Besides perhaps John 3:16, one of the best-known Bible verses by those outside of Christ is Matthew 7:1 which says, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1 NAS95) These words have become a battle cry for many in the world. When a Christian points out sin in this world, here comes the reply, “Don’t judge!” When some behavior is decried as evil, you may hear the refrain, “Jesus said don’t judge!” What did Jesus mean by these words? Did He mean that Christians should not make determinations or statements about what is right and wrong, what is good and evil?
Of course, Jesus did not mean any such thing. Christians must be able to distinguish between good and evil. We must “abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9 NAS95) This requires that we must distinguish, according to the word of God, what is good and evil. A judgement must be made! We are to “have our senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14b NAS95). To have this discernment is a mark of Christian maturity. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, the apostle Paul instructs the church at Corinth to judge those who are within the church and to “remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5:13 NAS95) In this case of flagrant sexual immorality, the church needed to make a judgement about what was right and what was wrong and act accordingly.
What then did Jesus mean when He said, “Do not judge”? The context indicates that Jesus is speaking of hypocritical judgment where we would criticize and condemn another when we ourselves are practicing the same, or worse. We should not try to remove the speck in our brother’s eye when we have a wooden beam in our own. We must be careful to not harshly condemn one another, because by our standard of measure, it will be measured back to us.
But we must never let the world talk us into blurring the lines between right and wrong. We must never let them cow us into believing that there are no standards of morality. Christians must judge what is right and what is wrong according to the word of God and we must stand upon the truth.
—Scott Colvin
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