ARE WE ALLOWED TO JUDGE OTHERS?
Who hasn’t many
times heard other people say that it is wrong to ‘pass judgement’ over someone
else’s conduct, by calling them wrong or sinful?
Generally,
believers or not, think that to pass a negative verdict over other people’s
decisions, is an act of arrogance that presupposes a self-sense of superiority;
and that we should remain neutral on passing moral judgement on others.
At first instance,
this seems to be correct; but, what does the Bible say about passing judgement
on another fellow human’s conduct?
WHAT DOES
THE BIBLE SAY?
Surprisingly
enough, the Bible mentions two different attitudes on personal judgement of
others.
DO NOT JUDGE
“Do not
judge so that you will not be judged.”
Matthew 7:1 (See
also Luke 6:37, James 5:9; and others)
JUDGE
“All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness,”
2Timothy 3:16
(See also 1Corinthians 6:1-6).
ANALYSING
From the
teachings of Jesus and his apostles, we can see in the NT, a unanimous and
solid stand against passing personal judgement and subsequent condemnation on
other people’s conduct.
An explicit
passage that teaches this and gives us the reason, it may be Luke 6:37-38:
“Judge not,
and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven; … For with the measure, you use it will be
measured back to you.”
Luke 6:37-38
Jesus teaches
that since nobody is free of sin (John 8:7), people should not judge and
condemn a fellow human, since nobody has an immaculate moral stand to condemn
another person. We may not commit the same sin, but we sin in other ways, and
that makes us ‘sinners’ before God (Romans 2:1). And even in the case when we
may consider that our sin to be lesser than another’s, like when we lie, while
another commits murder; there is no guarantee that we may never do the same.
Judgment in this
circumstance, is born from a selfish sense of superiority against another. And
it gives a false sense of security, because from the same root, evil in our
fallen human nature, all kinds of sins are born (James 1:14; Romans 7:23-24).
When we act like
this, we are only promoting deceitfulness, pride and hardness of heart within
us. These things will only harm ourselves as much as it will harm our fellow
human. Instead of this, Jesus proposes mercy in our view of other people’s
faults and weaknesses, considering that we are also sinful by nature,
regardless of the severity of our personal faults, and that GOD will be
merciful to us, if we show mercy for others. Because “Mercy triumphs over
judgment.” (James 2:13). These principles makes us humble and grows love
and understanding for one another, seeing ourselves and others, as companions
on a same boat, heading towards the same port, who need to struggle together
through the elements to get there.
But having said
this, the Bible also teaches us to judge good from evil, in ourselves, as in
others.
HOW WE
IDENTIFY EVIL
AS much as the
NT teaches us not to be arrogant and condemn other people, it also teaches us clearly
to be able to judge and condemn ‘evil actions’, not under our own judgement,
but under the light of Scripture:
“Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It
is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”
Ephesians
5:11-12
Scripture
teaches Christians, who are the Church of God and the ‘Light of the World’ (Matthew
5:14-16) to denounce evil wherever we see it.
In order to ‘expose’
the ‘fruits of darkness’, we need to be able to have seen and judged the
actions of individuals and institutions, not according to our own ideas, but under
God’s mind, based on Scripture principles.
This kind of judgement
is not based on self-righteousness, but based on the Word of God. In other
words, we are called to see things as God sees them. That is why Lord Jesus
tells us: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge with righteous
judgment.” (John 7:24)
Clearly Jesus
does not forbid the act of judging and condemning sin, but we must do it
according to God’s view expressed in the Bible, and not under our own opinion
or sense of sinlessness. This takes away personal pride, and puts instead God
as Judge, putting ourselves not as judges, but only as channels of divine opinion.
Whenever we judge and denounce sin and evil this way, we become listeners of the
godly principle that condemns, receiving it as a warning to ourselves:
“Brothers,
if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore
him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
Galatians 6:1
Evil needs to be
denounced always.
Satan works in darkness
and in secret, always scheming traps for the capture of human souls. When we bring
evil to the open, we dismantle the program of destruction and corrosion the
devil sets up. It embarrasses the offenders and opens the possibility of
repentance and amendment for them. That is why we are always called to condemn the
action, but not the sinner. We must encourage and be ready to receive repentance.
We are not at war with people, but with evil. If we do not denounce evil, we
become participant by association, and indirectly, we set ourselves as part of the
program of destruction the devil has design for us.
CONCLUSION
Satan knows all
of these. And he is the one who has invented the excuse of ‘not judging’ at
all, distorting the teachings of our Lord, in order to makes us feel guilty or
passive, while he advances his evil cause on us.
We must judge,
according to Bible guidance, which is not our own judgement but God’s; and call
the offenders to repentance, and being ready to accept their repentance if they
do. That way we will have worked the will of God, recognizing evil, with God’s
permission and exercising mercy in accepting the repentance of our fellow
brother. Remembering that the interest of God in making this judgement, is not
the condemnation, but the salvation of the sinner.
“Let him
know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul
from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
James 5:20
Omar Flores.
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