Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2).
Have you ever noticed that when an unbeliever doesn’t like the fact that they might be judged for their behavior, they immediately pull this verse out?
“Hey, man don’t judge me, remember if you judge me, you’ll also be judged!”
It is so ironic that it is almost hilarious. Someone who mocks God, who doesn’t even believe there is a God will use the Word of God in their defense. The irony is amazing!
If you think about it, why would Christians continually express shock, disapproval and judgment at the way non-Christians live?
Whenever I hear that, I feel like saying, “Do you seriously expect non-Christians to behave like Christians?”
Think it through.
They’re not pretending to be Christians. Why would they adopt Christian values or morals?
Please don’t get me wrong.
I completely believe that the Word of God is not only the Way, but that God’s way is the best way. When you follow biblical teachings about how to live life, your life simply goes better. I try to align my life with the teachings of scripture, and I’m passionate about helping every follower of Christ do the same. But what’s the logic behind judging people who don’t follow Jesus for behaving like people who don’t follow Jesus? Really?
Why would you hold the world to the same standard you hold the church?
Before you judge a non-Christian for behaving like a non-Christian, think about this:
1. THEY MAY ACT MORE CONSISTENTLY WITH THEIR VALUE SYSTEM THAN YOU DO
It’s difficult for a non-Christian to be a hypocrite because they tend to live out what they believe. Chances are they are better at living out their values than you or I are. Jesus never blamed pagans for acting like pagans. But he did speak out against religious people for acting like hypocrites.
2. YOUR DISAPPROVAL IS DESTROYING THE RELATIONSHIP
Some of the most judgmental Christians have zero non-Christian friends. Is that a surprise, really? I mean, on a human level, how many people have you made time for this week that you know disapprove of who you are and the way you live?
Exactly.
3. JUDGMENT IS A TERRIBLE EVANGELISM STRATEGY
People don’t line up to be judged (condemned). If you want to keep being ineffective at reaching unchurched people, keep condemning them.
4. JUDGING OUTSIDERS IS UN-CHRISTIAN
Paul told us to stop judging people outside the church.
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:12).
(We’ll come back to this very interesting verse!)
Paul also reminds us that all of us were saved by grace.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (1 Corinthians 2:8-9).
Only by the Grace of God can we call ourselves a Christian. It is Him working in us to do His good pleasure.
So, what can you do?
1. STOP CONDEMNING NON-CHRISTIANS. START LOVING THEM
Very few people have been judged into life-change. Many have been loved into it.
2. EMPATHIZE WITH NON-CHRISTIANS
Ask yourself, “If I wasn’t a Christian, what would I be doing?” Chances are, you might be doing exactly what the non-Christians in your neighborhood are doing. Understanding that completely changes how you see people. And they can tell how you see them.
Remember where you came from. I know that many of you were not raised in a Christian home and lived the life of a non-Christian. Myself included.
In fact, I was an atheist that grew up in a non-Christian home. One of my best friends—who I got into much trouble with—became a Christian. I remember mocking and making fun of him for his choice to become a Christian. I’m not proud of it, in fact it makes me weep to think about it, but only by the grace of God did He save me, and I praise Him every day!
Remember, except for the grace of God, there go I.
3. don’t be afraid to be around NON-CHRISTIANS
Jesus wasn’t. And He caught plenty of disapproval for it (Mathew 11:19).
4. PRAY FOR UNBELIEVERS
How many unchurched people do you pray for daily? How many people you disagree with do you pray for daily? It is impossible to hate someone you genuinely pray for daily.
5. LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH AUTHENTICALLY
Your actions carry weight. Humility is far more attractive than pride. When a non-Christian sees integrity, it’s compelling. I just have a feeling if we in the church loved the world the way Jesus did, the world might come running to Christ. And then the change we long to see might actually begin to happen.
Ok, that’s the end of my admonition. Don’t expect a non-Christian to act like a Christian, it won’t happen. And if we continually point out to that non-Christian we come into contact with that he or she is acting like a heathen, chances are pretty good, by our example, that they will not want to have anything to do with Christianity or Christianity’s God.
Now, I want to revisit that verse from 1 Corinthians Chapter 5 that we looked at a moment ago. I think you will find it quite interesting!
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
This is the apostle Paul writing. What do you think? I think this is a pretty direct verse. “Are you not to judge those inside (the church)?” Paul makes it quite clear that we are to judge. But we are to judge those inside the church, NOT those outside the church. Let’s unpack what that looks like.
The first thing I want to cover about Christian judgment, is what it doesn’t look like. Check out these verses:
“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28).
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).
True judgment does NOT look like gossip. Mathew 18 makes it very clear:
“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.16 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.’17 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” (Mathew 18:15-17).
Here is the Biblical directive on how to handle an interpersonal problem. It is not going to everyone other than the person sinning and letting the whole world know what they’ve done. It is going to your brother or sister privately, IN LOVE, attempting to win them back to the Lord. (This is the Lord’s counsel how to handle interpersonal issues, not public sin issues.)
Here are a few verses that will help to see what that looks like:
“Put on then, as Gods chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12-15).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-5).
What stands out in these verses?
Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, comfort, considering others more than ourselves, and lastly, love.
There is a whole chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 devoted to what love looks like. We need to read it regularly and apply it. It doesn’t matter how much “truth” we have if we don’t have love for other souls.
I want to go back and look at the scripture we began with one more time, but with a little more context:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“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, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces (Mathew 7:1-6).
What is the plank according to verse? It’s being a hypocrite. Notice it says to get the plank out of your OWN eye (don’t be a hypocrite), then you can HELP get the speck out of your brother’s eye (judging your brother!).
So, if the “Do not Judge” verse is taken in context, we ARE to judge. Verse 6 is an interesting verse! We make a judgment call when we are sharing the gospel according to this verse. If we present the gospel to someone, and they are not interested, this verse says don’t keep trying! Does that mean we don’t keep praying? Of course not. But it is clear that we are not to try to spend our time casting the pearls of God’s word to those who aren’t interested.
And the rest of these verses make it clear that we cannot judge in a hypocritical attitude. If we have not humility, don’t bother. If we have not LOVE, we are just a clanging symbol.
Let’s look at two verses that give us a clue how to judge biblically:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart” (Proverbs 21:2).
We are not to judge another man’s heart. In other words, we are not to judge (or condemn) motives. And we are not to judge by appearances.
Illustration
I remember years ago going to a small used RV lot near where we live. The salesman had tattoos and piercings all over. As we were looking at trailers a discussion about God came up and this guy just LIT-UP. He had so much passion for the Lord, and it showed.
So, we are not to judge another man’s heart, or motives, or to even judge by appearances. But we are however to judge (discern) another man’s fruits, his actions,
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Mathew 7:15-20).
There are many more verses about looking at a person’s fruits or works. How do we know how to make a judgment call? By looking at their fruits. We are called to make a judgment. As Christians, we are to judge, contrary to popular belief. But we are always to do it with reconciliation in mind. If we don’t have a love for souls, for reconciling others to our Heavenly Father, then we need to question our own personal walk with the Lord.
And Scripture is very clear on HOW we are to act upon judgment. One-on-one first, then with 2 or 3, then to the church. We are NOT to judge those outside the church. Discern, yes, make choices based on their actions whether or not they are a safe person to be around, yes. But God makes it clear that He will judge those who made the decision not to follow Him.
I close with a final thought on judging from the book of Revelation.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).
When Christ comes back to take His children with Him to Heaven, He is going to open the books for His “Saints” to see. They will be jury members—if you will. And the saints will see that God has made the right decision regarding those who have not decided to follow the Lamb and those who claimed to have but did not. So, even at the end of time, Christians, saints, will be aiding in the “judgment” process.
God never said we are not to judge. We are to judge a man’s fruit and we are to help our erring brother or sister to the best of our ability with God’s help to be reconciled to the Kingdom of Heaven! It is my prayer that we will have the discernment from Heaven. That we will love our brothers and sisters in Christ, that we will love our enemies, and that we will seek to be humble, compassionate, kind, meek, patient, forgiving, comforting, and lastly, loving.
And by the grace of God, we can be like that, and we can be a light to others in need of a Savior.
God bless.
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Eric owns Armstrong Automotive and is a faithful Seventh-day Adventist.