A Biblical Look at the Phrase 'Don't Judge Me'

Are we to judge others?  Most of us would define judging as “to pronounce a verdict concerning right and wrong.”  In order for any judgment to exist a standard must first be present.  Think about a math test.  A mathematical truth is that 2 + 2 = 4.  That is the standard.  If you write an answer of 5 on a math test, a big red X will testify that you are wrong.  You have been judged in light of the truth and found to have fallen short of that standard.  What about when we fall short of the standard of God’s word?  Should there be anything that testifies to that?

We often say things like “don’t judge me” or “I don’t want to judge” in regards to the actions of ourselves and others.  That’s what we say to keep the red X’s from testifying that our actions are wrong.  It’s our attempt to minimize a guilty conscience so we can continue in sin.  We quote Mathew 7 so fast people won’t know what hit them.  Is that a biblical application of “judge not”?  Or do we use that just to scare people into believing that if they dare point out our sin they are in violation of God’s word?

When we study the Bible what we find is that…Nathan judged David (2 Sam. 12), Paul judged Peter (Gal. 2:11) and the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:3), Peter judged Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8) as well as Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and the church at Ephesus judged those that claimed to be apostles (Rev. 2:2)…just to name a few.  In what way did they judge them?  They compared their actions to the word of God and proclaimed they were in the wrong. 

So what about Mathew 7:1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”  The point of this passage is that we are not to judge without first examining our own self.  The passage tells us to take the ‘beam’ out of our own eye so we can see more ‘clearly’ to cast out the one in someone else’s.  It is important to note that there truly is a beam in our brother’s eye…and we are supposed to take part in removing it…but only under the condition that we have first removed our own.

Paul ‘judged’ Ananias, the high priest, for violating the principle seen in Mathew 7:1.  Ananias had ordered Paul to be beaten for violating the law.  The problem was, Ananias was violating the law by commanding Paul to be beaten.  Paul tells him, “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?” (Acts 23:3)  Paul speaks of the severity of such a hypocritical offense when he writes, “And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” (Rom. 2:3)  What a heinous thing it is to condemn someone when we are guilty of the same!  Paul reassures that God’s judgment of such a two-faced action will not be escaped.

Perhaps the apostle John sums up proper judgment the best when he says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)  Our judgment should not be a hypocritical judgment, but rather a righteous one.  What is righteous judgment?  It is judgment that is right.  Right in the sense that it is biblical.  It is judgment that necessitates the calling out of actions, in love, that violate God’s word yet forcing us to examine ourselves first and foremost concerning the same.

We are to judge others in the sense that we identify and address sin when we compare someone’s actions to God’s word.  That is biblical.  To cease to do that will surely perpetuate the downfall of society.  To no longer acknowledge wrongdoing is to dim the light of God’s way in this dark world.  To make truth relative and to allow everyone to do what “right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 17:6) is to take away the safeguards that God’s law has given us.  The beam in our brother’s eye most certainly needs to be cast out and Mathew 7 puts that responsibility, in part, on us.  It is vital however that it not only be done in love, but also that before we point out the faults of others, that we first thoroughly examine our own selves in the light of God’s word.  The person we should scrutinize and most frequently judge is the one that looks at us from the mirror.

The rampant use of the phrase ‘don’t judge me’ stems primarily from the rejection of God’s word as the standard.  Perhaps it would be more accurate if we said ‘God’s word isn’t my standard, so stop trying to hold me accountable to it’. 

Whether we believe God’s word is the standard or not, it will be the standard by which men are judged in the end.  The child of grace will find in that moment just how precious the grace of God is and how incomprehensibly high was the price Jesus paid for his people to stand before God white as snow.  The wicked will see after all, that God’s word was indeed the standard all along as they are judged ‘according to their works’ in the light of God’s law.

May we recognize God’s word as our standard, be humble enough to accept judgment from it, and loving enough to distribute it without the spirit of pride…but only after we have first thoroughly examined ourselves.