Are YOU on the judgment wagon? If you are, this is one wagon you should fall off of. Are you the type that judges another person based on what you see? Of course you are – we all do this. The difference lies with what you are judging: the behavior, the rationale … or the person.
When you observe someone doing something you don’t approve of, do you immediately judge them negatively or do you start asking them questions about why they did what they did, what prompted them to act in a particular way, etc.? Sometimes in asking questions you not only find out the motivation of the person but aid them in discovering it too. Questions tend to be far less threatening to the other person than a critical reaction. Many times that approach allows for no ‘face saving’ by the other person nor a way to extricate themselves.
Judging is natural, and it isn’t all bad. Judging has beneficial aspects. In Corinthians Paul gets on the church’s case for not judging a fellow believer who ‘knew’ he was sinning. The operative word here is ‘knew’. However, in Paul’s next letter he tells the church that since the fellow confessed and repented – it was time to allow him back into fellowship. The obvious point is confess/repent and when that is the new behavior then it’s critical to accept the person – just like the Father forgives us.
Scripture does not give a blanket ‘no’ to judging. If you look at that scripture again (Matthew 7:1-2) Jesus identifies the context: “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” What basis are you judging? And what measure do you meet out? Those become the issues. It’s not ignoring or condoning sin or poor decisions or whatever is the focus – you can’t do this – but it is causing you to look at your own basis. You should always remember the next sentence… “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye.”
…but, what do you think? what do you believe?
