Author not known.
A long time ago, I remember hearing the verse, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” It was quoted to me by my then best friend, Daniel (name changed) an atheist who was definitely not given to quoting the Bible. I had been saying that I thought one of our other friends, Thomas (name changed) was wrong to plan to meet up with a married woman in a hotel room for the night.
“It’s an open marriage; everyone involved is fine with it. They all consent and this is their choice. Don’t be so judgemental,” said Daniel before pulling out the big guns, “Anyway, I thought you were a Christian? Don’t you know that it says in the Bible not to judge?”
“Does it?” I said. This was news to me; I thought it was part of our job to show the world how to live good, moral lives.
"Jesus Himself said it in Matthew 7 verse 1, ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged.’”
I was stunned into silence. He had me. If Jesus said not to judge, I had no right to disagree with Thomas's freedom to pursue adultery, homosexuality, promiscuity or any other thing I had previously believed was wrong. I went home and looked it up, and there it was in #636060 and white.
Since then, Matthew 7:1 is the verse I have heard quoted most often by non-Christians. It’s usually taken to mean that Jesus told us to accept any lifestyle or belief; that we must not comment on the rightness or wrongness of anyone else’s choices. But is that really what He taught?
...Everything in the Bible must be read within its context.
Everything in the Bible must be read within its context. That means we can’t just take a verse out of a paragraph or a book and make it mean something that the rest of the teaching contradicts. Matthew 7:1 is a perfect example. Here’s that verse in its context:
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as 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
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
(emphasis added)
...Our natural instinct is to see the faults and problems of other people whilst ignoring our own issues and shortcomings.
Jesus’ point here wasn’t that we are not to make any kind of judgements;
He is saying that we are not to be hypocritical about it. Our natural instinct
is to see the faults and problems of other people whilst ignoring our own
issues and shortcomings. Jesus wasn’t saying “Don’t judge”, He was warning us against pointing the finger. This was part of a section of teaching all about
the hypocrisy of the religious teachers of the time—part of their faulty thinking
was how they looked down on others whilst being impressed with themselves.
They were judgemental.
There is a difference between judging and being judgemental. We must judge (or discern) as Christians between right and wrong, good and bad. But we must not have a judgemental
attitude. Anyone who sizes others up with a swagger of superiority is not behaving in a Christ-like way. They
are a bit like the Pharisee in Jesus’ story in Luke 18:
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood
by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or
even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. —Luke 18:10-14 (emphasis added)
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. —Luke 18:10-14 (emphasis added)
The Pharisee was following all the rules to live the right kind of life, but had a judgemental attitude. The
other man was a mess, but he knew it and came to God in total humility, brokenness and dependency. He
was the one who “went home justified before God”.
...The core of a judgemental attitude is pride.
The core of a judgemental attitude is pride. It’s feeling better than others when we see their mistakes, struggles, lack of Bible knowledge or immature spiritual life. It’s an attitude that ranks sin and lifestyles according to what is ‘better’ or ‘worse’. Whereas Luke 18 seems to echo this teaching: “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Both men needed God’s forgiveness, but only one of them realised it. It doesn’t matter if we seem to be doing well
(like the Pharisee) or if we’re a total mess (like the tax collector), we all need God just as much as
each other, without exception.
Many of those listening to Jesus were religious leaders, so their lives were much less obviously messy than
those of the “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 15:1). But like many of us, they forgot that pride
(being judgemental) is as much a sin as stealing, lying or sleeping around, and just as big a barrier between us and God.
Avoid Being Judgemental
If we are allowed to make judgments about ourselves and others, how do we do it without being judgemental?
How can we negotiate the complex issues facing us these days without becoming superior or alienating people?
For some, the only answer is to never commit to anything. But to ignore the guidance of the Bible and retreat
into statements like “it’s not my place to judge” is to pretend that God never gave us any direction for
God-pleasing ways to live. But He has! And He expects us to use it. So how can we hold to the teaching
of God’s Word without becoming judgemental?
Judgements we must make
The truth is that Christians must make judgements between good and bad, right and wrong. We need wise discernment for big issues and for daily life so that we will make decisions that please God. Here are just some areas where judgement is essential:
