There are so many who say today that we should not judge, lest we be judged ourselves. There is some truth in that statement, but when you turn to the Bible, there are times when judgments are important and necessary.
- Romans 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- John 8:7 When they kept on questioning him [Jesus], he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
- James 4:11-12 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?
- Job 31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
We all sin. We have no right to look down on others, condemning their sins while ignoring our own. We may not all be guilty of the same sins, but we are all guilty of some sin, and all sin is equal to God.
Judge
- Romans 12:3 for by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
- Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?
- Galatians 6:3-5 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
- James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
I remember a time in high school when my mother told me, "If you hang around skunks, you will smell like a skunk."
Some of the verses found and listed above deal with judging one's own self. There is an emphasis on HONESTLY checking ourselves before we even attempt to check anyone else. Then, there are verses about judging right from wrong, good from bad. We have to judge circumstance and people also.
A Little of Both? Let's Consider...
- 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." (For the quoted portion at the end, my Bible references Deut. 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21, 24; 24:7, in which the same words are used.)
We are not called to judge those outside the church, but ARE called to judge those within the church. We are told to gently restore our Christian brothers and sisters (Galatians 6:1, 1 Timothy 5:1-2). I found more verses and information about restoring our Christian brothers and sisters at http://www.spiritualfoundations.com/Galatians/Chapter22Gal.htm.
- Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
Are we showing true love to a person if we ignore the wrong they do and allow them to continue down a path of ruin?
- Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
This sounds like a call to not judge. To live in peace and have everyone "feel good" would lead one to be tolerant and accepting of others, right? Think again about the term edification, which means to build up, to instruct or improve in a moral, spiritual, emotional, or intellectual sense (definition check from dictionary.com, dictionary.reference.com, thefreedictionary.com, en.wiktionary.org, and merriam-webster.com). So to edify someone would really require a judgment about their status morally, spiritually, emotionally, and/or intellectually in order to help instruct, improve, and build them up.
- Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (The same message is presented in Luke 6:41-42.)
Notice that this verse does not say that we ignore the sin in our brother's lives (speck in their eye). Rather, it says to remove our own sin BEFORE we address their sin, so we can see clearly.
- Leviticus 19:17 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.
That last verse reminded me of Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.
We are not to hate each other, but we are called to rebuke, discipline each other. We have to judge what is right and wrong in order to determine what needs to be addressed. Discipline involves instruction and improvement, not just punishment and doling out consequences.
We need to speak truth into each others' lives. Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be salt and light to the world. We have to show God's love to others and lead them to Him through truth. Gentleness is called for sometimes, but so is blunt honesty.
My personal belief: Judgment is necessary. We have courts that judge right and wrong. God will have ultimate judgment on us all. We need to judge our own selves, situations and circumstances, and others around us (to an extent), our brothers and sisters in Christ more than those living according to the world. We are called to love, not to be tolerant and accepting everyone else's ways and beliefs as equal to our own. We should love each person as a wonderful creation of God, valuable to Him and, if we belong to God, then we should view them as He does. BUT, we should not love, ignore or accept their sinful ways. Deuteronomy 7:26 comes to mind: Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction. We should utterly abhor and detest sin, as God does.
One last verse and a challenge for you:
- Romans 14:16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
The challenge: Do you even know what you consider good, or have you just followed what family, friends, and/or society has dictated for you? Maybe it's what your church has dictated for you. Consider whether you have personal convictions or are just following someone else's beliefs. (A book you might want to read is Beyond Belief to Convictions by Josh McDowell. I haven't yet read it myself, but it comes highly recommended by a very trusted mentor.)
