It’s Okay to Judge

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Matthew 7:1-6
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.

Jesus doesn’t say, Judge not, PERIOD. But that is how we often read it. Jesus never told his followers not to judge. He told his followers how to judge, what kind of judgments to make, when to make them, and how to make them. He told them to be careful when they judge.

Where did this idea of Christians not being able to judge come from?

• Many people just simply misinterpret it. All they read is “judge not” period! Many people think Christians aren’t supposed to judge because we are to always to be loving and kind and tolerant. Christians aren’t supposed to judge because it is only God who can. . Christians aren’t supposed to judge because they aren’t perfect either. In the day and age we live, criticizing someone’s belief or moral choices is considered politically incorrect. If you make any kind of judgment today you are either arrogant or ignorant.

Homosexuality, transgender, and racism are the hot-bed issues of today. As a Christ follower, if you make any kind of judgement on these issues (agree or disagree with them) you will be judged.  If you, as a Christ follower condemn the people who practice these behaviors – you are nothing but a spiritual bully and a religious tyrant. Before we cast our religious stones, Jesus is telling you and I to look at the log in our own eye before we throw it. Because when we look at the log in our own eye we will recognize that there are some sins we need to deal with before we start worrying about everyone else’s.

We are not called to be spiritual bullies. We are not called to be spiritual tyrants. We are not called to condemn others. We are to deal with the log in our own eye first because if we don’t that’s when we become spiritual bullies and tyrants.

• Many Jesus followers have misused it. If we are honest we spend more time condemning others than we do helping others discover there is another way. Condemning others is a lot easier to do than showing compassion, mercy, and grace. Condemning others (taking the easy out) is the way we misuse it.

As Christ followers, We have no rights or privileges to condemn anyone. Those rights and privileges are God and God’s alone.  When we do misuse it we become  spiritual bullies. We become a religious tyrant with no room for grace, mercy, or compassion. We become a perfector of holiness that gives no room for error in our walk with Christ.

It is a lot easier to condemn others than to show them grace, mercy, and compassion. Just because we show others grace, mercy, and compassion does not mean we agree with their way of life, agree with the decisions they make, or the actions they take. It is because we do disagree, or it is sin, that we show them grace, mercy, and compassion.

• This idea Christians can’t came from the man-made idea that Jesus never judged all he did was love people.

The truth is Jesus never condemned but he did judge. And he judged because he loved people.

He tells us in Hebrews 12:5-6,

“the Lord disciplines those he loves, And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,
“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

In order for him to correct us, he has to make an assessment (judgement). He makes this assessment because he loves us. This is why we discipline our children,  because we love them not because we like to inflict pain in their life and see them suffer or we enjoy finding things to punish them for. As parents we see a much bigger picture than our kids do.  Those parents who condemn their kids because of their lack of perfection, or because of their disobedience – well – they have forgotten or have never known how to love them in a better way.

Nowhere in scripture do we see Jesus condemn anybody. He does judge them but he never condemns any of them. He knew that no one is perfect. He knew we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet … he never condemned anyone. John 3:17 reminds us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it but to save it.

The woman was caught in adultery and the Pharisees wanted to stone her. The Jewish law condemned her to death because the law said, “a woman caught in adultery was sentenced to die.”  The Pharisees knew this and so did Jesus. Jesus tells the Pharisees, “whoever of you has not sinned, let them cast the first stone. In other words, “whoever of you has not sinned, let them condemn her.” He tells the woman, Where are your accusers – you are forgiven – go and sin no more.

The Pharisees wanted to condemn her because she had sinned against God.  Jesus wanted to forgive her and give her second chance. Jesus made the judgment that she was guilty of sin but he did not condemn her. He simply told her, “go and sin no more.”

Who can’t you judge?

• Unbelievers

Larry Osbourne points out that the early Christians lived in a culture and under a government system riddled with the Bible calls sin. Marriage was held in low-esteem; sexual immorality was approved; homosexuality was celebrated. Killing infants was an accepted form of family planning. The Colosseum was regularly filled with blood-thirsty crowds cheering the death of other human beings. As for Christians, there were no charitable deductions, property tax exemptions, freedom of speech protections – just the continued threat of a coming day when Christianity would be outlawed, believers jailed, and leaders martyred. Yet, Osbourne notes that the NT is strangely silent when it came to harsh judgments and condemnations for Roman government, its leaders, or its soldiers. The reason for the silence? They understood that their job was not to judge and condemn the unbelievers around them. Their job was to win them over. 

Who can you judge?

•  Fellow Christians, spiritual leaders, or anyone who claims they know Christ.

Our purpose is not to condemn others but to help restore, renew, and help them get back on the right track. We have a responsibility to hold each other spiritually accountable. We have a responsibility to sharpens each other on this faith journey.

We need to be careful not to be judgmental. This is the hard part.

We must always examine our own heart first. We also must avoid making judgments about things God doesn’t spell out or care about. We all have differences. What I think is okay to say, you might think it is okay to say. What movies you watch might be different from the movies I watch.  The bottom line on this one is if you think you are being judgmental – you probably are. When we do this … we do this with grace. We take a look in the mirror before we say anything.

When can  you judge?

When you deal with the log or logs in your own eye. Jesus makes it pretty clear:

When we  deal with our own sins first.

We need to deal with our own stuff before we start worrying about everybody else’s stuff. This means this means that as long as I’m losing the battle over a specific sin in my own life, I need to keep my mouth shut. When we have dealt with the logs in our own eyes – this is when we can speak truth into someone else’s. Keep in mind we are not called to condemn – we are called to help. Like a coach helps a player on this team. Like a parent who giving direction to a child. Like a teacher giving correction to student. Condemnation never works.

Condemnation most often comes from the log in our own eye.

When you can judge, judge  with grace. Meaning, when you can treat others the way you want to be treated then make your assessment know to them.  Everyone one wants to be treated with grace when they mess up.

How do you know if you are not judging in grace? When your judgements lead you to personal attacks, bitterness, or raging anger, you are not judging with grace.  If you can’t judge with grace – then don’t judge at all. It would be better for the kingdom if you just kept your judgments to yourself.

What can you judge?

The harshest judgements I hear people make are often in areas where the Bible seemed to be less clear about. There are many areas when the Scriptures lay down the general principle without spelling out all the specific applications. This leads a lot of disagreements of how it applies in our culture today.

The scriptures tell us the story of Peter who got this vision from God that everything was edible.  Others didn’t agree with Peter. But now, God told Peter you can eat any kind of animal. Can you imagine the disagreements? For one person to continue to eat as he was told he could eat is okay and the new person now is told he can eat anything, that is okay too. Well ….. to God … what you eat is just not that important any more. He tells us to stop judging each other on those things that don’t matter any more.

The scriptures also make it pretty clear that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be treated as such. That’s a principle. It’s left up to us how it applies. For some of us, that means avoiding cigarettes, cigars, and alcohol. For others, it means vigorous exercise and proper rest. For me, it means staying away from spinach, things that don’t look good, and things that stare at me. In the time this particular scripture was written this verse meant specifically not having sex with a temple prostitute.

Our goal is not to become like a Pharisee who judges every single little thing in other people’s lives. Judging others this way is called sin. This is called a judgmental spirit. Remember from the last blog entry  that even God doesn’t micro-manage our life. He lets us make a wrong decision, He lets us sin, He lets us get off track. But He is constantly drawing us back to him.

How are you to judge?

With grace and with the intention of restoring or renewing a fallen brother or sister to their relationship with God. Which  means ….. we are to love the sinner and hate the sin. Grace can make this happen by reminding us that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus hated the sin and loved the sinner by dying on the cross. The practical thing we need to do is look at our reflection in the mirror and ask do I have any logs in my own eye that I need to deal with before I say anything to anybody?

Want to judge?

• Remove the logs from your own eyes first.
• Judge with grace and with the intention of restoring or renewing a fellow believer’s walk with Christ.
• Don’t be like a Pharisee who judged everything little thing in everybody else’s life. Remember no one is as perfect as you.
• Do not judge unbelievers – win them over