From time to time you will hear one Christian tell another they should not judge others. "Judge not" is a pretty common quotation among believers, but universally prohibiting all forms of judgment and evaluation leads to confusion, in the least, and anarchy, in the extreme.
Among the spiritual manifestations listed in First Corinthians, we find "the ability to distinguish between spirits." This describes an ability to judge between subjects, to distinguish between persons, to discern. This is an essential role of the church and there are those who are especially gifted with this ability. Can we consider judging between spirits an essential role in the church, yet consider the more common form of judging earthly matters to be unimportant or even undesirable?
Let us consider some scriptures frequently used to prohibit any form of judging.
"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" (Mt 7:1-2). This is part of Jesus' teaching and, by itself, it clearly says not to judge others, because you will receive the same kind of judgement. However, consider the rest of the teaching.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 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" (vs 3- 5).
Did Jesus say you should not acknowledge that the other person has a speck in his eye? Or that you should not remove it? No, he said to clean up your own act before you help others clean up theirs. It is human nature to tolerate our own massive problems while expecting virtual perfection in others. Jesus places the emphasis on personal responsibility, but he does not rule out seeing imperfection in others, which is a form of judging.
Jesus also said, "I pass judgment on no one" (Jn 8:15), so some believers contend that we should not judge, either. If only they would read Jesus' next statement. "But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father who sent me" (v 16). Jesus made a similar statement earlier. "By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me" (Jn 5:30). So when Jesus said, "I pass judgment on no one," he was not saying he never used judgment. He never relied solely on his own judgment, but instead judged as his Father would.
Jesus judged people and their actions, especially the religious leaders, and he sometimes condemned their actions. He said they made mistakes because they didn't know the scriptures, and they created unnecessary religious burdens for people. He drove their businesses out of the Temple, which was a pretty strong judgment of their practices. He called them painted burial vaults and snakes, which was an extremely strong judgment of their motives. He told his followers not to emulate them by praying to attract attention to themselves or by taking the seat of honor at the table. By his teaching, Jesus showed the importance of judging others. If you do not judge a person's actions, how can you know whether to follow their example?
Another frequent quotation is Romans 14:13, "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another." If you look at the context, you see that Paul is addressing disputable matters, such as what different people consider sacred or acceptable. His point is that we are not to judge others as sinful because they have different religious standards.
By focusing on a few scriptures and ignoring their contexts, Christians have come to a conclusion that is the opposite of what the Bible actually teaches.
This article is part of a book chapter which addresses the following topics: