“Do not judge [as if you knew who is wheat and who is chaff] and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. For by the standard you judge you will be judged. Give [forgiveness and hospitality from your heart], and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap.
What happens if a blind man leads a blind man? Won’t both of them fall into a pit? [You know the saying]: you can’t turn out better than your teacher; when you’re fully taught, you will resemble your teacher.[1] [Don’t be a blind teacher.]Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam in your own?
You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” [2] [But…not everybody is ready for that kind of corrective teaching.] Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample [your attempts to help] under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Jesus clearly said in this passage (and others), "Do not judge." But He also said, "Stop judging by appearance, but instead judge correctly." (John 7:24) In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul tells the believers in Corinth that it’s actually their job to judge other believers (as opposed to judging those outside the church). In the section we just read, right after Jesus tells us not to judge, we are told to discern who those are who are might tear and trample us.
So there must be two kinds of judging: one that is wrong to do, and one that is right. I think the difference is this (these are my definitions; I’m sure there’s room for improvement):
· Unrighteous Judgment: Arrogant and hypocritical attack that functions as an authoritative judgment on one’s identity, character and potential, done for the purpose of condemnation rather than restoration.
· Righteous judgment (discernment): Humble intervention motivated by a loving desire to see the other person stop sinful and destructive behavior, grow in maturity and holiness, and be restored in reputation and community fellowship.
UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
Is self-prejudiced. Note the advice in Romans 14:1-5:
“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”
We must not judge people’s progress. We cannot read the heart; we cannot truly know why people act as they do. We also shouldn’t compare them to ourselves. We can easily be inclined to think, “I’ve got this figured out. If they could just be like me. Wait – in fact, they should be like me if they want to be truly spiritual!”
Is unmerciful.
"God has told you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).
"Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you"(Ephesians 4:32).
Unrighteous judgment is not exercised for the good of the other. It’s done for condemnation rather than restoration. Having someone walk away humiliated, ashamed and broken is a feature, not a bug. This kind of judgment finds satisfaction in making sure someone knows their place, which is going to be lower than you.
Is Uninformed. Sometimes a situation is too confusing to make a sound judgment without a lot of work. The writer of Proverbs gives us good advice:
“The person who tells one side of a story seems right, until someone else comes and asks questions.” (Proverbs 18:17)
For the past two summers, I have done teaching for an organization downstate that works with high school and college-age students. Two years ago they asked me to talk about COVID. Oh, boy. In one of my sessions, I offered this for discussion:
Person A has worn a mask all the time, social distanced, and sanitized because they did not want to get the coronavirus or spread it to others. Person B has been taking Vitamin D, some herbs, and essential oils, and they have been working on building their immune system naturally because they do not want to get the coronavirus or spread it to others. Do you think that:
1. A is living in fear.
2. B is living in fear.
3. A and B are both living in fear.
4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.
5. Maybe I shouldn’t rush to judgment.
Person A gets the vaccine because they do not want to get the coronavirus. They think that possible side effects from COVID-19 are worse than potential side effects from the vaccine, and they will take their chances. Person B does not get the vaccine because they think it will make them sick, create long term side-effects, or even kill them.
1. A is living in fear.
2. B is living in fear.
3. A and B are both living in fear.
4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.
5. Maybe I shouldn’t rush to judgment.
The answer is, of course #5. There could be lots of reasons people make decisions, and jumping to conclusions about what does or even should motivate people never ends well.
Lacks humility. Unrighteous judgment has a sort of, "This is the final answer" feeling. There is no room for, “I could be wrong, and I might need to reevaluate my perspective or opinion.”[3]When you lack humility concerning your perspective, that usually means a narrative has been created about what has happened and what the people involved were not only doing, but thinking and feeling. And when there is no humility, nothing will change the story you have in your head, fair or unfair.[4]
Judges the heart/motivations
In 2021 what’s being called ‘The Great Sort’ began.[5] When I do a puzzle, I sort through the pieces first and separate them by sameness. It was like that but with people and churches. What was once a local church box of followers of Jesus began to separate into piles. Those who study this movement usually cite three key reasons: COVID responses, the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter organization and movement, and the election of 2020. Here’s where we talk about judging the heart/motivations.
During COVID, it was so easy for those who felt it was responsible and loving to follow the guidelines and recommendations to see those who didn’t as unloving, proud or rebellious. And how can you be in fellowship with them? For those who viewed the guidelines or restrictions as unnecessary, unhealthy or oppressive, it was so easy to see the others as fearful sheeple. And how can you be in fellowship with them?
In response to the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, it was so easy for those joining their voices to support those causes to see those who didn’t do the same as harboring at least some degree of racism. And how can you be in fellowship with them? For those whose had concerns about the official BLM organization or felt like political correctness was distorting the issue, it was so easy to see the others as woke Marxist stooges. And how can you be in fellowship with them?
And then there was an election. And how can you be in fellowship with them, when they voted the way they did? Their hearts must be hard if not wicked; they clearly have lost all common sense. There can be no plausible reason short of them being moral idiots. And how can I be in fellowship with moral idiots?
Judging hearts and motivations of those within the church kills the unity and the witness of the church. When I do puzzles, all those pieces come back together to create the picture the puzzle maker intended. It turns out all that diversity in the same box was not only a good thing, but a necessary thing. May God do the same in His church.
Is hypocritical. Jesus noted this in the Sermon on the Mount, but here’s Paul in Romans 2:1-3:
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”
The point is not that Christians should never identify sin or call out injustice until they are perfect. The point is that massive self-analysis needs to be part of the process, particularly in the area one wants to address in someone else.
It’s like riding in a car with someone who bolsters your prayer life when they are driving, only to have them criticize a small mistake in your driving and give you advice on how to better help people feel safe. It’s so absurd. It’s like me challenging someone’s fashion choices or hairstyle. “I’m not sure that’s the right outfit for you.” Really?
But when the stakes get higher, it’s not as amusing. Jesus’ main point here has to do with hypocrisy in believers.
Something I am currently grieving is how the broader American church is perceived to be ignoring the beams in our eyes while calling out the specks in the eyes of the world. Poll after poll and conversation after conversation reveal variations on the same theme: Christians in the United States are viewed as hypocritical judges.
They hear the church call out the culture for not loving well (which is a fair assessment of the culture), and then see Christians adapt an “us vs. them” mentality and treat “them” with contempt and fear, creating demonic monsters where they should be seeing broken image bearers of God who need God’s people to represent the hope and redemption of Christ.
They hear us judge the culture for forsaking truth (and rightly so – it has), then see us spread ridiculously false and at times slanderous rumors when they paint a picture of a person, organization or party that we don’t like.
They see us judge the culture for coarseness, incivility and dishonesty (which is a well-deserved critique) while we follow and applaud people who are coarse, uncivil, and dishonest.
Notice in every example I gave, it wasn’t the claims that were the problem. They all offered something valid. It was the judgments and the hypocrisy that accompanied them.
RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT[6]
"Reproves, rebukes, and exhorts..." (2 Timothy 4:1-2). This is done to "turn a sinner from the error of his ways"(James 5:19-20). Galatians 6:1 notes: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.” In order to recognize that someone is caught in sin, we are exercising discernment based on the standard for righteous actions as outline in the Bible. To go back to my definition, this is when we use humble intervention motivated by a loving desire to see the other person stop sinful and destructive behavior, grow in maturity and holiness, and be restored in reputation and community.
Practices humility. Speaking of humble interventions, righteous judgment requires us to be aware that that our perspective may not be as closely aligned with reality as we think it is. And while this is subtle (and challenging to our ego), it is very important as it might change how we relate to a situation. Have you ever gone into a situation with a head of steam only to realize you entirely misunderstood? Yeah….
We don’t know everything. When it’s not a glaringly clear situation, we must consider that there are circumstances and context that to which we are not privy, and we might be about to render a thundering righteous judgment that’s going to leave us really embarrassed when all the details come out.[7] It’s a long and painful fall off that high horse we so excitedly saddled.
Protects victims. We are to "mark those who cause dissensions and stumbling" (Romans 16:17-18). I suspect the primary reason is to protect those impacted by sin. Note that it is a judgment of visible actions, of fruit we can see, by which the Bible says people will be known.[8] There are times when we must intercede for victims. The Bible is full of this admonition.
“Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:4)
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)
That doesn’t require us to weigh in on the motivations or the hearts of the people who do the things from which people need deliverance. It’s looking at how someone’s actions are landing in the world, then looking through the lenses of scripture to discern if it’s good or bad. The prophet Micah told God’s people that one thing God required of them was to do justice. This requires identifying what is just and what is not, and responding appropriately.
We do this with our children all the time: “Stop taking your brother’s snacks. Stop hitting him. Stop everything you are doing right now.” We can judge the action and do justice without judging the entirety of the child. That principle does not go away just because people get older.
Settles arguments. Paul said a mediator should be appointed to "decide between his brethren" and settle a dispute (1Corinthians 6:1-5). Someone’s going to have a make a call. Sometimes, two parties can’t both be right. This is, once again, not a judgment on thoughts and intents of the heart, which only God knows fully and what His Word does in us.[9] This is about observable situations where God has given his image bearers the ability to discern truth from a lie.
Strengthens community. What I remember from the moments when friends exercised righteous judgment in my life is that I KNEW THEY LOVED ME. I knew they were for me. They wanted Anthony (and the people around him) to flourish. I knew they were not my enemy (and sometimes they used those exact words). I knew they came from a place of humility and love. It helped me mature, and it surely blessed those around me who have to put up with me.
WASTED RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT: Protecting Holy Things From Desecration
As odd as it sounds, Jesus’ comment about swine and dogs provides a caution: it’s not always wise to help others remove the speck from their eye. It’s a caution found elsewhere in Scripture.
“Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” (Proverbs 9:8)
“Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4-5)
Paul once said to an audience, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:1-6)
When we put the beam/speck imagery together with the pearls/swine imagery, we see Jesus’ teaching in its entirety more clearly:
Giving humble, gentle correction (righteous judgment) to someone in the church is like giving a valuable gift.
First, check yourself to see what you need to deal with in order to approach them with integrity.
Second, discern if someone will embrace what you offer or trample it, tearing you up in the process.
If the former, offer it. If the latter, don’t. [10]
There are times when we don’t waste something of great value upon someone who is not willing to recognize that value. Sometimes, the wisest thing we can do is let a fool flounder in their foolishness until, like the Prodigal Son, they come to their senses.[11]
I imagine the disciples feeling overwhelmed at this point. “Okay, so, don’t judge unrighteously, but do judge righteously, but then not every time, and honestly I don’t think I'll ever not be hypocritical or a little prejudice, and I have no idea who the swine are.”
But Jesus isn’t done. The righteousness, sincerity, humility, and love to which the Sermon on the Mount calls us is beyond our abilities, but remember: when God calls us, he equips us. Jesus assures his followers that he provides the means for making the impossible possible.[12]
“Ask [for the character to do this] and it will be given to you; seek [wisdom and discernment] and you will find; knock [at the Father’s house] and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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[1] The parable speaks of being blind to one’s own faults while judging others (compare Rom. 2:19–21).(Believer’s Bible Commentary)
[2] Romans 2:19-21 “If you stand convinced that you are chosen to be a guide to the blind, a light to those who live in darkness, a teacher of foolish wanderers and children, and have in the law what is essentially the form of knowledge and truth— then tell me, why don’t you practice what you preach? If you are going to sermonize against stealing, then stop stealing.”
[3] Great point from Amber Campion. http://www.ambercampion.com/blogpost/judging-vs-discerning
[4] Why might we fall into the trap of unrighteous judgment? I found a list somewhere and I can’t remember where. So, just know this is not original with me.
§ Low self-esteem | If you are terrible, I feel better about myself.
§ Deflection | Your sin is “worse” than mine. Whew.
§ Peer pressure | My tribe judges like this, so to fit in….
§ Bitterness | I got called out on this issue, so you are going down too!
§ Pride| As I see it from my pedestal…
[6] I got the basis for this list from Ron Graham at simplybible.com. I have modified it for my purposes.
[7] Another great point from Amber Campion. http://www.ambercampion.com/blogpost/judging-vs-discerning.
[8] See Matthew 7:15-20 as an example of how this works.
[9] Hebrews 4:12
[10] I built on the insights found in “Matthew 7:6 Meaning.” This is not the only place that talks about it, of course, but it’s a good, clear explanation. https://thebiblesays.com/commentary/matt/matt-7/matthew-76/
[11] Luke 15:17
[12] Expositor’s Bible Commentary