You Be The Judge
By Rev. Dallas Henry
May 9, 2008 - 10:00:00 AM
Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” [NIV]
People who normally scoff at the Bible, reject its teachings, and ridicule its content love to quote this verse at just the right time to shut the mouths of those who promote Godly values in the public square.
Some familiar statements they try to silence are: “Homosexuality is a sin!” “There is no such thing as a Christian homosexual!” “All pre-marital sex is wrong.” “A man and a woman living together who are not married are committing adultery.” “Abortion is murder.” ‘It is the killing of a human being and those doctors who perform abortions, except for very rare exceptions, are guilty of taking innocent human life.”
Now when those statements are made the world immediately trots out their favorite verse in the Bible: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." This raises a question, "Should a Christian judge?" The answer of Jesus was not an outright “no”, as some people think. The answer of Jesus was "It all depends."
In the rest of the passage Jesus tells us to be watchful of three things - logs, dogs, and hogs. You’ve got to use some type of judgment to identify any and all of them. Jesus gives us three principles to help us answer the question: "Should you judge?"
Here is an Aesop's Fable to help us with this subject:
A Lion, unable from old age and infirmities to provide himself with food by force, resolved to do so by savvy or wit. He returned to his den, and lying down there, pretended to be sick, taking care that his sickness should be publicly known. The beasts expressed their sorrow, and came one by one to his den, where the Lion devoured them.
After many of the beasts had thus disappeared, the Fox discovered the trick and presenting himself to the Lion, stood on the outside of the cave, at a respectful distance, and asked him how he was. "I am very sick," replied the Lion, "but why do you stand without? Pray enter within to talk with me." "No, thank you," said the Fox. "I notice that there are many prints of feet entering your cave, but I see no trace of any returning." Smart fox. He was very discerning.
There is difference in judging something and being judgmental toward someone. There is difference between judging and discerning.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto stopped in the desert for the night. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?" The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell you?" asked Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?" Tonto is silent for a moment, then says, "Kemo Sabe, you are dumber than a box of rocks! It means someone stole tent." That's discernment! But when Tonto called the Lone Ranger "dumber than a box of rocks" that's being judgmental.
Suppose you come to a stoplight that just turned red and someone comes up from behind you and goes through that red light. A discerning person might think, "That was not too smart. That's a good way to have an accident." The judgmental person might think and say, "That idiot! How stupid could he or she be? They're going to get killed and go to hell!" That's being highly judgmental! We all need to be discerning in life without being judgmental and this is the practice of The Christian Civic League of Maine.
DESTRUCTIVE JUDGMENT IS WICKED!
v.1 "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
The word for judge is the Greek word "krino," and it means to condemn. There is a difference between confronting sin and condemning the sinner! John 8:1-11 tells us about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees condemned the sinner, and each one had a rock in his hand to carry out the sentence. But Jesus confronted the sin, and said to the woman, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and ...sin no more."
The question for believers is how do you know when confronting becomes condemnation? There is only one standard we are to use to judge other people, only one yardstick, only one measurement, and that is the Word of God! When you judge others based on your standards, your opinions, your feelings, then you are wrong. You are not wrong to judge others when your standard is the Word of God.
It is never incorrect to call something wrong when God calls it wrong, but the spirit of judgment must be corrective and constructive, not condemning and critical.
There are two reasons why we should not judge other people. First of all, we are fallible. We are capable of falling into sin! As Jesus said to the Pharisees “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
The amusing story is told about an owner of a manufacturing plant who decided to make a surprise tour of the shop. Walking through the warehouse he noticed a young man just lazily leaning up against some packing crates with his hands in his pocket doing nothing. The boss walked up to him and angrily said, "Just how much are you paid a week?" Well, the young man’s eyes got rather big, and he said, "Three hundred bucks." The boss pulled out his wallet, peeled off three one hundred bills, gave it to him, and said, “Here’s a week’s pay. Now get out of here and don’t ever come back!" Well, without a word the young man stuffed the money into his pocket and took off! The warehouse manager was standing nearby staring in amazement. The boss walked over to him and said, "Tell me, how long has that guy been working for us?" The manager said, "He doesn’t work here, he was just delivering a package."
DISCRIMINATING JUDGMENT IS WISE!
Jesus is saying that we need to judge ourselves so we can judge others. It is only when you see your sins correctly that you can see others’ sins clearly. Only the person humble enough to see his own sin is healthy enough to see someone else’s sin. In Psalm 51, David said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." After he had gotten his own sin confession up-to-date, he said, "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee."
It is important to understand that Jesus is not forbidding all judgment! In fact, one of the marks that you are a spiritual person is that you know how to judge at the right time, at the right place, in the right way. 2Cor. 2:15 says, "For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish:" It is not wrong to confront a person with his sin. It is wrong if you don’t. Listen to Lev.19:17, "Thou shall not hate thy brother in thine heart: Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him."
If you love your fellow man, you will confront him when he is wrong; if you hate him, you will not confront him! Refusing to confront a person about his sin is just as wrong as a doctor refusing to confront a patient about his sickness.
Have you ever had someone say to you, "Stop being so judgmental"? I have, as well as other League Board members and especially Michael Heath. What usually follows is a not-so-pleasant reaction of being severely judged by those who are intolerant of anything God has to say. Jesus commanded His followers to impact the world for Him, and that involves telling others what Jesus and the rest of the Bible says about moral issues. Jesus said that believers would be persecuted for His name sake. I have often wondered that if we are not being persecuted it means that we are not obeying Jesus’ command to be salt and light. Few issues create as much furor in our society today than the issue of judging. If you want to get someone mad at you really quickly, just say that you think they are wrong about something they've said or done, or about an opinion or belief they have. When you do that, you are instantly accused of being judgmental and intolerant. Dare to share your opinion about something, and you're faced with "Who are you to judge? Remember, Jesus said, "Don't judge lest you be judged." And they're right - Jesus did say that. But they're also wrong in the insinuation that Jesus was condemning the entire concept of judging.
Not all judging is bad. This flies in the face of everything our society is trying to tell us about judging. This is important to grasp and understand. Can you imagine someone on trial for murder, and one of the jury members stands up in the middle of the trial and says, "I'm sorry, but I have no right to judge this person. It could be that he was destined by God to murder this person, if he did it at all. And who am I to judge him and his motives? Maybe God made him a murderer. We should just set him and all the other prisoners free, because we are not in a position to judge other people's actions." After this person was removed from the courtroom by the big guys wearing white coats, the trial could go on. Part of our job in society is to judge between good and evil, and to reject that responsibility is to invite anarchy and ruin. Most folks, when referring to judging, however, are discussing social issues like drinking, gambling, homosexuality, abortion, etc. But the principle is still the same. We're to make judgments, and we're to make them using the right measure.
People judge all the time. Ask anyone if they think that rape is good or bad. Except for the rare whacko who thinks it's good, you will find that everyone thinks it's bad. Each of those people has made a moral judgment. They have judged the act of rape to be bad, which means they also have some sense of what is good.
Go back to the courtroom example for a moment. It's absurd, right? But it's amazing how people are willing to say that it's okay to judge in some areas but not in others. It's very interesting when people tell us they are "not judgmental." What they mean is that they try not to condemn people or their actions or opinions. On the surface, that may be okay. But what they really mean is that they think it's okay to do whatever "that" is. Just pick any of the hot election-year issues. That will keep the “discussion” going for some time. Some accuse the League of being silent on some moral issues and focus on just a few. It is important to understand that the moral and family issues the League is focused on are the ones that have been made the law of the land with plans for more. Those advances must be turned around if we are to preserve our children, the institution of marriage, and the family.
People can look at the same issue and some will judge it to be good while others will judge it to be bad. In either case, both have made judgments. At the League we have come to understand that "non-judgmental" people are extremely judgmental. They just refuse to recognize and admit it. They are extremely judgmental and intolerant of any viewpoint that disagrees with their own. They get involved in name calling and compare promoters of righteousness with tyrants. And that is the height of hypocrisy! People judge all the time, whether or not they realize it. The question is what they are using as their measure of right and wrong.
The views of society are not reliable. They shift with the wind. Society is wrong many times. Often what they accept today will be condemned later. Truth is not determined by majority opinion; what is accepted in society is not a rule of whether or not something is "right."
Here's something that may help people when they are accused of being judgmental: They can respond by stating that they are not the one being judgmental - God is. He has spoken about something and He has judged it to be right or wrong. If they don't like it, then their disagreement is with God, not the person quoting God, and they should take it up with Him. As believers, our job is to communicate what God has said, and to do it in a reasoned and reasonable manner.
And here's why this is so important: if Jesus is right, then the world is in a lot of trouble, both now and when the end comes, because the Bible is the standard God will use to judge everyone. God created Heaven and He created mankind. He has the right to set the rules and the standards. Mankind does not have the right to tell God He's wrong.
We are commanded by Scripture to make righteous judgments, based on the timeless truths of the Bible, not on the changing whims of society. Are you ready to become courageous and speak the truth in love?
Chuck Colson makes good sense in his Breakpoint article entitled Why We Whisper. View it HERE.
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