To Judge or Not To Judge?
I.
To “judge” primarily
denotes to separate, select, choose; hence to determine and so to pass
judgment. The uses of the term in the N.T.
may be analyzed as follows.
Matt. 7:1-5; Lk. 6:37, 41, 42 What
are these Jews (4:25 – 5:1, to whom Jesus was explaining what a citizen in
His Messianic kingdom – 4:17, 23; 5:19 – was to be like) commanded not to
do?
What are they not to
judge?
[What is condemned here is judging that is
hypocritical (vs. 5; 6:2, 5, 16).]
Do you ever judge hypocritically by looking at the “speck” (shortcomings)
in another person without noticing the “log” (bigger faults) in your own
eye (life)? If so, why?
What does Jesus call
such people who do this (vs. 5)?
What should we do before we confront another person with their errors (vs.
5)?
Do you first deal
with/correct the faults or sins in your own life by confessing them to God (1
Jn. 1:9) and asking God to fill/control you with His Holy Spirit (Eph.
In light of verse six where Jesus Himself implies that we must regard (judge) certain individuals as being dogs and hogs, and of 1 Cor. 5:12; 6:1-5; Gal. 1:8, 9; Phil. 3:2; 1 Thes. 2:14, 15; 1 Tim. 1:6, 7; Titus 3:2, 10; 1 Jn. 4:1; 2 Jn. 1:10; 3 Jn. 1:9, it is clear that no wholesale condemnation of forming an opinion about (judging) a person and expressing it can have been intended.
Jesus Himself had
arrived at certain conclusions regarding scribes and Pharisees, and He did not
hesitate to express them (Matt.
What Jesus did condemn was for anyone to concentrate his attention on the speck in his brother’s eye and, while thus occupied, to ignore the log in his own eye. The Lord is condemning the spirit of hypocritical fault-finding, judging self-righteously without love. To be discriminating and constructively critical is necessary; to be hypocritical is wrong – Dr. William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary – The Gospel of Matthew.
Jn.
What might this
imply about your purpose for being left here after you’ve become a Christian,
especially in light of Matt. 28:19, 20?
Are you fulfilling
this command to evangelize, or are you wrapped up in criticizing those who are
trying to be obedient to Christ’s command to spread the gospel to the world? Why?
Rom.
2:1 The indictment brought against the Jew here is not
that he judged others (pagans) for
sins committed, but rather that he judged others for, what?
[The hypocrisy of the Jew is what is condemned here because he judged
others for the same sins of which he himself was guilty. “Therefore” – because those who practice willful sin are
worthy of death,
Do you ever do this
kind of thing (judging others for
something that you yourself do, only in a different form or area)?
If
so, when, and why?
What question is
asked in verse four, that obviously tells Christians that judging other
Christians (meddling or finding fault with other people’s servants, here
referring to the Lord’s servants or Christians, and condemning them as wrong)
is not what they should be involved in “when” dealing with amoral/neutral
issues?
Do you ever go
around judging (condemning as wrong and fault-finding) other Christian’s
liberty in Christ in areas that are amoral/neutral
when they are Christ’s servants under His Lordship or Mastership? Why?
In verse 10, the rebuke is derived both from what precedes, namely,
that Christ is Lord, and from what follows, namely, that it is before God’s
judgment-seat we all must appear (2 Cor.
5:10). The sin, therefore, resides
in the assumption that we have the prerogatives that belong only to Christ and
to God in judging. And our contempt or
despising of a Christian brother is here also condemned.
Do you ever despise other Christians because they do not do things the
way you do in areas the Bible is not clear or specific in?
Or, because they
don’t refrain from doing certain things that you think are wrong, even though
the Bible doesn’t specifically say they are wrong (e.g., drinking caffeine,
eating sweets or other “junk” food, watching the news on TV, going to G-Rated
movies or amusement parks, girls wearing make-up or jewelry, eating meat or
pork, having shoulder length hair for guys, playing cards, square-dancing,
girls wearing pants, getting a tattoo, drinking a glass of wine with a meal,
smoking a cigarette once in a great while, etc.)? Why?
[In verse 13, the
strong Christian (i.e., the one who is more biblically knowledgeable),
likewise, is told not to judge (find fault with and condemn as wrong)
the weaker Christian (the one who is less biblically knowledgeable) in
areas that are dealing with personal preferences or convictions, but that are
not sins per se.].
James 4:11, 12 What are we commanded not to do?
[To “speak against” is to destructively criticize, character
assassinate, and set oneself up as a judge because the outlook of others is
different from the prideful (context vs. 6) critic’s. This is different from constructive
criticism, restorative confrontation, or protecting the body of Christ (i.e.,
Christians in a fellowship/church group) from unrepentant, sinning
Christians, as seen in 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:16-18; 4:9-11; 3 Jn. 1:5-11;
Acts 15:38; 1 Cor. 5:3, 12.].
[The reason we are
commanded not to do this is because we are told to “love one another”. By
judging (fault-finding with condemnation) fellow Christians through
speaking evil against them, we are judging (finding fault with and condemning)
the law (saying, in effect, that our authority is greater than that of the
law’s).].
Do
you ever deliberately disobey the law (the Bible) by judging/condemning
someone for something the Bible doesn’t even say is wrong? Or, by slandering (making
false statements about) another brother/Christian? Or, by making negative,
unproven assumptions?
[To do so implies
that you believe that you are above the law.
James is not saying that we should eliminate constructive criticism,
but rather to omit criticism of others whose outlook or activities are
different from our own, but which are not sinful or unbiblical.].
Do you try to mold
people into adopting your own personal convictions in areas the Bible doesn’t either
comment on or have principles that could be applied to these areas? Why?
Jn.
[The believer in Jesus Christ
does not undergo process of trial or condemnation regarding his eternal
destiny, as Jesus already took the sentence of death for him in his behalf (1
Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21).].
And
what has already happened to those who don’t believe in Christ as their
personal Savior?
Which
of these is true of you? Are
you sure?
Jn. 16:8, 11 What’s
the Holy Spirit convicting the world of?
Why
is the Holy Spirit convicting the world concerning judgment?
What
difference does it make to you that Satan has been judged by God?
How
does it affect your life?
James
2:8, 12, 13 By the law of liberty (vs. 8
– the law of love and/or truth, Jn.
Aren’t you glad that it is by this law of liberty (love and/or truth) that you are to be judged by God?
What should knowing this effect in us (1 Jn.
Who
will judgment be merciless to?
How
merciful are you in your attitude toward others?
Can
you give a recent example? If so, what?
Acts
Are
you ever afraid of making judgments/decisions? Why?
Recently,
what was something that you had to make a judgment about?
1 Cor. 5:1-5 What had Paul already judged (passed sentence on),
vs. 3?
Do you judge (pass sentence on) Christians in your fellowship group who willfully and unrepentantly sin, especially in areas that affect others? If not, why?
1 Cor. 5:9-13 Are we to be involved in judging non-Christians, vs. 12?
Who’s going to judge outsiders/non-Christians, vs. 13?
Who are we to judge (pass sentence on), vss. 12, 13?
Does this contradict Matt. 7:1, and why?
If after judging (passing sentence on) the unrepentant, sinning Christian, he still refuses to change, what should the Christian fellowship group (church) do, vs. 13?
Jn. 12:47-49 What will Jesus’ word do at the last day to the person who
rejects Him?
Why? Are
you rejecting Christ and not receiving His sayings?
2 Thes. 2:8-12 Who will be judged?
Why?
When
you read or hear God’s truth as found in the Bible (specifically, the
gospel, Eph.
Why?
1 Cor. 6:1-5 What should a Christian who has a legal case against another
Christian do?
Why?
What
quality does the Christian you take a case to need to have?
Who
in your church/fellowship group has this quality?
Matt.
As mentioned earlier in 1 Cor. 6:2, 3, we Christians will judge the world as well as angels. How does knowing this affect your thoughts about God, your conduct, and your outlook on life in general?
Why?
Lk. 7:41-43 What was Jesus’ reply to the question which Simon had
answered correct1y?
How
adept do you think that you are in judgments when given a set of facts to
evaluate?
How
did you determine your answer?
Jn. 7:22-24 How should we not judge?
And
how should we?
Are your opinions/views (judgments) of others based on external appearances and guesses at their inward motivations for doing things, or are your opinions/views based on right, fair, and just evaluations of observable facts and reliable, unobservable information that’s factual?
If it’s the first, then what do you plan on doing to change?
[Notice that judging with righteous judgment is a command of Jesus’, so all judging isn’t wrong, as those who take Matt. 7:1 out of context would like you to think.].
Acts 4:1, 18-20 What did
Peter and John tell the religious leaders to do in regard to whom they should
give heed to?
When dealing with people who have wrong thoughts about you or what you’re doing, do you ever cause them to rethink their opinion by confronting them with the facts involved? Why is this good to do?
II.
To examine, investigate,
question, or estimate.
1 Cor. 2:14, 15 Why
can’t the natural man (non-Christian) understand the things of the
Spirit of God?
What
can the person who is spiritual do?
Why
is the spiritual man appraised (judged) by no man (the non-Christian)?
From
whose viewpoint are you appraising or “judging” things: God and the Bible’s,
His Word, or the non-Christian world’s?
1 Cor.
4:1-5 Because Paul views himself as a steward of God whose responsibility
is to his divine Lord alone, what does Paul think is a very small matter?
Does it matter to you what other people say or think about your stewardship to God, if you know that you’ve been faithful in your responsibilities to Him? How come?
How do you know that it didn’t matter to Paul if he came to an assessment of his own achievements (vs. 3)?
Do you ever get too introspective about the effect of your service for God?
How do you know that attempting to anticipate the judgment of the Lord on someone else’s ministry is what is being condemned here (vs. 5)?
Why can’t we properly pass judgment on other Christian’s service (vs. 5)?
Do you ever pass judgment on what other Christian’s service for God has effected? Why?
Gal.
6:3, 4 In our self-analysis, why should we compare our work and
ourselves at this time with what we were previously rather than to boast that
we are better than other Christians whom we compare ourselves to?
Do you ever play the “comparison game” so that
you can boast about how much better you are than someone else?
Why?
III.
To separate throughout,
distinguish, discriminate, discern, and hence to decide.
1 Cor. 11:23-31 What are we told to do in preparation for participating in
the Lord’s supper (communion service), vs. 28?
Do
you judge yourself (distinguish between what you are and what you ought to
be) before you partake in communion?
1 Cor.
When you hear a religious speaker talk about
spiritual things, do you think that it is wrong to judge them (examine and
discern the truth of their message), especially if you relate Acts
Are you examining the Scriptures daily to see whether those who are teaching you spiritual matters are biblically right?
If not, what do you plan to do?