1. Common-Sense Christians

16 January 2006

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way as you judge
others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to
you. 3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let
me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your
own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 6 Do not give dogs
what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample
them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6,
NIV)

The passage contains two extremes: judging too harshly, and not judging at all. Many a Christian leader has pointed out that it is wrong to assume that Christians should not judge. The only people who bandy about verse 1, usually in the antiquated, if poetical, language of the King James Bible (“Judge not, that ye be not judged”), are unbelievers. I deeply believe that they do not understand what the verse says but rather use it as their mantra against Christians. It is a prime example of “selective research,” that is to say, finding those bits that you agree with and quote them out of context.

If we look at the context, say, the next verse, it becomes clear that Christians have the right to judge. In verse 2, Jesus says that we will be judged in the same way as we judge others. The assumption is that we do judge. We already know from other parts of the Bible that we will eventually be judged anyway. So the passage is a clear reminder, not that judging is bad, but that we use common sense when we judge.

In other words, we have to be discerning in our judgments. The example of the speck and the plank underscores the fact that we have to think about our actions. The first priority is to take the plank out of our own eye. Once we have done that there is nothing against taking the next step: taking the speck out of our brother’s eye. Jesus believes it is fine to see specks in other people’s eyes and encourages us to remove those specks. Just as long as we are doing it wisely.

The final verse in the section is a sad reminder, though. It reminds us that we will be judged harshly by some unbelievers, no matter what we do. We should not waste our time trying to convince or evangelize those who persistently scoff at God. In the process we might enrage them to such an extent that they take offense at our Bible thumping. That is not the way to deal with unbelievers. Sometimes you just have to walk away and leave it up to God. That is a tough decision to be taken in discernment.