Jesus said,
Do not judge, or
you too will be judged.
Matthew 7:1
This is one of the most quoted – and misquoted (misused) – verses in scripture.
How many people have you heard say, “The Bible says that we’re not supposed to judge”? They may even say this, quoting the exact words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1.
But … it’s possible to quote this verse with technical accuracy, while totally missing the point.
And it all depends on what “judging” means.
Throughout scripture, judgment is a term that is consistently used to talk about our final destination. At the end of our days, all people (even good Christians) will face the final judgment. We will all be found guilty. But … for those who believe in Christ Jesus, his sacrifice on the cross will be imputed to us as righteousness, and the gates will open!
Wait … read that again.
Who judges?
God!
Not me. Or you. But God!
To judge – at least where someone is going to spend all eternity – is to stand in God’s place! (Whoa. You can try to stand in God’s place. But I’m not fond of being a lightning rod. And I’m certainly not courting a judgment from God as promised by Jesus in this verse.)
Now … notice what is not said here about judgment. Did Jesus say, “Don’t discern (nor help others discern) what’s morally right and what’s morally wrong”? That’s how most people interpret this passage – “I’m not allowed to talk the morals of others, because that would be judging them.”
No! We are called to discern (and help others discern) right and wrong. And that requires discernment … even judgment (in a temporal rather than eternal sense). But we must do it.
Now, we ought to be tactful. Winsome. Warm. And forgiving. We don’t have to be blunt blowhards. I have a duty to speak into the lives of those closest to me. But it’s utterly tactless to walk up to a mere acquaintance and tell them that how they’re living is wrong.
My general rule is to be humble. Yes, we can talk about sin … but not about people. And when we talk about sin, we ought to be actively confessing our own sin. For example, I break the ten commandments every day. I haven’t taken out a gun and murdered anybody, but I often kill people with my words. That’s a pretty serious commandment that I’m breaking. And there’s a more serious commandment that I break more than that: I put all kinds of things before God throughout my days, breaking the first commandment almost constantly.
We must judge – read “discern,” if you like that word better between right and wrong, life and death. But … I don’t have the right to “condemn anyone to hell,” because I don’t know the fullness of their heart. Only God does. (Do you?)
In Christ’s Love,
a discerner …
not a judge
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