Judging Others

Do Not Judge, So That You Will Not Be Judged

The way this passage of scripture is most misused is to keep from being held accountable for sinful living. When a believer is actively living in sin, it is our responsibility to help them get out of that lifestyle. However the person that misuses this is saying you have no right to correct me, so let me continue living in sin. This is not what Jesus is saying here. Let’s talk about what Jesus is Saying.

Don Not Judge

to evaluate v. — to form a critical opinion of something (either positive or negative) by examination or scrutiny.

It is not our place to judge a person’s personhood. For example, we cannot characterize someone by a mistake that they make. We can judge the action but not the person.

We do Not Know everything about a person

When we characterize a person we are presuming to know everything about the person. We do not nor cannot know the entirety of a person. To judge their personhood based on a behavior is an inaccurate judgement. The reason they are behaving in a certain way may be due to an unforeseen issue that they have no control over. For example, lets say you are eating at a restaurant and you see a kid that is running around causing trouble. You may say to yourself, “that is a bad kid that needs to be worn out. If I could have that kid for a couple of days he wouldn’t be acting like that. Why aren’t his parents doing something to control that kid.” What you don’t realize is that this kid has a severe case of autism, and has run out of the restroom where the mom is taking care of her 6 month old diaper change. You have classified this kid as a bad kid, but that is not the case at all.

Our judgments are never unbiased

We will always be biased with our judgments because they will be motivated by our flawed emotions. There is no such thing as an unbiased judgement from humanity. You may have had something happen to you as a child and has affected you in a way that you are not aware of. I know of a person that is against the institution of marriage. The reason is that they are fearful of what may happen if the marriage does not work out. When this person was young they witnessed a bad divorce from their mom and dad that continues to be bad to this day. They think people that get married are unintelligent. Life experiences good or bad influence our judgments about people. I had another lady that I went to school with that was furious at me because I ministered to ladies in prison. She thought I was a bad person for doing this. The reason was that her mom was killed by another woman and she felt all prisoners are terrible people that need to stay locked up forever. She based her judgment of me off of something that had happened to her. She had a biased judgment of me.

We are not holy enough to judge a person’s personhood

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 No One Should Judge (Matthew 7:1–5 Contd)

Only the faultless have a right to look for faults in others. None of us has a right to criticize another person unless we are prepared at least to try to do the thing we criticize better. Every Saturday, the football grounds are full of people who are violent critics, and who would yet make a pretty poor show if they themselves were to descend to the arena. Every association and every church is full of people who are prepared to criticize from the body of the hall, or even from an armchair, but who would never even dream of taking office themselves. The world is full of people who claim the right to be extremely vocal in criticism and totally exempt from action.

No one has a right to criticize others without being prepared to venture in the same situation. No one is good enough to criticize others.

We have quite enough to do to rectify our own lives without seeking censoriously to rectify the lives of others. We would do well to concentrate on our own faults, and to leave the faults of others to God.

So That You Will Not Be Judged

When we judge of other people we become miserable people. It is real easy to pick out flaws on anybody. When you do this you begin to form opinions about others in general that are not healthy. You begin to get a mentality that everyone is against you. This will lead to you being a very negative person. When you are a negative person, people will be judging you. No one likes to be around a negative Nelly!

The very fact that you would have the audacity to judge another’s persons personhood shows a substantial character flaw in your personhood.

Take the Log Out of Your Own Eye

People that have a tendency to judge others have an issue with pride in their own life. The way they make themselves feel better is by judging other people. They see themselves as better than them. We must check ourselves before we try to help someone else.

For example, you hear another believer cursing and in humility you gently and lovingly correct him in private, but not a moment later you get on the phone with a friend and share some juicy gossip about someone in church. Do you correct someone else’s tongue, but are not willing to correct and restrain your own? Or imagine a father concerned about how his teenage daughter dresses when she goes to the mall (he wants her to have a sense of propriety, and he understands the struggle males can have in this area). Does he have the right to be concerned? Yes, of course. As a responsible father and mature adult, he has every right to draw up moral boundaries for his children that are in keeping with the principles of Scripture (in this case modesty). Right after his daughter leaves for the mall, imagine this same father alone in the house. He immediately turns on his computer and begins surfing the Internet for pornography. One minute he is addressing his daughter’s need for appropriate modesty (and rightly so) and the next minute he is reveling in immodesty and sexual fantasy with his own eyes and heart. This, my friends, is hypocrisy, and Jesus condemns this sort of behavior. A father should not set up a standard for his daughter that he is unwilling to follow. Unfortunately, much damage has been brought to the reputation of the church by Christians who say one thing and do another. This is not to say we can ever be perfect, but it is of utmost importance that we live lives of consistency and integrity in order to safeguard the name of Christ, whom we represent, as well as the reputation of his church.

Bargerhuff, Eric J.. The Most Misused Verses in the Bible,Surprising Ways God's Word Is Misunderstood (pp. 28-29). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We must live in a way that substantiates the moral boundaries that the Bible sets and we hold others too. If we do not do this then Jesus calls us hypocrites. This is the true meaning of this passage of scripture. It is not as much as judging others as it is living hypocritically. When we are living in a way that is consistent with sinners we are trying to judge then we are not being godly, but living our lives as hypocrites.

Remove the Speck From Your Brothers Eye

Once we have removed the plank from our own eye then we can help our brother overcome his problem with sin.

James 5:19–20 NASB95

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

This passage of scriptures plainly shows that we have a responsibility to help a brother or sister in Christ that is struggling in sin to turn from their sin and back to Christ. When we do this, we spare them from death and destruction.

Their may be times in our lives that we will want to walk away from Christ, Church, and all forms of religion because of life situations and sin. I would want someone to come to me and turn me back to what I know to be true.

Galatians 6:1–2 NASB95

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

This is another example of how we are to restore a child of God that is caught up in sin. However, this gives qualifications for doing so.

You must be spiritual - You must have taken the log out of your own eye and be walking with the Lord.

Gently restore the person - This is not judging the, but helping them overcome their tresspass.

Look To yourself - acknowledge How Christ helped you overcome your tresspass.

Don’t be tempted to join them in their trespass - You must stay close to the Lord.

Conclusion

What Jesus is communicating here is that we are to love one another enough to help one another to follow Christ. Recognizing that none of us are perfect. We all need one another to help overcome our temptations. We are never to Judge someone’s character based on their behavior, rather we should help them become more Christlike. In order to do this we must be walking with the Lord ourselves making sure not to live as a hypocrite. We must live in a constant state of repentance.

When we are accused of judging someone, we must let them know that we are not judging them, but love them and desire biblical conformity in their lives. They must know that we will stick with them even when others fall away in order to help them. We must also love them enough to want to help rather than judge them and distance ourselves from them.