About Judging Others (and why you should)
Working at a rescue mission for addiction and substance recovery, i frequently hear people say things like, “only God can judge me,” or “judge not, man!” While these people try and quote Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1-5, they have actually left the context of Christ’s words and twisted the goal of the passage so that they might freely go on in error.
While the passage does begin with a warning not to judge others, it actually ends with a call to judge others rightly for their own good.
Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not that you be not judged. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is a log in your own eye? 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.
Notice in this passage that we will receive the judgement we hand out.
I had a friend once who was a “singer.” His family had told him what an amazing singer he was. They went on about how they loved to hear his voice.
The truth was, however, that he was terrible.
One night, he got up on stage for a talent show at a campus ministry event and was laughed off of the stage. Everyone thought it was a joke, but he left in tears.
His family didn't want to hurt his feelings so they gave false judgment, and told him he was good. Maybe they said to theirselves,” i should ‘judge not, that i be not judged,’” or maybe they thought, “who am i to judge his voice?” but either way, they let him believe he was great.
In trying to spare his feelings, they actually did more damage in the long run.
This passage says the same for us.
First, with what measure do you want to be sized up, or judged? I surely appreciate ate the people in my life who let me know about my unzipped pants before i go out in public. They may embarrass me for a moment, but how much better is that than a whole day of embarrassment!?
Do i want to be told of possible danger ahead if i keep my current path and actions, or do i want someone to evaluate, weigh, and judge that my actions are wrong and harmful and then keep quiet or even tell me to proceed? Which is more loving?
Secondly, the ability of the judge in Matthew 7 is being called into question.
I would never go to a surgeon for an open heart surgery, knowing that my doctor had just had is eyes dilated and was currently blind! I would want to ensure that he could see clearly before operating…but i would still need the surgery. Maybe i would find another surgeon but I still need someone’s help.
Here in Matthew, Jesus’s conclusion is that we are to remove the speck in our brother’s eye, but we must make sure that, first, we have removed anything that might hinder us from seeing clearly how to help them.
Jesus certainly cannot mean that we are never to remove the speck because of a log that never leaves. Are we men with logs in our eyes that are never removed!? No. We are to clear our eyes, not just for the purpose of seeing better, but for the purpose of helping others once we see better.
The same is actually true with our salvation. We weren’t saved so that we would go to heaven. We were saved so that we might help others get there too! We were saved to bring God glory by making His salvation and goodness known to the world!
Oh, and even Paul instructs us about judgment, but also tells why we have this tension in the first place:
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
To summarize, we are called to judge others, but we are to do it in a way that is concerned and loving for their good and for God’s glory. And we are only to do it once we have cleared our own eye-debris, most likely by the help of someone else who has understood these words and has begun by removing our speck, and then we can, “see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”