To Judge or not to Judge (Notes on Discernment)

Ah, these words from Matthew 7:1.  They’ve been used for so many weird and wonderful purposes throughout the years.

On the more extreme end are those who would say – never question what someone else is doing.  Just try to live your own life the best you can.  Never call anything evil (calling something “good” is apparently ok).

Not only is this completely at odds with the whole Bible, the way everyone actually lives, and common sense, it doesn’t even fit with the rest of Matthew chapter 7!

And besides, isn’t this the Jesus that said things like You brood of vipers!  How can you speak good, when you are evil?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34)  Oh, and He made good judgements as well, like O woman, great is your faith! (Matthew 15:28)

Sounds like Jesus was doing a whole lotta judging.

Ah, but that depends on what you mean by judging.  And that’s the problem.  A lot of people seem to take Matthew 7:1 and mould the word “judge” like Play-Doh to mean whatever they like – usually something that avoids the “s” word (sin).

But is Jesus really saying that we shouldn’t discern?  Of course not.  As a matter of fact, as the chapter goes on He explains – there’s a bad way to judge, and a proper way to judge.  If you want to go around doing whatever you want, for example, don’t complain about what someone else is doing.  Because you could easily be judged by your own words.

So what does the Bible say about good judging and bad judging?  Here are some examples you can check out…

• Bad:  Judging by your own homemade laws (“according to the flesh”), and judging someone’s eternal destiny.  Check out James 4:11-12, 1Corinthians 4:5, John 8:15, and John 7:24.
• Bad:  Hypocritical judgement – when you do the same thing or worse.  This is where Matthew 7:1-5 comes in.  See also Romans 2:1.
• Good:  Judgement based on God’s Word.  See Acts 17:11 and Luke 12:57.  Of course, the whole Bible encourages us to do this.
• Good:  Judging teaching/doctrine (again, in the light of God’s Word), as in 1Corinthians 10:15.
• Good:  Judging in conflicts and disagreements within the church.  See 1Corinthians 6:1-3.

This is a simplification, of course – you can certainly do “good” judging in a “bad” way.  But the point is that we shouldn’t take “judge not” out of context, in a way that neither Jesus nor the author of the Gospel intended.  A proper kind of discernment is not only acceptable biblically, it’s critical.

So go ahead and discern wisely.  If the apple is rotten, throw it out.