We live in a society where judgment is not tolerated. When a person makes certain choices or decisions in their life, they expect everyone to accept and affirm them. But if anyone pushes back or questions the decision, they act as if their identity and personhood is being denied, and they label their questioner as a hateful bigot. And this reaction is amplified if the person who pushes back is a Christian.
The Bible calls Christians to be kind and compassionate (Ephesians 4:32), to love their neighbors (Matthew 22:39), even if their neighbor is their enemy (Matthew 5:44). Because of this, many people, including many believers, think that Christians should not disagree with anyone publicly. Somehow, this is seen as being “unloving,” and if you do try to disagree with someone’s choices or actions, someone is sure to throw the common Bible verse at you: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1, ESV) However, this Bible verse is very often misused, especially in the situation described above. To find out the true meaning of this verse, we must look at it in context.
This prohibition of judgment falls in the middle of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount message. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus shares a variety of teachings about how the godly person should live, and many of his teachings talk about how a godly person should interact with others. At the beginning of chapter seven, Jesus begins talking about judgment-
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2
Seems pretty straightforward. Don’t judge others. If you do, you’ll be judged in the same exact way. Jesus then gives an illustration of why we shouldn’t judge-
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5
Why shouldn’t we judge others for their sin? Because we are also sinners, and sometimes our personal sin is far greater than someone else’s. We can’t judge others’ sins if we are living in sins of our own. It would be like pointing out a speck of sawdust in someone’s eyes when we have a whole log in our own.
And this is where the interpretation goes sideways. People read this paragraph of Scripture and assume that we can’t ever point out anyone’s sin because we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). They believe to do so would be hypocritical, for surely our own sins are no worse than theirs.
But to say that we’re never supposed to judge others would not be scriptural. In the Matthew 7 passage, Jesus does not say to never take out the speck in our brother’s eye. He just tells us to remove our own logs before doing so.
In the following verse, He commands His listeners to not throw their holy and valuable things to dogs and pigs (Matthew 7:6). During the time of Jesus, dogs and pigs were seen as unclean scavengers. You would never toss your most valuable things to them. In the same way, we are not to continue tossing our most valuable thing (the gospel) to those who consistently reject it. Yet, how will we know who the “dogs” and “pigs” are if we never judge someone’s attitudes and actions?
Later in the chapter, Jesus warns His listeners to beware of false prophets who are like wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). He goes on to say that you can recognize which teachers are good and which teachers are bad by what fruit they produce in their life (Matthew 7:16-20). Yet, how can you see the fruit in someone’s life without judging their actions? In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that judgment is not necessarily a sin-
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” John 7:24
We’ve already seen that we are to judge false teachers and unrepentant sinners, but we are also called to judge other believers throughout the New Testament. Christians are still sinners even after their salvation, and it is our responsibility to confront our brothers and sisters if they are living in sin (Matthew 18:15-17). We must judge those within the church, so that, if at all possible, they may be restored (1 Corinthians 5:12, Galatians 6:1). The book of James beautifully illustrates why this judgment is so important-
“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 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 5:19-20
When discussing this topic, Alisa Childers once wrote,
“Judging with right judgment is not only biblical and logical, but it’s also the most loving thing you can do.”[1]
Judgment is biblical. Jesus and other New Testament authors made it clear that there are instances when we need to judge. Judgment is logical. To assess someone’s heart, it is necessary to judge their actions. And judgment is loving. It may not seem loving, but it is, for it can and does prevent people from going deeper into sin and walking away from the church.
So, what is the real meaning of Matthew 7:1? Jesus is not saying that we are never to judge anyone. Instead, He is simply warning us against being prideful and arrogant in our judgments. We have to remember that we are sinners, too, and we can’t cast judgment on someone as if we’re better than them when we have our own sins we’re struggling with.
So, next time you’re hit with “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1), I encourage you to do three things. One, examine your heart and see if you’re in sin, if you have a plank in your eye. Two, determine whether the person you’re disagreeing with is actually in sin or they just have a different perspective than you. And three, if you’re not in sin but the person you’re disagreeing with is, defend why you believe you are right to judge them with truth from Scripture. Remember to judge out of love and concern for their spiritual wellbeing, and bring other witnesses, if the person refuses to repent. And finally, pray that God would draw you and the person you’re judging closer to Him through this action.
[1] Alisa Childers, “Biblical Judgment in a ‘Don’t Judge Me’ World,” last modified October 8, 2020, https://wellwateredwomen.com/biblical-judgment-in-a-dont-judge-me-world/.
