Judge not?

"Don't drop j's dude." I say this jokingly sometimes, but I've come to realize recently that there are some people around me who use this saying quite seriously. I was blessed enough this weekend to spend a good bit of time with my good friend Andy Jones, and somewhere in the midst of our weekend discussion, this issue arose: what do people mean when they say "Don't judge me."? We decided that what they actually mean varies depending upon the situation, but the common reference used to defend this statement is usually Matthew 7:1 in which Jesus says "Judge not, that you be not judged" (NKJV). So, the real question appears to be "what did Jesus mean"?

Well, Andy and I whipped out an interlinear Bible (Greek, Hebrew, KJV), a Strong's Concordance (the hefty one), and Andy's study Bible, prayed for understanding, and went to it, discussing as we went. The actual word used for judging in Matthew 7 carries the connotation of condemnation, not just discernment, which fits with what people seem to mean when they say, "don't judge me." It's more like saying "don't condemn me."

There is so much to be said about this passage that I will only touch on two pieces tonight. First, there are two distinctions to be made. The first distinction is between believers and unbelievers. We are not to judge unbelievers, those outside the Church. Paul makes this VERY clear in 1 Corinthians 5:12-14. What he also makes clear in this passage is that we ARE to judge fellow believers, those inside the Church. So, the first parity: do not judge unbelievers, judge believers. Read on.

The second distinction has to do with what's up in Matthew 7 - the distinction between our own human, self-righteous judgment and God's righteous judgment. This distinction is made clearer when Paul speaks to it in Romans 14. Christ, in Matthew 7, is saying something first about what judgment we are to exercise and second (in the verses following) about how we are to exercise that judgment. What he is saying about the first is that we are not to exercise our own judgment on others. Stay with me. I did not say that we are not to judge our fellow believers. I said that we are not to judge them with OUR OWN judgment. By rebuking our fellow believers when they sin, we are not judging/condemning them; we are merely delivering the message that God has already passed judgment on their actions. For instance, if you know that a friend of yours, a believer, is getting drunk on the weekends, it is your duty as his brother to rebuke him, gently, and in love. You are not actually "judging" him when you do this. You are using your judgment (discernment) to see his sin and to identify it as such, but you are not condemning him. His actions stand condemned already, for God specifically forbids drunkenness in His Word in Ephesians 5:18 (one of several places). Thus, as Paul explains in Romans 14, we are not to judge our brothers and sisters according to any standard except that by which God will judge us.

I think of it this way: if God expressly speaks against something, I am expressly against it and will "judge" that thing in believers. If God does not clearly speak against something, that thing truly is between that believer and God.

Be careful what you judge; don't put words in God's mouth just because you don't like something. And, on the other hand, be careful to inform your Christian brothers and sisters of God's judgment as expressly written in his Word because he commands you to do so (2 Tim 4:2 is one of several places God commands this).

In my next posting, I hope to touch more on how Christ wants us to exercise this judgment. That is what Matthew 7:2-6 explains. I also hope to make it a little more clear that it is ridiculous to tell someone, someone who is rebuking you for something that God specifically condemns (judges) in his Word, "don't judge me." If this is you, please realize that your brother is not judging you, and that even if he is, what he is trying to tell you is that God is judging your sin, and that's the only judgment that really matters anyway.