it isn’t easy (not in the least) nor is it comfortable, but God will grant the wisdom and the words if we just ask.
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I’ll throw a few more verses into the mix: Rom 2 repeats Do not judge, but on the flipside, Matt 18:15-17 doesn’t say “If a brother sins against you, don’t judge, just let it slide”, it gives instructions on HOW to judge. So somehow you must be able to make a judgment that somebody did something wrong.
The “plank in your eye” principle is also hard to apply. It seems to me that none of us can claim to be free of any sin, so it can’t be saying just “make sure that whatever planks ARE in your eye, none of them are the same sin for which you judge others”. When Jesus says “first remove the plank from your own eye, then you will be able to see clearly to remove the mote from your brother’s eye”, how do you remove a plank of sin? By confessing (1 Jn 1:9), of course. If you are trying to remove a mote, but claim to have absolutely no such sin yourself (1 Jn 1:10), then there’s going to be problems. But if you realize that you struggle from the same sin, then I think you will better be able to minister to your brother, rather than just condemn him. It makes sense to me that, in general, it would be more effective (in term of effecting repentance) for a sinner to judge the same kind of sinner, than for somebody who doesn’t understand a particular kind of sin (who doesn’t understand whatever subtle ways they have the same sin) to butt in.
Also, another way I like to think about it, judging must be done in love. That means, among other things, in relationship. It’s like, I can’t be walking down the street, and see some huge fat chick, and walk up to her and say “Hey, you’re fat. You need to lose weight. It’s not healthy to be that fat, and I bet you are also not able to enjoy life as much as you would like”. I would not be well received, no matter how correct I would be. But if I had a good friend, someone that I had enough of a relationship with that they have faith that I have their best interests at heart, then they could hear the same words from me, and they would do something about it. And since I brought it up, I would probably have to help them or something (bear one another’s burdens). Yet another reason not to judge someone else (even lovingly) — it comes with responsibility to follow through!
Thank you for this excellent resource. I know I tend to be overly critical of others when they don’t live up to my standards and this is something I’m constantly guarding against. So another thing to remember is that stopping before saying anything and taking the time to pray will help us weed out whether we are being overly critical or if this is a “value judgement” that needs to be addressed.
I checked my Crossroads Bible Institute lessons and came up with
these comments on Judging others….that is the prison ministry I am actively involved with.
Citizens of the Kingdon of God seek to know and live up to God’s high standards (Matt. 5:48 and Matt 6:33) . this can cause one to become
overly critical and judgemental of the other members of the Kingdom. Jesus commands us to avoid the pitfall of a judgmental attitude with the
words “Do not judge” in Matt 7:1.
The meaning of the word “judge” here does not refer to the judgment of a court of law or the use of our own critical thinking in making choices
of value judgments. Rather, Jesus is speaking of fault-finding, condeming, rigid and severe and hypocritical type of judgment which we are prone to quickly pass on to others when they are not living up to our expectaions. If we do this God will judge us in the same manner. Jesus is teaching here that while a Christian is to avoid hypocritical judgment and condemnation of others, he is still to judge, however in another sense. That is the Christian is to use discernment and he is to make value judgments.