"You're being judgmental! Didn't Jesus say that was NOT what we are supposed to do?"
The person who says that has a point. Jesus said, "Judge not, and you will not be judged" (Matthew 7). Through Paul, the Holy Spirit put the smelling salts under the noses of those who thought they were morally superior to others. "You are without excuse, O man, when you --the judge--condemn others for the very things you do yourself" (Romans 2:1-2). James didn't mince words with Christians who functioned as judges making preferential distinctions about various people in their assembly (James 2).
JUST WHAT IS JUDGING?
The first step to sorting this out is to understand that the word "judge" is used in a number of differing ways in the Bible. Do a more careful study of when this word occurs (especially in the New Testament) and you discover that there are times when "judging" is completely out of bounds, and there are other times and situations when "judging" is exactly what God wants you to do.
The basic idea behind the Biblical word "judge" is "to distinguish between." The point is that distinguishing can be a good thing, or it can be a bad thing.
Judging is a bad thing (or "out of bounds") according to Jesus (and his apostles through whom in Scripture the Spirit speaks to Christians) when someone believes himself/herself to be morally superior to another, and from that over-reaching attitude, expresses (either verbally or through their actions) a condemning, rejecting assessment. In essence, such a "judger" virtually assumes a position that only belongs to God - only God knows all the facts and issues about any given person, and only His "distinguishng" about someone is accurate.
The result is that when you or I attempt to "judge" like this, we expose ourselves to several dangers. Jesus said that such "judging" overlooks that there will come a time when the judger himself/herself will fall under the measuring stick used on others, and found wanting (cf. Matthew 7:1-3). An accompanying danger is the inflating of personal pride, which invites God's humbling judgment. Beyond this, such "judging" often keeps us from loving others who are caught in sin, the very thing God does call us to do.
On the flip side, there is a "good" judging. Paul said that we should "judge ourselves" - we should honestly assess our own sin foibles (and confess/repent, cf. 1 John 1:9), so that we will not be "condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11). Paul also urges that brothers and sisters lovingly help one another when sin has crept into the Christian fellowship (cf. , James 5:19-20, 1 Corinthians 5). The point of this assessing is not to condemn, but to help one another out of the sinning in which we are caught, and restored to full fellowship in the Lord. Paul told the Galatians that such "judging" must be done with humility (Galatians 6:1-2) - "If somone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore such a one, looking to yourselves so that you do not get similarly caught."
Beyond the interpersonal "judging" we are called to do humbly with each other, the Scriptures also urges us to "judge" the condition of a world apart from God, and not participate in the darkness and evil of it. By "judge," God's Spirit means "to assess and appraise, so as to understand its true nature."
Still, this should not lead us to pridefully condemning the people in the world. Even Jesus said he didn't "come in to the world to judge the world" (John 3:17), but rather that the world might have life through him. So our posture, even with a world of men caught in evil, is to both understand and to love toward the life of Jesus.
HUMILITY IS THE KEY
The other night, I had the delight of an extended phone conversation with a great friend in Christ who lives in Colorado. We began to speak about the attitudes which advance God's purposes in our lives. He reminded me that St. Augustine said it. "There are three key words to the life that is spiritual: humility, humility, and humility."
Augustine was right. Let God be the Judge (He is anyway!) and let's be His servants of love with wisdom. No way away from Christ needs you or me to be their SRJOC (self-righteous judging-others critic). What someone needs is for us to be an expression of Jesus love, so that such a person can meet God some day, not as her/his Judge but rather as his/her Savior.
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