HOW TO JUDGE LIKE JESUS
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. “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, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Luke 6:37-42)
Has anyone ever quoted Luke 6:37 to you? Well, at least the part that says, “judge not?” I certainly have had that happen in my life. Sometimes as Christians, we are afraid to say anything or do anything about a situation because we know that no matter what we do, we will be called “judgmental.”
In the past, the most quoted Bible verse was John 3:16; today, it is Luke 6:37. I find it hilarious that many who do not submit to the authority of Scripture are so quick to use it when it suits them. Oops, was that statement judgmental? Did I say something that made others take a hard look at their behavior?
At SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary, I taught the undergraduate course in hermeneutics (Bible interpretation). It is one of my favorite classes to teach because I love helping others rightly understand God’s Word for themselves. When I teach people how to study the Bible, I frequently state, “Never form church doctrine or personal spiritual discipline on just one passage.” To properly understand the WHOLE teaching of God about a subject, you must see the BID PICTURE of the WHOLE Bible – not just one or two verses.
So, the best way to begin understanding this passage and know what God wants us to do is to look at the big picture of Scripture. What does the Bible teach about the whole idea of judgment?
JUDGE TEACHERS
The book of Matthew 7:15-16 tells us how to judge whether or not a teacher is true or false. Jesus tells the disciples to look at the fruit of the teacher’s life. Is the teacher producing “good” or “bad” fruit? But to do this, we must judge that person's teaching, vocabulary, consistency, and more. If we don’t judge these things, then we will be carried off into false teaching or, at the very least, unbiblical practices.
Paul the Apostle challenged the Corinthian church to judge for themselves whether his teaching was true or false (1 Cor 10:15)
JUDGE THE SPIRITS
1 John 4:1-2 commands Christians to “test the spirits to whether they are from God.” You cannot do this without judging whether a particular spirit is from God. If you blindly accept everything people say or do or ask you to do – you are asking for trouble.
Understand that the “spirit” you are testing is not angelic or demonic. John is writing about the spirit of men and women, and he is talking about that part of a person that drives them to do what they do. Our job as Christians is to discern whether or not the spirit of a person is giving life or taking it. If that person’s spirit is not giving life, you must judge that spirit and go another way.
JUDGE SIN
In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us,
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph5:11).
What is he talking about in this verse? Paul is talking to the Ephesians about walking in love toward one another and following God’s example. However, he also tells the Ephesians there should not even be a “hint” of sexual immorality among them (or greed, impurity, obscenities, foolish talk, or the telling of crude jokes).
Paul tells the Ephesians not to mingle the darkness with light; instead, we are to EXPOSE the fruitless deeds of people – especially those who claim Christ as the savior. But the problem is that even Christians have fallen victim to this wrong notion of “don’t judge me.”
JUDGE THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISION IN THE CHURCH
Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we are to “keep away” from those who cause division in the church or cause disturbances by attempting to teach things contrary to the Scripture. Listen to what he says…
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them (Rom 16:17).
Knowing whether someone seeks to divide or disturb the church requires judgment, prayer, and discernment through the Holy Spirit. If we do not judge a person’s actions and motives toward the church, we ask for big problems.
EVEN JESUS TELLS US TO JUDGE AND HOW TO DO IT
Even Jesus tells us to judge others with righteous judgment (Matthew 7:24). Not their appearance, but their fruit. Jesus also outlines in Matthew 18 the steps to make correct judgments on those within the church. Listen to how Jesus wants us to handle the sin we see in others’ life:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector (Mt 18:15-20).
Considering all this, we are left with two choices: 1) we can say that Jesus has contradicted himself, or 2) we can admit that we, as Christians, have incorrectly understood what it means to judge. I am going with the second option!
DO NOT JUDGE
The key to understanding Jesus’ words is this: when we judge other circumstances and sins, we must do it correctly. Luke 6:37 is instructive:
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
If we were forbidden to judge, we could not successfully live the Christian life. Every day we judge between good and evil and right and wrong. To say we cannot or should not judge is to misinterpret Christ’s command. But when we do judge, we must judge correctly. What does that mean? Let me illustrate:
Have you ever seen a commercial for some credit protection service? You know the guy is at the dentist, and the dentist says, “Man, you have the worst cavities I have ever seen!” Then he takes off his gloves and starts to walk away. The man in the chair says, “Wait, aren’t you going to fix it?” The dentist says, “No, I am just a dental monitor, and I just tell you when there is a problem, I don’t fix it.”
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to point out sin in each other, to point out growth, and to celebrate when someone gets the victory. In other words, we are commanded to help fellow believers “fix” areas of weakness in their lives, not just monitor it. Unfortunately, when we point out sin, we are often accused of being “judgmental.” We often hear this accusation because we are good at discerning the problem but not so good at offering solutions. We forget that helping a fellow servant of Jesus overcome weaknesses is about redemption, not condemnation.
Here is the question you should ask, “If we are to judge sin, error, truth, righteousness, and so on, how can we do that in a way that doesn’t just expose a problem but also brings positive solutions?”
Let me offer three suggestions:
Do Your Best to Avoid Self-Righteousness and Hypocrisy.
The truth is that we don’t know why a person has chosen to sin against God. We don’t understand what drove our friend or child to do what they did, and we don’t know what is happening in a person’s heart and how much they have overcome before they fell into sin.
Let me tell you an important truth: most, including ourselves, are blind to the sin in our life. Here is another truth: under similar circumstances, you may have committed the same rebellion against God. That is what Paul reminds the Galatians:
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted (Gal 6:1).
I can hear some of the wheels turning in your heads right now. You say, “How can I talk to others about their sin when my life isn’t perfect?” That’s a great question. Think of it like this Your life and mine will never be perfect on this side of Heaven. We will never reach sinlessness in this human form, but we are made righteous through faith in Christ.
Here is my suggestion. When you speak to someone about a particular sin causing them harm, do so with humility. Remember that you, too, should be willing to let others point out the LOG IN YOUR EYE while YOU ARE POINTING OUT THE SPECK IN YOURS.
This is about loving each other enough to want the best for the other’s life and walk with God. If you go to someone about something, make sure you have prayed and prayed again. If they don’t hear you, pray more, asking God to search your heart and theirs.
Remember that Only God Can See the Motives of Someone’s Heart
We can only judge by what we see in a person’s actions. Sometimes those actions can be pure but look sinful. While walking through my church’s parking lot, I picked up a bear can. Then I walked into the lobby and threw it in the trash. Someone saw me, and later, I heard they told someone else I was drinking alcohol. That person incorrectly judged me.
To avoid “judgmentalism” or self-righteousness, we must give people the benefit of the doubt. You and I are incapable of judging a person’s motives, so when we do, we pretend to know only what God knows.
The only thing we can genuinely evaluate is whether a person’s actions are consistent with the Word of God. Remember, whatever measure you put on others is the measure you will have to live up to yourself. Therefore, I suggest taking a moment and gathering as many facts as possible before rushing in to call someone to account.
Be Generous
Be generous with love and support. When God calls on us to assist a brother or sister in Christ who has fallen, we cannot afford to be stingy with grace. Listen to the advice Paul gave to the Galatian Christians.
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way, obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct (Gal 6:1-4).
Do you hear the words of generosity in this passage: gently and humbly help, share, pay attention? These words remind us that we are never too good to bend down and lift a fallen believer.
We are never above being tempted and falling into sin; we are called to share our burdens with others and walk through this life TOGETHER.
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