Author Steven Lake
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| What Does It Mean to Judge Others? Tuesday, June 17th, 2014 9:00am Keywords: (None) |
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| One of the biggest billy clubs used against Christians the world around is "Doesn't the bible say not to judge? So why are you judging me?" It's used to shut us up and make us go away because our lives and our testament prick their consciences and they don't like that. But what does it really mean not to judge in reference to the bible? Well, let's first look at what the verse itself says. Matthew 7:1 (KJV) - "Judge not, that ye be not judged." That's the major verse that so many atheists, Christian haters, and the unsaved use to silence believers. But, as with anything, what is the context in which this verse is used? I ask that because so often verses in the bible are taken OUT of context and given a whole new meaning that God never intended. Now, let's read the entire segment IN context and see what a difference this makes. Matthew 7:1-5 (KJV) - "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Hmm, it takes on a whole other meaning, doesn't it? It's not saying don't judge at all, but rather don't be hypocritical and self righteous condemning someone else for something you yourself are just as equally guilty of. And that's exactly what we do. We secretly hate ourselves for our sins, loathing the evil that we so gladly embrace, so as an outlet we condemn others for doing the same thing we do. Why? My only guess is because we wish to scold ourselves in a way for doing the exact same thing. And I'm not alone in that thinking. I've heard plenty of others saying, "The thing you hate most in them is the thing you hate most in yourself." And it's true. You will tend to lash out more at someone who is doing a particular sin you're involved in than you will if it's something you're not. Take for example sex, or fornication. You may not be sleeping around, but as Christ said, even the thought of it is still the same thing as the actual act. So you don't need to cheat on your spouse by climbing in bed with them. A simple second look or a bit of ogling where and when you shouldn't be is just the same. Matthew 5:27-28 (KJV) - "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." So simply looking at a woman and lusting after her is no different in God's eyes than if you'd actually committed fornication or adultery. So when does confronting a sin become judging? Well, let's first explore this a little more. Romans 2:1-3 (KJV) - "1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" If I am to interpret that, and the prior verses correctly, judging is not calling out sin, or facing down a sin, correcting it, etc. It's calling out someone else on a sin that you yourself are willfully guilty of. Not "oops, it slipped" or anything incidental like that which is just a side effect of our human nature. I'm talking willful, blatant sin. So basically what these two verses are saying is, before you go and confront someone about a particular sin, make sure your own house is in order. If not you will face them down in anger, bitterness, hatred, loathing, and other even worse sins, which does nothing to help lift them out of their problems. It's one of the reasons they tell you before going out and witnessing is to pray up, pay up, and get it right before God. If you do, you can walk in the love and power of the Holy Spirit and your witnessing will become very powerful, you will become bold, and you won't have anything to hold you down. Then when someone comes to you and says, "Don't judge me!" you can reply, "I'm not judging you. I'm merely trying to tell you that God can forgive you of your sins. He's forgiven me of mine." and not say that in a haughty, self righteous way. Because when God's done cleaning out your heart, it'll so change your perspective on others that you literally can't judge. But if your heart is full of sin, judgment stands right at the doorstep ready to blow your foot off (figuratively speaking) the moment you step outside the door. So get your house in order before you confront anyone else about their sin. It's like what Christ said. His speck vs plank is a good analogy of how we view the world. We quite often can see, or at least are aware of, the plank in our own eye. But since we are not God, we can only see the speck of sawdust in the other man's eye. Some of this is due to that plank in ours blinding us to the plank in their eye. The rest is that we're not God, and therefore we can't see or know all the circumstances that surround the plank, or even that tiny little speck we see in the other person's eye. So it's alright to call out sin in someone else. But do it in love. If you can't, and you're drawn to judgment of them, condemning them for what they've done, it might be a good idea to step back first and remove the log that's jammed in your own eye first. Then you can see clearly enough to remove the speck from the other person's eye. But, if you get your entire heart right with God, you won't have to. That's the beauty of it. Once we get rid of the log in our own eye, their speck goes away. So why is that? Think about it. Log. Eye. Pain. So in short, to judge is to condemn someone else for something you're just as guilty of. Condemnation and judging is for God alone as He is perfect and holy. We on the other hand are merely the messengers. It's not our job to pass sentence. We are only here to tell others the things God has told us to share. Namely the Gospel, repentance, and salvation. So if you find yourself judging others for something, it might be a good idea to go into your prayer closet or wherever you choose to spend quiet prayer time, and get your heart right before God. When it finally is, you will find that it's literally impossible to judge others, because judgment of others in its proper definition is merely condemnation of ourselves. Think about that the next time someone says "Don't judge me." |
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