Judge Not? The Truth of Christian Judgment

"Judge not, that you be not judged." -Matthew 7:1 (ESV)

The all-encompassing, all-inclusive, favorite line of many professing Christians and even unbelievers, in an attempt to dodge the sin they are being confronted with. Good passage no doubt, yet just like all verses in the Bible it is followed by other passages, and in this particular case it says do not judge in a hypocritical manner, such as the Pharisees did (Romans 2:1).

But what is it to Judge? As one who is accused of passing judgment often, I always wish to have this question answered...It never is. Tell someone they are in sin, you are passing judgment. Say that God will send unbelievers to hell, you pass judgment. And if you argue that a belief of another is wrong, you pass judgment, and are causing strife in the church of Christ.

Lets go back to the question though, what is it to judge?

Greek:
κρίνω (krinō)
Properly to distinguish, that is, decide (mentally or judicially); by implication to try, condemn, punish: - avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.

Well there is the definition, but what are the implications?
I'll start by asking 3 questions, you determine whether it is right or wrong in that situation to judge:

1. I believe the Word of God is the true, living, breathing and inerrant Word of God. The person I am speaking with does not. Do I tell him he is wrong, or am I being judgmental?

2. I believe Christ is the Son of God, perfect, sinless, and savior of the world. The person I am speaking with does not. Do I tell him what he believes in wrong, or am I being judgmental?

3. I believe murdering a man is wrong. The person I am speaking to does not, would I be judging him to say otherwise?

Answer to all three: Yes it is judging. Furthermore it is correct to judge them in that situation. Obviously Jesus judged when someone was in error (Point and Case Matthew 23:13-29, in His "woe to you, scribes and pharisees" discourse), He did not walk the world teaching people "You have your belief, and I have mine" or "we'll agree to disagree." No, it was an on the spot correction, what most today would deem an un-Christian practice.

Let me set before you a few considerations, and think of the benefits and command to judge with righteous judgment, as a Christian judges:

I. To not present the truth to a person is to have no love for them. Think about it, and bear with me as I use an old example. If a house were full of invisible poisonous gas, and your friend were about to walk into that house, would you tell them? Or would you fear that they would think you judgmental. Say you did tell them and they still walked in there, pronouncing you judgmental, and they see no harm in walking in because they see no gas. The consequence is now on them, you warned and you cared enough to tell them. But say you didn't tell them, you just talked about meaningless things, such as the football game, or the new celebrity news as they walk in, all the time knowing whats inside that house. Is this not unloving? Think on these words here below, and meditate upon their meaning:

"Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." -Proverbs 27:5,6

II. Christian judgment, judges nothing that hasn't already been judged by the Great Judge. Do you believe the Bible to be the Word of God? Then if someone judges you, and they have reason to do so by the word of God, then you are wrong to despise that correction. What is the word good for? "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16). Listen, if you go up to a man and say "murder is wrong!" and he says to you "no it isn't," but you persist in saying otherwise, why do you do so (or what is the Christian reason for doing so)? Because God has judged it wrong already. Same goes for premarital sex, homosexuality, thievery, blasphemy, heresy, drunkenness, etc. (1 Cor 6:9,10). If a Christian goes up to another Christian and confronts him on his drunkenness and sexual immorality, he is not "judging" him in the negative connotation, but in love for that person's soul! Think on these words:

"Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." -Proverbs 12:1

"Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty." -Job 5:17

III. An example, of a man of God correcting one who professes to be a child of God:
(After David kills Uriah and he takes Uriah's wife to be his own, Nathan comes to David and tells a parable in 2 Samuel 12. He tells of a poor man's sheep being taken by a rich man, and in anger David says, "as the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!" This is what Nathan says):

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite...you have taken his wife to be your wife...Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife...Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’” So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” -2 Samuel 12:7-13

Notice here two things. 1) Nathan rebuked the King of Israel, he judged him...why? Because God did. 2) David immediately saw his sin for what it was, he did not say "you're judging me Nathan, and you're wrong" because David knew the commandments of the LORD.

IV. One more example of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5. He writes to them about an immoral person in their congregation having relations with his mother and says, "For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed"(v.3). He goes on to tell them that when they are gathered together they must "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus"(v.5). To let the person continue in the congregation would give him the false impression that he does nothing wrong, and would lead him to hell. He tells them that this will ruin their church if he is not cast out. I recommend the whole chapter, because it deals with righteous judgment, and proper church discipline that has seemingly been forgotten.

Caveat: As I say all this, we should all know, there is a right judgment and there is most certainly a wrong judgment. As Jesus commanded the crowds, so we must know the meaning of this: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

There is the judgment of a hypocrite, one who judges and yet practices the very same. There is the judgment of the prideful, one who judges to exalt himself. There are those who judge out of hate, and to humiliate and shame others for their satisfaction. All three are the same. But then there are those who judge with Godly judgment, between what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. May we seek to understand that judgment, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to show them their fault so that they may trust in Christ and if they are believers that they would repent and return to the ways of Christ Jesus.