I was doing a radio interview the other day and the host and I were talking. He was talking about someone close to him and was really questioning whether or not a certain person is a Christian, because of his actions. The gentleman was a deacon in his church, but he was never observed praying or showing any demonstration of what it means to love as a believer.
He made this statement to someone and the response he received was, “How can you judge someone?” It started me thinking. Here is a question: Why is it that when we judge someone as being a great person or a Christian, no one ever says ‘Hey how can you judge that he is a great person or a Christian?’ No one gets upset when we “judge” someone to be decent and good. Should we start saying, “Don’t judge me being good unless you want someone to say something good about you to.” Sounds ridiculous I know, but isn’t it the same when we make a statement in the opposite fashion.
We are quick to tell someone not to judge if it is negative. Right away we say, “Hey who gives you the right to judge me or that person?” But we do not say when someone says something nice or good. If someone says, “You are a truly gifted teacher, preacher, singer, or business person . . .,” we do not right away go, “don’t you judge me.” “What gives you the right to say I am a gifted person?” If I say that you are not walking in the Christian walk, or question someone’s faith, because there is no fruit or outward demonstration of their salvation then I am in the wrong. “How can you judge me?” “Who made you judge over me or that person?”
It seems appropriate when it is positive, but not when it is negative. Yet both are forms of judging.
What does it mean then when the Bible talks about not judging? Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:37 says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Taken into context this is not condemning all types of judgment, but unfair, self-righteous, hypocritical judgments against others. As you read on you see in Matthew 7:6 that we have to be able to discern and judge whether something is bad or good. Luke 6:39-45 gives two examples of how we must discern good from bad. We see the parable of the blind leading the blind and the tree bearing good and bad fruit. How could such examples be used if we are not to judge good from bad?
The verses below give ample evidence for our judging one another as Christians.
Luke 19:22-23, “His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'”
1 Corinthians 5:12-13, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. . . .”
1 Corinthians 6:1-3, “If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”
Leviticus 19:15, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
2 Chronicles 6:22-23, “When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.”
One area of judgment we should stay away from is those who are outside the church, as they do not know better anyway. They are to be left to God. We should witness to them, but we should not judge them for they act as they are. But those inside our fellowship we are to hold accountable and judge accordingly. Not in a self-righteous way, but in a Biblical fashion.
Did my friend have a right to judge, or discern, that what he saw in this particular person? Yes, because that person claimed to be a believer, yet lived quite outside how a believer in Christ should act. He did not do this out of legalism, or self-righteousness, but out of observation; just as we judge, or discern a believer who is leading an outstanding Christian life.
In the end they are both judgments, but one is always espoused to be wrong, when in fact we can see it is not if done properly. The Old and New Testaments give us examples of how to properly apply judgment. The next time someone tells you not to judge then ask them where they get that from the Bible, and follow up by asking them to finish reading the paragraph in context. Or just ask them, “Why are you judging me for judging?” As they must judge your judging as they ask you not to judge. Interesting?
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