As Christians we often have people tell us that we are not supposed to judge others, and those people, some of whom are also Christians and others who are not, will point to Matthew 7:1 to back up this statement:

“Judge not, that you be not judged

Everybody seems to know that verse, even those who have never picked up a Bible in their lives. In today’s secular world people use this verse to justify all sorts of sinful behavior and to try to tell Christians that our own book tells us we shouldn’t judge their actions. Meanwhile as Christians we might counter with an argument that goes something like this: if we as Christians see somebody engaged in harmful or sinful behavior we have a moral responsibility to correct that person, or to help that person to see the error of their ways.

Judge Not?

I mentioned above that everybody seems to know Matthew 7:1, but that isn’t quite right. Everybody seems to have heard that verse, but many people don’t really know the verse. Is Jesus actually telling people never to judge others in Matthew 7:1? It seems pretty cut and dried, doesn’t it? That is, until you continue to read past the point where the others conveniently stopped their quote. Here is what Jesus says next:

² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.¹

First, Jesus warns us that we will be judged by the same measuring stick that we are using. That measuring stick is God’s judgment, and we all fall short in God’s eyes. This is a clear reminder that we will also be judged. Second, Jesus tells us that we should correct our own actions and then we will see clearly and will be free to judge others.

Jesus continues in Matthew 7:6:

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Judge is a Dirty Word

How do we determine the dogs and the pigs without judging? Jesus is not telling us not to judge, he is telling us to judge righteously. Some will say, if everybody falls short in God’s eyes then nobody will ever be in a position to judge others, and that is a legitimate point. However, I think what it all comes down to is really this: it is the word judge that people find so offensive today, this word just seems so harsh to so many people in a world where truth is subjective and everybody does what is right in their own eyes.²

At times people confuse judging others with condemning others. We can point out the error of people’s ways while acknowledging we are also sinners, we should not condemn others for sinning, for we are sinners too. We might not be committing the same sin we are trying to correct in somebody else, but we are still sinning somewhere in our lives. To condemn others for sinning while we are still in a state of sin ourselves would be hypocritical. In doing so we would be condemning ourselves³ and that is what Jesus was warning us about.

We see a great example of this with the woman caught in adultery from John 8:1-11. The woman was judged and was found to be guilty. When confronted by Jesus her accusers realized they were also sinners and did not stone her. But what did Jesus ask the woman after the men walked away in shame? He asked her “has no one condemned you?” (emphasis mine) While nobody condemned her, she was judged and this is evident by Jesus telling her to “sin no more.”

Righteous Judgment

It is this confusion that causes people to think that Christians are hypocritical when they see us fail. This is why it is so important not to judge by appearances, but to use righteous judgment⁴ to help others to stay on the right path. The goal here is to help each other live more Godly lives. We are all sinners, we need to make sure we are correcting others for the right reasons and in the proper way. Not from pride or arrogance, but from an honest desire to help somebody else see the error of their ways, understanding that we will also need to be corrected from time to time.

This is the part that many non-Christians do not seem to understand; we are not trying to say we are better than anyone else, or that we are perfect, and we are not trying to be judgmental, we know we also have problems. We are taking the time as one imperfect person to another to help another correct something they are doing wrong. We would also expect them to do the same for us when they see us going astray. I hope that they would love us enough to correct us.

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1. Matthew 7:2-5 ESV ↩︎
2. Judges 17:6 ↩︎
3. Romans 2:1 ↩︎
4. John 7:24 ↩︎