Don't Judge Me

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Don't Judge Me

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 04:25

“Do not judge, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Many people are familiar with this command. Many who have never read the Bible are still able to quote this phrase and are ready to do so the moment they hear someone speaking against the activities and preferences of themselves or another. Yet, few seem to have the least understanding of what Jesus is actually calling us unto through those words.

He is warning us against the consequences of self-righteously judging others and not addressing our own sins. We are not the law maker or the judge and have no right to act as if we were. Nor are we perfect and sinless and called to ignore our sins while judging others in comparison with our self. But does that mean we should not communicate to others what God, the Law Maker and Judge, has already declared and how it applies to their lives?

If you were riding with someone down the freeway, saw a speed limit sign that said 60 MPH and looking over at their speedometer realized they were going 80 MPH, would you be ‘judging’ them if you mentioned to them that you had seen the speed limit sign and didn’t want them to get pulled over and receive a speeding ticket? Perhaps you would say that is ‘judging’. Or perhaps you see a proper place for warning a friend of potential consequences because you love them.

If you recognize the propriety of warning someone you love, then you should not stumble over calling sin “sin” and warning others of its consequences. That is not the ‘judging’ which Jesus speaks against. He often spoke of sin and warned of its consequences as did His apostles (Matthew 5:17-48; 11:20-24; 12:30-37; 18:7-10; 19:3-9, 16-24; 23:1-36; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-12; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; 1 Peter 4:3-5; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8; 22:15). To know the truth and the consequences of sin and not communicate that to others would be unloving.

Indeed, let each of us deal with the logs in our own eye and let us not make ourselves the standard of righteousness by which we judge others, but neither let us be silent. As Jesus said, “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”. Both personal ‘log removal’ and interpersonal ‘speck removal’ is required.

Neither be a person who dismisses every warning against sin by saying (or thinking), “Don’t judge me,” or “who are you to judge me?” Consider whether the warning and assessment was not first given by God. You may hear “do not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:12-17, for example) spoken through a fallible person, but since it was God who first said it, it will still be to God that you must give your account.

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