Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
What Scripture Says About Judging Others? You May be Surprised!
The vast majority of Christians believe the Bible says that we should not judge. The verse they most often quote to support their case?
Matthew 7:1
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
Unfortunately they are twisting this verse to mean something almost completely opposite of what it is intended to mean.
Excuse me? How could that possibly mean anything other than "Do not judge!"?
Because this is a case where if you read only one verse, you don't get the truth. Lets read the rest of it.
Matthew 7:1-5
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
If one just skims through these verses, it is easy to confuse it as saying "Do not judge"! But when you really pay attention to what it is saying, you find quite a different meaning. Jesus is not saying that we should not judge. He is saying that we should not judge hypocritically. If another Christian is in the habit of exaggerating or even lying, and you have a habit of lying as well? Do not judge them until you clean up your own act first.
Pay close attention to verse 5 for instance. Jesus does not say that you don't have the right to judge at all. He says to take the log out of your own eye first. Then you have the right to pick the speck out of someone else's eye. Don't judge someone for doing something that you yourself do.
Maybe you are thinking you can see it saying both ways, so either way could be right. So how do we know which interpretation is right? Well, let's see what Paul has to say about judging others. He is quite a bit more clear on the subject.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
Paul clearly says that we are not to judge the unsaved, but we are to judge the other Christians, and if they will not change from their immoral ways, to have nothing more to do with them. It really doesn't get more straight forward than this. And if you want Jesus Himself to make it a little more clear?
John 7:24
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
As usual with the Bible, this really does follow simple common sense when you think on it.
Do not judge the unsaved: If someone is not saved, they are going to end up in hell whether they follow God's rules or not. The only way to the father is through Jesus. Since they are not saved, they are not under God's rules because it makes no difference in the end if they follow them or not. As Christians, we should be showing them the love of Christ and not judging them. Try to bring them to Christ through his love. If they don't turn to God, then it will be God who judges them. Not us.
Judge your brothers and sisters in Christ: Millions of Christians are living life with one foot in the church and one foot in the world. They tend to think they can skim by with going to church on Sundays and praying now and then, and all the while they continue living life as a sinner. They get drunk, cuss, tell perverted jokes. They listen to ungodly music, and look at porn. They lie, cheat, smoke pot and gossip. Maybe not all the above but one or two of these things is not right even. When the rapture comes, millions of Christians are going to be very disappointed. There is another phrase the Bible uses for these Christians who skim by. Its called being "luke-warm". Which is worse for them than if they were an atheist, because they know God is real and their choice not to be serious about God is a slap in the face to God. As Christians, we are not perfect. If we veer off course, we sometimes need our brothers and sisters in Christ to put us back on track again. That's why we should be judging each other. To keep each other on the straight and narrow.
If a Christians ever tells you that you are doing something wrong according to scripture, we should never grow defensive over it. We should listen to what they say, and if we are unsure if what they say is scriptural, we should look into it. If they are correct and you are doing it? You need to change your ways and thank them for watching out for you. It can be the hardest thing to do to swallow ones pride and admit they are wrong about something. It needs to be done!
When we need to correct others, and I will admit this is one area I am weak at, we need to learn to do it in a loving manner. It is so easy to be too straight forward and just tell someone they are wrong. Especially when doing it on Facebook or some other social media. Because in those places we cannot put expression and tone into our words. So we need to think before typing and consider the nicest way to put someone on the right track.
To sum it all up:
There are a lot of sinners in the world. They need to be shown the love of Christ. Not be judged! Leave the judging of the sinner to God and God alone. There are also a whole lot of Christians who are trailing off the narrow path. We need to judge them and guide them back to the correct path in a loving way.
Matthew 7:1
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
Unfortunately they are twisting this verse to mean something almost completely opposite of what it is intended to mean.
Excuse me? How could that possibly mean anything other than "Do not judge!"?
Because this is a case where if you read only one verse, you don't get the truth. Lets read the rest of it.
Matthew 7:1-5
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
If one just skims through these verses, it is easy to confuse it as saying "Do not judge"! But when you really pay attention to what it is saying, you find quite a different meaning. Jesus is not saying that we should not judge. He is saying that we should not judge hypocritically. If another Christian is in the habit of exaggerating or even lying, and you have a habit of lying as well? Do not judge them until you clean up your own act first.
Pay close attention to verse 5 for instance. Jesus does not say that you don't have the right to judge at all. He says to take the log out of your own eye first. Then you have the right to pick the speck out of someone else's eye. Don't judge someone for doing something that you yourself do.
Maybe you are thinking you can see it saying both ways, so either way could be right. So how do we know which interpretation is right? Well, let's see what Paul has to say about judging others. He is quite a bit more clear on the subject.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
Paul clearly says that we are not to judge the unsaved, but we are to judge the other Christians, and if they will not change from their immoral ways, to have nothing more to do with them. It really doesn't get more straight forward than this. And if you want Jesus Himself to make it a little more clear?
John 7:24
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
As usual with the Bible, this really does follow simple common sense when you think on it.
Do not judge the unsaved: If someone is not saved, they are going to end up in hell whether they follow God's rules or not. The only way to the father is through Jesus. Since they are not saved, they are not under God's rules because it makes no difference in the end if they follow them or not. As Christians, we should be showing them the love of Christ and not judging them. Try to bring them to Christ through his love. If they don't turn to God, then it will be God who judges them. Not us.
Judge your brothers and sisters in Christ: Millions of Christians are living life with one foot in the church and one foot in the world. They tend to think they can skim by with going to church on Sundays and praying now and then, and all the while they continue living life as a sinner. They get drunk, cuss, tell perverted jokes. They listen to ungodly music, and look at porn. They lie, cheat, smoke pot and gossip. Maybe not all the above but one or two of these things is not right even. When the rapture comes, millions of Christians are going to be very disappointed. There is another phrase the Bible uses for these Christians who skim by. Its called being "luke-warm". Which is worse for them than if they were an atheist, because they know God is real and their choice not to be serious about God is a slap in the face to God. As Christians, we are not perfect. If we veer off course, we sometimes need our brothers and sisters in Christ to put us back on track again. That's why we should be judging each other. To keep each other on the straight and narrow.
If a Christians ever tells you that you are doing something wrong according to scripture, we should never grow defensive over it. We should listen to what they say, and if we are unsure if what they say is scriptural, we should look into it. If they are correct and you are doing it? You need to change your ways and thank them for watching out for you. It can be the hardest thing to do to swallow ones pride and admit they are wrong about something. It needs to be done!
When we need to correct others, and I will admit this is one area I am weak at, we need to learn to do it in a loving manner. It is so easy to be too straight forward and just tell someone they are wrong. Especially when doing it on Facebook or some other social media. Because in those places we cannot put expression and tone into our words. So we need to think before typing and consider the nicest way to put someone on the right track.
To sum it all up:
There are a lot of sinners in the world. They need to be shown the love of Christ. Not be judged! Leave the judging of the sinner to God and God alone. There are also a whole lot of Christians who are trailing off the narrow path. We need to judge them and guide them back to the correct path in a loving way.