To Judge or Not to Judge?
I. Jesus gives a warning about being judgmental toward others.
Censoriousness is a compound sin consisting of several unpleasant ingredients. It does not mean to assess people critically, but to judge them harshly. The censorious critic is a fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking out their failings. He puts the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes and is ungenerous towards their mistakes.
consider how dangerous it is to attend a marriage seminar alone. Going without our spouse changes the way we listen. The talks can lead us to rejoice over our blessings in marriage or to godly self-examination. But, sadly, they can also lead us to list all the counsel the speaker had for our spouse, the one who really needed to hear the message. When we report on the conference, we say, “You should have been there, honey. The speaker suggested three ways for me to be a better husband and nineteen ways for you to be a better wife. Let me share the top five with you right away.” But Jesus does more than prohibit judgment. He carefully explains why.
II. Jesus gives us reasons not to judge.
#1 You will be judged.
#2 The measure you use on others will be used on you.
#3 We should check ourselves first.
At a Bible study Joe Bayly once met a former Nazi, a participant in the Holocaust, who complained that had missed a promotion in the army because he objected to social dancing. Bayly remarked tongue in cheek that “Christians were the same everywhere—they weren’t afraid to speak out, even against Hitler, when it came to social dancing.”