To Judge Or Not To Judge

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2(NIV)

Jesus meant this! I did find a modern translation of Matthew 7:1-2.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Unless of course you think that you’re right or smarter or better off, or older or.... …than me; then it’s okay to judge others in that scenario.

Alright, perhaps that isn’t found in any translation; however, as Christians isn’t that how we act?

We all tend to judge. One of the differences is how wise we are in allowing our judgments to surface. Those of you that are wise and can keep your lips sealed are able to keep judgments internal. Those of us that sometimes speak before we think tend to have our thoughts/judgments spread out before men for the whole to see.

My BFF is one of those people that can keep her judgments quiet and on the inside. I, on the other hand, tend to speak my mind. Decades of friendship later we joke that I speak what she thinks. The world around us sees her as this quiet, gentle spirit (which she is) and they see me as this outspoken chic (which I am).

If God looks on the heart, I don’t suppose it matters to Him whether my judgments are internal or external. It’s still a judgment.

In my teens the group I hung with tended to be judgmental. Our humor was sharp, witty, cutting and judgmental. I believe that we all had good hearts, but we were the poster children for the modified Matthew 7:2. We thought of ourselves as smarter, brighter, cooler, more together etc. If anyone, including a member of our group for some reason didn’t measure up we jumped all over it.

Nearly three decades later, oh how I wish I could have a do-over on those years.

Many variables combine to create the standard against which we judge people; heritage, beliefs, doctrine and experience to name a few.

Warning: Transparency Content (Again):

My variables caused me to judge divorced people.
Then I got a divorce. (See Blog: Less of Me)
I don’t judge divorced people anymore.
Sometimes divorce is the only answer.
If you’d like to debate (judge) the matter based on your variables, feel free to do so.

On our jobs, at our church or around the dinner table, judgments are everywhere.

A couple of weeks ago a few of us were emailing back and forth, encouraging each other and sharing what God had been speaking to our hearts. In one of the emails a friend responded with, ‘Thank you for not judging me in moments of vulnerability.’

I thought about this as I wrote this blog. Then the Holy Spirit started to speak to my heart.

I have many acquaintances and few friends. For my true heart friends, I know all about them, and they me, and we still love each other anyway. We make allowances for off days and love them through it. When my friend wrote about not judging in a moment of vulnerability my internal response was, ‘of course not, you are my friend and wouldn’t think of it.’

Then the Holy Spirit asked me if I am as non-judgmental of an acquaintance or a stranger as I am of my friends and family.

Internal judgments are insidious. We may simply glance at the person in the next cubicle or the next pew over and say, ‘well, they aren’t…….’

Judgment Alert!

The most insidious judgments I make are those that are cloaked in care.

We’ve all been there. It’s when we look at someone and think that they could do better, be better or accomplish more if only they would….. We rationalize it by wrapping it in concern for their well being, but in actuality, deep down we are making a judgment thinking that they are not measuring up to where we think they need to be.

Just when I think I’ve arrived at a great God destination the Holy Spirit puts His finger on something else. (See Blog: I Haven't Arrived, But I've Left)

Kim Angela