Should Christians Judge?

“Christian’s shouldn’t judge.” This is a phrase I hear often, sometimes from other Christians. This idea comes from the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew:

This verse is tricky, because if you read it alone (like many people do), it sounds like Jesus says to never judge. But this immediately makes more problems than it solves!

If Christians aren’t ever supposed to “judge.” How can Christians call each other out? In order to tell someone “you shouldn’t judge,” you have to make a judgment.

If Christians can’t use any kind of judgment, this is also a contradiction with many other parts of the Bible. An example of this is Jesus’ own words in the Gospel of John:

Here Jesus gives instructions on how not to judge, but then he also says to “judge with right judgment.” In this verse, Jesus is saying that some forms of judgment are okay.

So what is going on? Should Christians judge? Is Jesus contradicting himself here? We’re going to take a look at three points that are going to help us understand what’s going on.

1. Judging Can Be Good

Today, judging is generally considered to be a bad thing. If you are called “judgemental” or a “judgy” person, that’s not usually seen as a good thing. However, if I said you are a “good judge of character,” that would be a compliment. Even with how we use the word today, “judgment” can be a good thing. This is because, in everyday use, “judgment” simply refers to “deciding” or “forming an opinion.” Judging is the process of taking the information and evidence in front of you and deciding what is true or forming an opinion.

So if judging can be good or bad, how do we know the difference? This depends on how you judge. An example of this would be a job interview. Think about a job interview. Would you say that it is wrong for the interviewer to judge their candidate? No, not necessarily! How would you interview someone without judging them? The entire point of an interview is for the interviewer to see the credentials of the person interviewing and decide if they are a good fit for the job. That requires judgment!

Let’s say I am interviewing you for a sales job. I would be a good judge if I looked at things like your resume, work history, and conversational ability and used those things to determine if you’d be a good fit for the job.

However, let’s say that you happened to mention during the interview that you have a dog. After hearing this, I immediately assume that because of your dog, you will not be as devoted to your work, and so I don’t offer you the job. This would be an example of bad judgment because I am making big assumptions about you based on very little information.

2. Jesus Says Judgment Can Be Good and Bad

Now that we’ve established that judgment can be good and bad, let’s see what Jesus says about judgment. Here is probably the most popular verse in the Bible on judgment. And this is Jesus speaking:

Now we have to be careful here. If you just see this verse alone, it sounds like Jesus is saying to never judge. But, whatever Jesus is saying here, he is not saying that his followers can never judge. How do we know that? Like usual, we can’t take one verse from the Bible out of context, we have to look at all of what Jesus is saying. Let’s keep reading.

In these verses, Jesus is clarifying what he means when he says “judge not.” Here he gives the example of judging someone for a small speck in their eye, while you have a log in your own eye. There is a lot that can be said about these verses, but I want to focus on something important here: these verses tell us how to judge, not that we shouldn’t judge. This is clearly seen in verse 5:

Notice the purpose of removing the log out of your eye: “then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” There are times where it is necessary to make healthy judgments of the people around us. However, Jesus’ words here are important. Before judging others, we need to address the sin in our life. See how Jesus compares the “speck” in someone else’s eyes to the “log” in our own.

The problem is, it is really easy for us to see other people’s sin. Jesus’ words are important here, as they remind us to focus our judgment first and foremost on ourselves. In this analogy, Jesus also makes it clear that our own sin blinds us, which makes us a worse judge. We cannot be a good judge if we are too blinded by our own sin.

We are given more proof from Jesus that judgment is necessary just a few verses later in his teaching:

Here Jesus is warning his followers of false prophets. Notice how Jesus says to see these false prophets “You will recognize them by their fruits.” Here Jesus says that his followers will know if someone is a false prophet by judging the fruits of their work!

Jesus also makes it clear that judgment can be good in some of his other teachings, for example in the Gospel of John he says this about judgment:

Again, Jesus doesn’t tell us that we should never judge, but instead tells us how we should judge.

Lastly, Jesus gives an example of how to handle confrontation:

Here Jesus gives instructions for how to handle a situation where someone sins against you. However, this can only happen with you making a judgment about that person’s sin! Otherwise, the person who you were confronting could just tell you “Jesus says not to judge.”

The immediate context of Matthew 7:1 in addition to the larger context of Jesus’ teachings make it obvious that some level of judgment is not only acceptable, but good. But, what is also clear is that how we judge is important.

So, how should Christains judge?

3. How Christians Should Judge

The most important thing we can do before judging is to remember our own sin. This is important for two reasons.

First, it gives us humility, because it reminds us we are not better than anyone else. This is one of the biggest dangers with judgment. I can become so focused on the “speck” of sin of someone else that I forget the “log” of sin that is in my own life. Whenever I find myself judging someone else I try to remind myself “I am just as much a sinner, if not more.” The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians that we are all saved because of Jesus, not because of anything we have done.

The moment I use judgment to make myself feel better about my own sin, I am losing sight of the fact that I was saved by grace and not anything that I did. I do not deserve God’s grace more than any other person I see or judge.

Second, our sin blinds our ability to assess other people. It is not a coincidence that Jesus says the “log” is in our eye. Because of my sin, I will never be able to perfectly judge someone else, and this is important to remember.

When I find myself judging someone, I have found it helpful to ask: Why am I judging this person? There are times, like in a job interview, where this judgment is okay. However, most of the time I judge people, I don’t have a good reason.

If you are struggling to know if your judgment is fair, Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) makes this easier to understand. When you are judging someone, ask yourself: Would I want the people in my life to judge me this way?

Sometimes, the answer may be yes. There are many times in my life where people close to me have made judgments and called our bad behavior in my life. I am very grateful for those judgments. However, I can think of many times I have judged others in ways that I would not want to be judged myself.

Conclusion

Christians should judge. Judgment is not only allowable, but necessary to be a follower of Jesus. While reading Matthew 7:1 in isolation sounds like judgment is not allowed, the context of Matthew 7 and the rest of Jesus’ teachings make it clear that what is important is how we judge, not that we should never judge.

There are times as Christians that we need to confront sin and this requires some level of judgment. However, far too often judgment becomes a way to make ourselves feel better at the expense of others. When we find ourselves judging others, we need to ask why we are judging and if we would want to be judged that way. Lastly, we should remember the sin in our own lives and the great price Jesus paid to make us right with God. It is because of this that love should drive our judgment.

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.