Does The Bible Really Teach That We Can Never Judge?

In my many years of speaking with unreligious doubters and scoffers of religion, I have discovered that non-Christians enjoy quoting from the very Bible they claim to not believe. As a matter of fact, they have a favorite verse. Now mind you, they have no idea where this verse can be found and when they quote the verse, they quote it entirely out of context. Nevertheless, the verse does exist and it can be located in the book of Matthew.

Matt 7:1-5

7:1 “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.”

Why are Christian evangelists treated to this passage so frequently? Because people view the very sharing of the Gospel as “judgment.” Technically that’s true, although the main idea behind the Gospel is that God in His mercy and forgiveness wants to spare us from judgment, at least ultimate judgment. However, in sharing our faith, we are sharing a judgment of sorts, namely, our own judgment, or conviction, that all human beings are sinners in need of salvation. Nobody likes to hear such words in a moral relativist society. We are also calling people to action. We are encouraging them to repent, or turn from their sins, in order to receive God’s grace. Finally, in calling Jesus the only way to God, we are making a judgment about other religions. We are judging them to be untrue and instead offering Jesus as the one and only way to God.

Supposedly, all these implications of the Gospel are countermanded by one verse about not judging.

How should Christians respond to such a challenge? There are several appropriate responses and the first is rather obvious. We point out that if one is recognizing the Bible as a source of valuable truth, then in order to be consistent, they must accept the entire Bible and not merely cherry pick the verses they prefer.

When reading the Bible in its entirety, we realize that preaching is not some past time invented by over-zealous Christians. Indeed, sharing the Gospel is actually commanded by Jesus.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20).

And this same Jesus did claim very clearly to be the only way of salvation.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

So obviously, when Jesus spoke about refraining from judgment, He was not referring to evangelism. He meant something else entirely.

But before even continuing, there’s an ironic subtlety that must be noted: All people make judgments, even those who say that we shouldn’t. In fact, the moment a person tells you that you should not judge, he has just judged you! He is offering commentary on one of your practices, denouncing the practice, and labeling it as inappropriate. Everybody judges! The judgment may be valid or invalid, but everybody judges.

Not only have your skeptical friends judged you while telling you not to judge, they have probably gone on and expressed their disdain for religious hypocrites. This too is a rather serious judgment. In doing so, they share something in common with Jesus. Yes, Jesus Himself was very judgmental about hypocrisy and about a lot of other things. One has only to read his condemnation of the religious hypocrites (Matt 23) or His clear teaching that those who do not give their lives over to God will spend an eternity in hell (Matt 25).

As for the “non judgment” command in Matthew 7, Jesus is not actually telling us to never judge. Instead, He is telling us to not judge others for their sin if we have not first dealt with our own sin. It is inappropriate judgement that Jesus is denouncing, not all judgment.

Let’s continue reading what Jesus says after the words “Judge not.” Take a look at Matthew 7 from verse 3 to verse 5.

“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? 4 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? 5 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.”

This was quite a humorous analogy. Is Jesus saying we cannot remove splinters from people’s eyes? No, he’s saying we must first remove whatever obstructs our own eye. Then we will see clearly to remove the splinter.

Many would be interested to know that the Bible in other places actually COMMANDS us to judge people!

The apostle Paul was very bothered by the immorality being tolerated by the church in Corinth. He was also concerned about minor disputes that people took to secular courts instead of settling matters in the church. Take a look at his words and then decide for yourself how Paul felt about making judgments.

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother goes to law against another-and this in front of unbelievers!” (1 Cor 6:2-6).

And so, there are certain judgments that we are supposed to make. Having said that, it is important to point out that the Bible did speak against wrongful judgments, particularly when Christians were judging the religious worship practices of others.

Some Christians thought they were still obligated to celebrate the Old Testament Sabbath and they were very judgmental of those who did not share the practice. To them, Paul said:

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ (Col 2:16-17).

There were also Christians who thought it was a sin to ever eat meat since in those days, meat sold in the open market had first been used in the temple worship of some pagan Greek deity. Paul explained to the church that so long as they were not worshipping false gods, meat was just meat and he sharply rebuked those who would judge their brothers and sisters with such legalism.

“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom 14:4).

Modern day counterparts to these legalistic types of judgments can be found in many places. How often, for example, do Christians judge the way another worships in church?

“He brother, you weren’t singing, at least not with heart-felt enthusiasm. And how come you weren’t lifting up your hands in praise?”

Conclusion:

Everybody judges and judgment is a neutral word. The question we must ask is whether or not our judgment is appropriate. Sometimes, according to Scripture, it is not. Sometimes according to Scripture it is. But it is disingenuous to tackle the subject with one sweeping quotation of a verse out of context.