Tag: judge not

Behold a Beam

Christ warns us about judging others (Mt 7:1); we’ll be judged in the same way we judge. (2) This doesn’t mean we’re forbidden from observing and acknowledging sin in others (1Co 5:11); it evidently means we’re not to sit as judges and decide what penalty someone else deserves because of their sin: we’re to leave that to God. (Ro 12:19)

The cure for this mindset is humility: esteeming others better than ourselves. (Php 2:3) So Christ asks us, as we sit in judgment of another, looking at the spec in their eye, why we aren’t focusing on the beam in our own eye, the problem lurking within which is much worse. (Mt 7:3)

This evidently implies that if we’re judging others, deciding what they deserve, looking down on them or disvaluing them in any way, we’re exalting ourselves rather than dealing with our own sin, those carnal patterns embedded within, of which we ought to be aware, which are more diabolical than anything we can observe in others.

If we aren’t being observant, and remain unaware of the wicked potential within our own hearts, perhaps we haven’t been striving against sin (He 12:4), perfecting holiness (2Co 7:1); maybe we’re content in lukewarmness. (Re 3:16)

Humility freely admits that, were it not for the grace of God, I might very well be the most evil person who has ever lived. (1Ti 1:15) It has practical experience in the arena (Ro 7:18), battling the carnal mind. (Ro 8:7) Evidently, the only reason I’m not sinning worse than everyone else is God’s gracious restraint.

When we’re looking up at others in a moral context, figuring our neighbor’s likely on higher ground in spite of the sin they’re committing, it’s much easier to acknowledge the fact of their sin without concerning ourselves with what they deserve, knowing we’d deserve worse if God left us to ourselves.

If we can find this perspective, we’ll be pleased when God takes pleasure in being merciful to others, and truly wish them the best, rather than becoming resentful and bitter. (Jon 3:10-4:1) Rather than exalting ourselves, we’ll pity those who haven’t found the freedom to walk in the light, as He is in the light, in fellowship with Him (1Jn 1:7), and pray for them. (Mt 7:44)

How can we help others trapped in sin while we’re still enslaved ourselves? (Mt 7:4) Once we’ve discovered God’s deliverance from sin, and are experiencing more and more freedom, we can help others find the way (5), if they’re truly looking for it. (6)

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Judge Not

Honoring and respecting others, treating them with kindness and dignity regardless of their behavior, is a given for me, and it goes without saying that I can’t approve or condone their sin. (Jud 1:23) It’s also clear to me that I’m to esteem others better than myself (Php 2:3), to consider others morally superior to myself. But what does it mean to not judge? (Mt 7:1)

Perhaps judging means to pass a sentence of some sort, as a judge; perhaps it’s taking that extra step, to go beyond simply observing that someone is breaking God’s law, and making a determination of how culpable and morally guilty they are in their sin, deciding how depraved and corrupt someone is and what they deserve for their transgressions. Perhaps it’s here, where we mortals are forbidden to go.

What tools do we have to evaluate moral goodness or badness in ourselves or others? How can I compare myself with another on moral grounds? If God were to ask me to rate my own goodness on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being absolute and total wickedness and 100 being absolute perfection, what grounds do I have to rate myself with any specific positive value? Is 1.0 low enough? How about 0.0001? Isn’t it naked presumption to give myself anything above zero? (Ga 6:3)

I have some idea what absolute perfection looks like in Yeshua, and I know I don’t measure up, but in attempting to determine how close I am to His perfection, or how far away someone else is, I find myself in strange and unfamiliar territory, trying to make measurements in a space where I have no means to calibrate distance.

Perhaps this is why Paul put so little stock in the moral evaluations of others, even his own, calling it “a very small thing.” (1Co 4:3) We cannot see another’s motives, why they’re doing what they are. We can’t know all of their wounds and insecurities and baggage, what makes them tick. It’s impossible for us to determine the moral quality of someone else’s heart; it’s a space where we just don’t belong; God occupies it well enough, all on His own.

So, God is telling me, “Judge not.”  Refrain from any attempt to measure or evaluate others on moral grounds. This posture doesn’t actually condone or enable anyone else’s sin, it’s simply the only default position that makes sense when I’m not equipped to make any kind of moral evaluation. Judgement is God’s job, and He doesn’t need my help.

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