“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
– Matthew 7:1-5, NASB
This passage is often quoted by people in the church to discourage correction of any kind. Christians are considered judgmental to address sin in any form. Is it wrong for us as believers to “judge” others? Let’s look at the Scriptures.
When reading the first sentence of the passage, one might misinterpret this to mean that judgment should not come in any shape or form. However, if one reads further into the chapter, one sees that there is a greater explanation. It talks about people who are judging others for the very things they themselves are doing.
For example, it would be like telling someone it is wrong to smoke when the person offering the correction has a heroin addiction. Judging a person like this is wrong because there is no self-examination from the accuser. I cannot say I would honestly take a person’s chastisement to heart if they did not have that area of their lives under greater discipline than me. I would in fact label them “hypocrite” just as the passage does and walk away, probably in worse shape than before the conversation had taken place. It is important to see if this subject appears anywhere else in the Bible.
I have learned that it is best to look at Scripture as a whole in order to gain a greater understanding. There are other Bible verses that talk about judgment. I will use one example that seems to contradict the “do not judge” stance many people in churches take.
John 7:24 states, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Why would God tell us in one place to judge and another place not to? God is NOT the author of confusion so we must conclude that these two portions of Scripture align. There seems to be criteria in both passages for how we are to correct others.
It is my belief that we need to stop judging based on our own opinions and prejudices and hold ourselves, as well as others, up to the standard given to us by God in His Word. We need to show our concern for a brother or sister who sins by keeping them accountable and this means by addressing the sin. This may not be comfortable for either party, but I believe it is necessary.
Addressing sin makes a person acknowledge it and then they must choose whether to repent or to continue in that sin and further hinder their intimacy with God. We see men addressing their brother’s sin in Scripture.
One great example is with King David. After he had sinned with Bathsheba and sent her husband to the front lines to be killed, Nathan confronted David with his sin. Jesus also confronted his followers. He corrected Peter when his thinking was wrong. Again we see this with the apostle Paul. He confronted false teachings and practices frequently in his epistles. All of these examples of correction had to do with men violating God’s Law.
Ultimately, what we do when we judge others should not be a matter of us proudly pointing out a person’s faults to make ourselves look good. We are also not to correct a person when our own spiritual lives are in greater disarray than the one whom we are correcting, but to show them that they have transgressed against a holy God and then to plead with them to repent. This I believe is a biblical practice and a helpful way to keep believers held responsible for their actions.
No comments:
Post a Comment