That Verse You Love: You might be judging not wrong
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Read More Upward Glances
It was just after 1 a.m.
I was returning to the hotel from a special church service with a friend, and as I walked into the hotel lobby, I stopped to talk to the front desk clerk.
He was really intelligent and thoughtful. He went to church as a kid, and had some exposure to the Bible, but he wasn’t a “believer.” And he knew all the verses I expected him to know.
Matthew 7:1 is one of those verses even unbelievers tend to know – even if they don’t know where it is.
Often, when Christians label a particular behavior as sinful and counterproductive to human flourishing, their opponents will offer a devastating rejoinder from our own scripture: “Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Do not judge?’”
Yes. Yes, it does. And if this verse stood by itself, it would indeed prohibit any Christian from labeling a particular behavior as sinful and counterproductive to human flourishing.
But it doesn’t stand alone.
Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)
In verses 3-5, Jesus actually seems to advocate judging others in the context of rigorous self-judgement.
He compares sinful behavior to having a piece of wood in your eye. He describes hypocrisy as complaining about some sawdust in one person’s eye when you have a board sticking out of your own eye. Jesus concludes: “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.” Jesus wants us to help each other be better.
Galatians 6:1 echoes this idea: “If someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.”
Restoration, though, requires judgement. The doctor must judge my symptoms to arrive at a diagnosis. He must judge the diagnosis as ultimately counterproductive to my own health and flourishing.
Finally, he must judge the best course of action to restore my health.
If the doctor recommends certain lifestyle changes to alleviate my hypertension – but he lives an obviously sedentary lifestyle and, on my way out of the office, I notice the leftovers of an unhealthy lunch – his advice will ring hollow.
But if the doctor is obviously very fit, and he relates how a similar course of action contributed to his own health, I’ll feel motivated and helped.
Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Luke 5:31) Our universal sickness is sin. Jesus came to take care of that problem, and he has commissioned us to help each other do the same.
We are more effective at helping others if we pursue spiritual health ourselves.
Ministry does not call for judgement from a superior to an inferior - the kind of judgement believers are sometimes guilty of, and even more often accused of. It calls for the judgement of one peer to another. Knowing what the boss wants, and acting like the boss, are two different things.
So, as we sat in the hotel lobby, I looked at a man I know Jesus loved and died for.
I knew that many of the things he shared with me were harmful to his well-being, and I didn’t want anything to harm him. I loved him, and I had already moved past many of the struggles he described.
The ones we shared, I confessed how we shared them.
When it was time for him to get back to work (and for me to go to bed), he thanked me.
I had judged his behavior, and he thanked me. I had insisted on truth, and he thanked me.
If you are not a follower of Jesus, please know that the next time a follower of Jesus points something out, regardless of their motive, Jesus has revealed a standard that is ultimately good for us.
“Sin” simply describes the set of attitudes and behaviors that harm us, and dishonor God, at the same time.
If you are a follower of Jesus, start seeing yourself rightly.
When my childhood pastor compared ministry to being a beggar who found bread, I remember thinking, “I’m not a beggar!” I’m convinced the only thing that qualifies me for ministry now is the fact that I changed my mind about that.
I am a beggar. I am completely dependent on handouts from the king. And beggars don’t look down on anyone.
But if I have bread, and the beggar next to me doesn’t, I would have to hate him not to share.