Don’t condemn others, or else you will be condemned by God. With whatever kind of judgement you judge, that’s how God will judge you—either with mercy or with harshness. With whatever kind of measuring stick you use, that’s how you will be measured as well. You so easily point out the inconsistencies of your fellow Christian, but neglect the major sins you perform before God. You note the speck of dust in another’s eye, but neglect the two by four that is stuck in your own. There you go to your friend—“We’ve got to get rid of this speck of dust in your eye”, meanwhile, you’re hitting him with your two by four! Stop pretending you have no problems! If you get rid of your two by four, then you’d be able to see. And then you can help your friend get rid of his speck.
Send in the Judge
Let’s face it, judging is a part of life. We all, at one point or another, determine that someone we know is a “bad” person—whether it be Sadaam Hussain or a guy convicted of murder or the woman who cussed you out for some unknown reason. We determine in our own heads whether someone is safe or not, good for us or not, a nice person or not, someone who lives up to our own standards or not. This is part of being human, and there is nothing wrong with it.
God made all of us humans to be rulers. To be a ruler, one must be a judge. Thus, God does not reject us for judging—making decisions about people, things or beliefs. It is a part of our job.
It seems on the surface that Jesus condemns all kinds of judging—“Judge not” the teaching of Jesus says. However, we find that Jesus not only judged himself, but he also taught his disciples to judge others as well. They are to judge whether someone is to be a member of the community (Matthew 7:6), to determine whether a teacher is true or false in Jesus’ sight (Matthew 7:15-20), and to decide when a member of the community should be separated from the community for a time (Matthew 18:15-17). The leaders of Jesus’ community are supposed to be judges. Is this a contradiction? Jesus’ people are supposed to judge, but not judge? Let’s take a closer look at Jesus and his teaching on judging and see what he really means:
Different Kinds of Judging
When Jesus says “do not judge”, he qualifies his statement every time. In other words, he doesn’t really say “do not judge”, but he says, “be careful how you judge.” Yes, Jesus recognizes that we are to judge—that is how we are made and it is part of what we are appointed to do by God—but we must take great care of the manner in which we judge.
In order to judge correctly, we must show mercy. Judgment is evil without mercy. God is the judge, but he judges with mercy. Satan is also a judge, but he judges without mercy. What is merciful judging?
¨ Merciful judging does not judge by their own opinions, but by God’s standards. (Matthew 7:21)
¨ Merciful judging checks out the facts, and makes sure they are true. (Matthew 18:15-16)
¨ Merciful judging looks to see if there are any circumstances that makes a seemingly evil act actually good. (Genesis 38)
¨ Merciful judging never punishes harshly or quickly. (James 1:19)
¨ Merciful judging recognizes that God can change anyone, if they are willing. (Luke 15)
¨ Merciful judging always provides an opportunity for an evil-doer to change. (Luke 5:32)
¨ Merciful judging is always ready to accept someone if they have changed. (Luke 17:3-4)
This is the kind of judging that God does, but it is rarely the kind of judging we find on earth.
· Most people judge by their emotions, by the seat of their pants.
· We believe that if we’ve heard something, then it must be true.
· We believe that if it looks wrong, then it is.
· We believe that punishment should be swift and terrible, to prevent a repeat performance.
· We believe that once a person shows their evil ways, they will never change.
· We believe that an evil-doer should be punished, not given an opportunity to change.
· And we believe that no matter how it looks like a person has changed, they are still basically the same person.
And it is by these standards that we judge others. Yet these are not the standards of God’s, but of the earth. These are the standards of the world. And where did the world get these standards? From Satan. As soon as Satan became the ruler of this world, he imposed his standard of judgment on the world. And his propaganda machine is so powerful that all of us, to a certain degree, believe it.
However, we must be fair. After all, if we are going to judge others on this basis, then we also should be judged this way. But we have to think about it carefully—do we want to be judged on the basis of innuendo and other people’s opinions? Of course not. Do we want to be judged on how our actions looked, rather than what they really did, or what we really intended? Of course not. Do we want to be punished harshly for every minor action we’ve done? Of course not. If we have truly repented, and changed our ways, do we want to continue to be condemned, to constantly be labeled as an evil-doer for the rest of our days? Of course not. But that’s what we will have if we refuse to judge by mercy, and instead judge by the standards of Satan.
Results of Judging
Jesus says we need to recognize the consequences. However we judge others, that is how we will be judged by God. If we want to condemn others, to be harsh against them, to determine what they are like based on rumor and innuendo, then we have no right to complain if God and others do the same to us. If we condemn the unrepentant, if we never give people the chance to change and never forgive them, then God will treat us the same way.
How will God treat us as we treat others?
§ Every time we pray, God does not see our positive actions, but the actions that condemn us. Our prayers are stopped—why? Because we have judged others without mercy.
§ We will not receive all of the blessings of the Holy Spirit. We will live in fear, in bitterness, in rejection—why? Because we have judged others without mercy.
§ We will not understand true love and wonder for all of our lives why we seem so empty, so needy—why? Because we have judged others without mercy.
§ God will not grant us wisdom in our choices, but we will be controlled by our desires, our emotions and our foolish neediness. Why? Because we have judged others without mercy.
§ We are judged for all eternity. We will not enter God’s kingdom, but we will be eternally dishonored and hated. Why? Because we have judged without mercy on earth.
Needless to say, judging is a serious business. Judging by the earthly standard is the major sin that deceives us thinking that everyone else has problems, but not us. It effects our relationship with others, it effects our relationship with God and it effects our very well-being. Perhaps you've never considered your practices in judging. Let me suggest a few steps:
a. Don’t fool yourself by thinking you don’t judge. You do.
b. Think of the times you were angry—what were you angry about, how did you react, was anyone emotionally hurt?
c. Now look over the two ways of judging—which one of these were you most like? How can you improve your anger or judging so that it is more merciful?
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