"Do not judge!" - What does it mean in the Bible? Are we to judge or not? - Podcast Episode 141

Welcome to the Got Questions podcast. On this episode, we're going to be tackling a question that really has two sides to it.

That's the question of judgment. When are we to judge? When are we not to judge? And how are we to judge?

So joining me today is Gwen. Gwen is the Associate Editor for Got Questions Ministries.

She oversees our compellingtruths .org site, and she's also the, I guess, the coordinator for all of our volunteers who are able to answer all the questions we receive.

Also Nelson, he is the Director of Video Content for Got Questions Ministries.

So Gwen Nelson, thanks for joining me, and I know you two have dealt with questions along these lines quite a bit, just as I have.

Let me start out by reading a couple of relevant scriptures that will really provide the basis, the guideline for our conversation.

First I wanted to read Matthew 7 verses 1 through 5, which reads, Judge not that you be not judged.

For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you used, it will be measured to you.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but 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 a 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.

These verses really instruct us to not judge hypocritically, to not judge others for something that we are personally struggling with ourselves.

And then also, just a few verses later, same chapter, Matthew 7 verses 15 to 20, says,

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?

So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruit.

This verse is instructing us to judge other types of fruit. Based on the fruit, you can judge the intentions of the person delivering the message.

This is how we can discern false prophecy from biblical prophecy. And one more verse, 1

Corinthians 5, 12, says, What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?

Are you not to judge those inside? The implication of this verse is that yes, we are to be judging those inside the church.

So Nelson, why don't you start us off? What's some things that stand out to you in these passages in terms of when we're to judge, when we're not to judge, and how we are to judge?

Yeah, this topic comes up all the time, doesn't it? And we have people who might use even these passages that we just read.

You know, for instance, Luke 6, verse 37, Do not judge. And people will quote that all the time, and they'll use it as a defense, many times for their own actions, and sometimes even for very blatantly sinful actions.

And so it comes down to, you know, we have a scripture that tells us, in part, do not judge.

But of course, like we've learned so many other times, you can't just pull certain parts of scripture out that you want, right?

I mean, the Bible can say many things out of context, but we need to make sure that we study and understand and read the

Bible in context. And it makes a huge difference. And like the passages we just read, there are moments when we are to judge.

For example, we're able and called to see when something is good and when something is evil.

In Hebrews chapter 5, verse 14, it says, But solid fruit is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by consistent practice to distinguish good from evil.

And so we need to judge. We need to understand what good is and what bad is. And of course, the scripture defines that clearly.

But when we come up to a question, a thing, a predicament, a person, a behavior, we need to use our discernment, knowing scripture to judge whether or not the behavior is correct.

And the same thing comes when we listen to teachers. Scripture reminds us also to be aware of the people that we listen to and that we're being taught.

We need to, again, distinguish between true prophets and false prophets, true preachers of the word and those who aren't preaching the word correctly.

And so there are moments definitely when we are called to judge. And so the scriptures do not say there is never a time or a place that a

Christian should judge another Christian. But there are many times where that is done out of context, and typically it's done hypocritically.

We might place a higher standard on other people than we even place on ourselves.

And so we're familiar with the passage where Jesus tells, you know, first remove the splinter out of your own eye or the log out of your own eye before you make a comment on the speck of dust in someone else's eye.

And so those are the grounds that we have to be very careful. Use scripture to judge, but don't judge hypocritically.

And we have a lot of passages that we've just listed that kind of distinguish between those things. And I think one other distinction is, yeah, you've pointed out using scripture to judge.

And really what we are judging most is like is a teaching or an action or behavior.

I mean, we don't see other people's hearts. And so we can't judge like, oh, this person is saved or this person isn't saved or, you know, how

God like feels about that person or what he's doing in their lives. Paul says, but with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.

In fact, I do not even judge myself for I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.

It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the

Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Then each one will receive his commendation from God. So when we're trying to make those like eternal judgments or the state of someone's heart, that's just not our business.

But when we say this is a false teaching or this is a behavior that goes against God, those can be good and true judgments.

Yeah, they're based on God's word. The one I always think for that is 1

John 4, 1 through 3. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess

Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now in the world today.

So we have these very clear guidelines for this is truth, this is compatible with the word, and this isn't.

But that's a separate issue from like condemning a person. So often the do not judge lest you be judged versus is used kind of as Nelson was talking about to like end our ability to speak into an issue that people who are engaged in clearly unbiblical, ungodly, immoral behavior will use it.

Who are you to judge me? Or the Bible says, do not judge. Keep your opinions to yourself.

And that's not at all what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7. Clearly he's talking about judging hypocritically.

Don't utter a judgment on someone that you yourself are guilty of. Don't judge.

As Gwen is saying, don't judge a person's heart. Just because you can biblically condemn a person's behavior doesn't mean you can know that person's motives or know that person's heart in regards to why that behavior is taking place.

So there's clearly an instruction to judge and to be discerning, to test things, to test the spirits.

But there's also the balance of not to do that hypocritically. And some people struggle with, well, how can

I judge anyone when I'm not perfect? And clearly perfection is not the standard for whether we're judging something or else the

Bible wouldn't be instructing us to judge. But that's a struggle I often see in people who ask questions in that they recognize their behavior is wrong and they want to say something, but they feel like it'd be hypocritical for them to say something when they themselves are struggling.

And so maybe help me with this. What's the balance here with we're instructed to judge, not to judge hypocritically, but how can we judge when we ourselves are guilty of maybe not the same sin, but other sins?

Well, ultimately we should be judging behavior. We should be judging whether something is sinful or not.

We're not judging. We can't judge someone's motives and their heart. We don't know this, and God knows the heart.

We don't, and I think that's where a lot of believers fall short oftentimes when they are hypercritical of other people.

Oftentimes they will not just say what was done perhaps wrong, but then they will immediately move on to, you are this or you are that, and that's judging motive and saying you did this sin because you are this, not because you're a fallen sinner just like me.

I think we need to remember as we look at other people's lives and things that they may be falling into, sin that they may be doing, we ourselves are not perfect.

That's right. We're not perfect ourselves, and that doesn't make us unqualified because if that were the case, no one would be able to speak into anyone else's life because no one is perfect except for Jesus Christ Himself who lived a sinless, blameless life, but we don't judge

Him on the standard of our own perfection. We judge Him on the standard of God's perfection, and when we do that, we do it for a real purpose which is to build them up to point out sin and to steer them towards Christ, and so we speak the truth in love as Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15 commands us to, to speak truth in love, and so that's

I think what we need to remember even if we don't feel adequate. Perhaps a lay person sees legitimate sin in maybe a pastor, so how do they approach that?

A quiet conversation with him would be the perfect way to say, hey, I've noticed these issues. I myself am not perfect.

I've failed and fallen in other things, maybe the same thing, but I'm just letting you know, brother, that behavior according to Scripture isn't right, and how can

I help you turn from that particular thing or from that sin, and you may be teaching someone at the moment.

They may not even know their behavior is in fact genuinely sinful, and just lovingly pointing out a

Scripture or how God does not like and appreciate that how it is sin might in that moment right away convince them to repent and turn towards Christ.

Well, a few things come to mind for me. One is, so Nelson, you've been describing how it happens is kind of it's that spirit of humility, and even you know like I've fallen in other areas or maybe even this area, and maybe that's why

I notice that it's a struggle or a sin for somebody else because I've noticed it in myself, and sometimes that can be hypocritical of, oh,

I really struggle with this, so now I'm hypercritical of other people who struggle with it, and I'm going to judge them because I don't really want to deal with it myself, but sometimes it really is you've examined yourself, which the

Bible calls us to do in several places, and realize, man, like I really have a problem with pride or something, so you notice that in other people and then can go and tell them, you know, this is a real struggle for me, and I see you doing some of the same things that I've been convicted of, so I just wanted to let you know, but you're doing that in that spirit of humility, and so that brings me to Galatians 6 .1,

so kind of that why would we point this out to other people, and it says, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. So I think sometimes that hypocritical judgment comes when we're like, oh, you're doing that thing wrong, and you shouldn't do it.

How could you possibly? But in Galatians, it's talking about be gentle and be aware of yourself, either, you know, the temptation to pride that, oh,

I don't struggle with this, or the temptation to fall into that same sin with them, so yeah, so I guess to me that's how we help point out those things in other people, not hypocritically, even though knowing that we ourselves are sinners.

Something to think about too is, you know, what is our motive for pointing it out? You know, are we genuinely desiring their benefit, and to build them up, to edify them, to lead them to Christ, or is it just to cut them down?

You know, that's where our own pride comes in hand. I know more than you. Clearly you're doing this wrongly, and so I think before we ever say anything, we really need to judge our own motives, like why do

I want to do this, and I think that might provide that moment of stop in our hearts and in our tongue, you know, and be able to speak rightly then, and approach that person in a spirit of humility, because we're supposed to offer grace and mercy.

We're supposed to forgive just as Christ has forgiven us when we seek His forgiveness, and we should be just like that, correcting others or gently nudging them, reminding them, showing them that that particular behavior isn't right, even though we ourselves fail and are failing constantly.

Because hopefully when you open up that dialogue in a loving way, they then will also feel able, you know, and invited to speak into your own life in the same way, and a true person of humility would want that.

They would invite that. They would want the other person also to look introspectively into their own lives, to say, hey, what is it in me that you see that may not be coming as well?

Yeah, and I think that's so true. Like when our motive is really for this person and for their good, and, you know, when it comes to the issue of sin, when we really believe

God's ways are best, I mean, you know, obviously there is the importance of honoring God and just doing what's right and what

He calls us to because He's worthy of that obedience, but it's also true that God designed us, and obedience to Him actually brings joy.

So we'd want to help other people out of sin because that will actually give them freedom.

So when our motive really is love rather than I'm better than you or I know more than you, the other motive that I think is important in judgment, specifically when we're talking about teaching, is protecting other believers.

I think of, you know, pastors are called to protect the flock, and so that is protecting from false teaching.

So yeah, they do need to be judging the teaching of others, and we as people who are learning, you know, need to be like the

Bereans. Is that really what the Bible says? Because we want to know what's true, not just what other people say.

Absolutely, yeah. I think this do not judge concept,

I love how scripture clarifies that we're not to judge hypocritically in that passage itself, but then elsewhere in the passages instruct us to judge, talk about all the things that you,

Gwen and Nelson, I mentioned, to judge in a spirit of gentleness, to judge with restoration in mind, to judge with helping a person to achieve victory in the sense of let's carry our burdens together, judging in a spirit of humility and not recognizing that this is something that we've either struggled with or could very well struggle with.

So all those things help us to understand Jesus' command, don't judge this way, instead, judge this way in these situations.

And I think that's a very important distinction for us to make. But I didn't want to miss something in this episode in that there's another side to this that I think we've all experienced it personally, but we also experienced it a lot and got questions where people are hyperjudgmental.

And this is when someone finds something that probably isn't even a judgment, but they become so aggressively judgmental that it gets over the top.

It's far beyond what scripture gets to. They're actually judging the person's heart and motives, which they can't possibly know, to see someone who's made a mistake or a poor teaching and then assume the absolute possible worst scenario in everything in that person's life.

And this is just as dangerous as the other side of the equation. So how can we, or what is the best way that we can judge biblically without going to this extreme of being hyperjudgmental or focusing so much on condemnation rather than restoration?

I think we really have to look at how we approach things, again, the motive of it all.

I know from my own experience, both online and as a pastor, the way

I'm approached when my errors are pointed up or whatever it is, or assumed errors, if it's done in the spirit of kindness, of gentleness, of mercy, of love,

I am open to it. Maybe it's embarrassing. Maybe I didn't notice or it was a mistake, and that doesn't always feel good of course, but at least

I don't feel attacked. I don't feel like I'm being cut down. I don't feel like my motives themselves are put on display and being declared as if if I've done something wrong, all of a sudden

I am genuinely an evil person, and I intended to be that way, and I'm seeking to do that and secretively handling

God's word in a bad way or something like that. So I've been on both sides of this where someone has corrected me gently, and that makes the world of a difference, but especially online, for instance, in the comment sections and things like that and articles, the names that I've been called, just in those comment sections, the insinuations, the accusations, the judgment calls, they're incredibly harsh, incredibly critical, and they're just painful, and it feels like an attack, and it's hard to respond to an attack because when anyone's attacked, they put up their defenses.

They try to hide. They get away, and that's not how a brother and sister or brother to brother, sister to sister, however it is, should communicate at all, and so I would hope that people understand that there's a real person that you're talking to, and if you're bringing up a genuine concern, do it lovingly and kindly because what if your mean comment, your mean accusation drove that person, say, out of the ministry or drove that person further into depression or further into a sin?

That's not what you wanted, and I don't think that that wouldn't please God at all, and so it takes a lot of care and love when gently reminding, correcting, even rebuking someone.

We ought to do that in the spirit of love, hoping that they would see the error of their way and come back to Christ.

I think in terms of how do we ourselves make sure that we do that and don't get to the point where we're super judgmental about one thing and start condemning a person.

I mean, I think that really has to do with our own walk with God and our humility and teachability, which ultimately is the work of the

Holy Spirit, but I'm reminded of Hebrews 4, 12 through 13, says,

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So when I'm remembering, you know, ultimately I answer to God and I'm trying to follow him and represent him, then that helps me, you know, see people as people.

Like, these are other image bearers of God. How should I approach them? Or remember, yeah,

I should love others the way God has loved me. So how do I restore them gently? I think one thing that's maybe a little harder on this is how do we stand up for truth, like, confidently and, you know, so speak against false teaching directly without making it seem like anybody who follows that false teaching like is an idiot or the people that teach it are evil and they're out to get you and they're purposely deceiving.

So, like, I think sometimes, especially because in our culture, people aren't always very good at separating this idea is wrong versus the people who follow this idea.

I'm not saying anything about them. I'm just talking about the idea. And we've lost that ability a little bit.

So I think there's some finesse to be able to separate the ideas and vehemently, you know, stand up for truth there from the people who might be deceived by them or maybe even are intentionally deceiving others.

Do you guys have tips for how you do that? For me, it comes down to maybe three principles.

And even if I give these three, probably a fourth one will come to mind. But first of all, do you have the relationship with this person to speak into his or her life?

Random comments from a stranger online. For most people, it's highly unlikely it's going to be something you're going to listen to because you don't know this person.

They don't know you. It's really hard to want to listen to criticism from a complete stranger. So Gwen Nelson and I, in addition to being coworkers,

I think we're also friends to the point that we could speak into each other's lives and have a criticism or a judgment be received.

But complete strangers, think twice before you seek to engage in a judging scenario because it's likely not going to be received.

And second, it's sort of a pick your battles. Is this worth bringing up?

And truly in the grand scheme of eternity is criticizing a person or making a judgment about something they're doing in this particular station, is it really worth bringing up?

Some people take it on themselves to be the judge, jury, and executioner on things where ultimately that's between that person and God.

Not every sin issue in someone's life or mistake that someone's made or a false teaching, not every single one needs our input on.

So we need to be more discerning with that. And maybe third, just a focus on if our goal is restoration, can you really envision the way bringing this up have a positive outcome?

Do you see bringing up an issue as I truly think this person will listen to me, it will have an impact, and it will point a person towards Christ and to His Word rather than just be received as mean or cruel or critical or anything like that.

So kind of those are the three principles I tend to go by. And my tendency is not to say something when

I should, which I know isn't a good place to be either. And for other people, I noticed they tend to speak into situations where it's not, that's not going to end pretty, so to speak.

So trying to find that balance, I'm not saying this is easy, but it's not easy for me. I don't know it's easy for anyone, but you have to be discerning about when we judge, how we judge, and in what spirit we judge.

Because if our goal is restoration, if our goal is spiritual growth, if our goal is to point someone towards Christ and to His Word, there are multiple factors that play into whether one, that judgment is necessary, and whether that judgment will be effective.

Well, I think that's really helpful when you're talking about approaching an individual person.

And, you know, in Matthew 18 is always the go -to of like you go to that person first and all those kind of things.

One thing that I think about when talking about, you know, broader stuff, especially for us, I mean, we write articles on things, including false teachings.

So how do we sort of warn other people or share the truth and point out falsehood without being judgy?

And for me, it comes down to being precise about what we mean and what we say.

And so it's just pointing out something, you know, this is what's said here. This is what the Bible says. It doesn't connect.

And then also not painting with a broad brush. You know, we don't say, oh, every church is like this or everybody does this or using, you know, like superlatives of making it sound worse than it is.

So, yeah, so that comes down to the precision thing. And yeah, and then there again, just like making it clear, we're talking about the idea and the teaching, not necessarily the hearts of the people involved.

Yeah, we have to be careful to have those two things separate, the person and then the behavior or the idea.

Just because so -and -so said something doesn't mean that they themselves are something else, evil, for instance, or whatever it may be.

They just may be mistaken in the teaching. They maybe have looked at a part of scripture and not seen other relevant passages or have just think differently than you do on some topic.

We think about just things that, you know, every political season, you know, the way the media paints people, like say, for instance,

Republicans and Democrats, and they say, all Republicans are this way. All Democrats are this way. And that's not a fair assessment at all.

There's a huge range of people, millions of people in both of those camps. And to paint every single one of them in one light, just because of a, you know, perhaps the way they voted last year, isn't fair to that person.

We really need to be able to address the person in a kind, loving, merciful way.

But if there's a specific behavior that's there, then address the behavior. And what I find is always helpful is not looking at someone and saying, you're doing this.

You know, your intentions are this. I find a lot better to say, here's what

I noticed. I see this happening. And in scripture, it says this.

And you kind of bring that to them and let them make the assessment. Let them understand what's happening, you know, versus saying, what you're doing is wrong versus say,

God's word says this here. How do you think your behavior is matching with that?

And that's where we can create a loving dialogue. Something else I think of a lot of times is giving people just the benefit of the doubt.

I think too often, we are so quick at just seeing something, seeing behavior, perhaps seeing a moment of weakness in someone and just immediately making a critical, harsh judgment on them without talking to them, without understanding the full story, without knowing where they're coming from or how much they in fact know about even their own behavior or what they're going through.

Giving someone the benefit of the doubt when you approach them and then moving on from there is a far better way than to assume you know everything, all intentions, all behaviors, all the reasons why.

It just makes a huge difference, I think, when we approach people in that sort of way. Yeah.

And in the internet age, I mean, Nelson, you touched on this briefly, taking quotes out of context is huge.

With so many Bible teachers, if you listen to a 45 -minute video, you can find a five -second snippet where by itself is really bad, but then you understand the greater context of what the person was saying.

Like, oh, well, that makes sense. So not taking things out of context in terms of, okay, in what context did this person say this or why was he or she teaching this thing and what's the full story, that is huge.

So many criticisms that we'll receive that got questions, hey, did you hear that this famous teacher said this?

And we go look it up and it's like, oh, yes, those may have been the exact words that he said, but if you read the full sermon or the full teaching or read the entire book, he's actually saying the exact opposite of what you think he or she is saying.

So that's hugely important. And even can go back to, if you hear that someone said something, go straight to that, the source, talk to he or she and say, hey,

I heard, did you say this? Did you say that? And if so, what was the context rather than just jumping to the conclusions of, yeah, that person said that and they meant it exactly how this other person is portraying it.

So those are maybe some other pointers in terms of things that happen in the internet with everything being recorded, everything being in video, everything being in writing.

It's so easy to misunderstand a person's intent by what they said if you just focus on the words completely out of context.

So I think that's another really good pointer for all of us in terms of how we judge and as you said,

Nelson, giving other people the doubt. Yeah. Mistakes happen and we all will make mistakes and teachers are held to a higher standard.

So for instance, we've got questions ministries. We provide answers and we teach them. We make videos and have podcasts like this and sites like BibleRef where we explain the

Bible verse by verse. It's a big responsibility to do all of these different things, but while it's a big responsibility and while we may be held at a higher standard because we are teaching in that capacity, in that regard, still when people come up to us and find an error, it's not surprising that there can be an error.

Many times it's just an editing error. Maybe the wrong verse was quoted by mistake, the wrong verse number or something like that.

And so again, just being merciful when people make mistakes, even your pastor.

I mean he may have a sermon and maybe that particular sermon is off. Maybe he hadn't studied enough.

Maybe it was a rough night and he wasn't able to get things done properly or research the passage in the way that he should, and there are a lot of things that could surround that.

Maybe he should have, but the idea to go to him right away and criticize and rebuke and assume all sorts of different things is not the way to handle that.

A loving, compassionate, caring, merciful way is a way to approach something and say, hey, did you see, did you notice, are you aware, how are you, how can

I help you in these areas is a far greater way to deal with those types of issues.

I think one thing too, so when our motives are right, yeah, people are going to receive it a lot better and especially when we deliver it compassionately and gently or like you've said,

Nelson, offer to help. What's going on? How can I help? But I think too, when we ourselves are teachable,

I mean especially in relationships when we've demonstrated, hey, I'm willing to be corrected, then it

I feel like makes you more believable or makes it easier to palate when you correct somebody else because you're recognizing

I'm not above, you know, I'm not above correction here. So like I would invite the same behavior back toward me, just makes it easier.

So I hope as you hear this episode, this episode of this podcast, you hear us that we're by no means claiming to have this perfectly figured out and we all struggle with the issue of judgment because the

Bible does call us to make judgments about sinful behaviors, about a false teaching.

The Bible also tells us to not judge hypocritically, but to judge in the spirit of love, to judge with restoration in mind, to judge with in humility and with gentleness.

And that's, this is not easy. That's why there are so many different questions about this. So many of us struggle with the issue.

So hope our conversation has been edifying and encouraging to you. Just even see that, you know, we, we struggle with this as well.

Both judging in terms of personal relationships we have, but then also making judgments in articles we write or videos we post.

It's not easy to get the attitude just right. So that's our goal. That's what we strive for, but we fall short and that's what makes this journey difficult.

But that also gives us comfort in knowing that we all suffer from these same temptations, these same struggles.

But God is faithful and he helps us through it. And even when we judge wrongly, he can turn it around and bring about a great good from even our mistakes in this area.

So, so Gwen, Nelson, thank you for joining me today for a very important, but a somewhat difficult conversation and stuff that we've both, all three of us have experienced where we've failed in this area and others have failed us.

So a very personal topic as well. So this has been the Got Questions podcast on what the

Bible talks about in terms of judgment, how to judge, how not to judge.