The Church MUST judge righteously

Anyone who's slightly educated on the Bible knows that it says "judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1). Anyone who's more than slightly educated knows that this is not where Jesus ends His point. The passage continues to explain the first verse, all the way up to verse 5. Let's read the full passage:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Clearly, Matthew 7:1 is not intended to preclude any form of judgement at all. Rather, Jesus was preaching against hypocritical judgement. The kind of judgement that we do still see in the Church today (and to those Christians, I say stop it), but it is not the kind that is typically opposed by those who quote this verse. 9 times out of 10, those who quote Matthew 7:1 without at least alluding to verses 2-5 are either sinning, or supporting someone else who is, and they have been called out, whether directly or by conviction (more likely the latter, if we're talking about the internet). And as a dog who has just been told not to eat the cat's food, they're pretty cross about it.

Given that these people are often not wise enough to read more than one (convenient) verse, they are more than likely unaware of other verses on the topic of judging others. I'm going to go through some examples. There are other examples I have chosen not to list, partially for brevity's sake, and partially because I would like to encourage you to study for yourselves (2 Timothy 2:15).

The first very important example is John 7:24, which tells us not to judge according to appearance, but to judge righteous judgement. If we are to judge righteous judgement, clearly we are not forbidden to judge at all. In context, Jesus was scolding His persecutors, who sought to kill Him because He had healed a man on the Sabbath (John 5:1-9, 16). The Jews judged Jesus because He appeared to break God's law by healing on the Sabbath, but Jesus was telling them not to judge on the appearance, but to judge righteous judgement. He even backed up His statement by pointing out that they circumcised on the Sabbath, which would also appear to break the law. Therefore, if they judge righteously, they would see that Jesus had done a good thing. What's especially amazing about this is who's talking to whom. What possible right would the Pharisees have to judge the LORD? Jesus could have smitten them with a jolt of lightning for daring to oppose Him, yet He says to them "hey, judge me righteously". For this reason, Christians are also commanded to not judge based on appearance, but judge righteous judgement. If the Lord Himself does not immunize Himself from righteous judgement, who is immune?

Next, Romans 16:17. Here, Christians are urged to note those who cause divisions and preach bad doctrines, avoiding them. This is twofold. First, in order to note those who cause divisions and bad doctrines, we must judge them. There is no logical way around this. If you say "you are causing division", or "you are teaching a bad doctrine", that is a judgement. Second, it gives us a standard by which to judge. The wording used here is "offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned", of course meaning that which is now recorded in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The response to these people is to avoid them, meaning we not only have to judge them, but we also have to respond accordingly to that judgement.

Ephesians 5:11 likewise tells us to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but to expose them. This is relevant, because a lot of the time, people use Matthew 7:1 to not only attempt to prevent judgement against a sinning individual, but also against sin in general. Not only do they believe it's wrong to judge the individual, but that it is wrong to simply say sin is sin. If you are outspoken against abortion, that's seen as being judgmental, even if you're not speaking to, or even around, someone who has a history with abortion. If you are outspoken against the various forms of sexual immorality that are popular in our culture, that's seen as being judgmental too. Pronouncements against an action is seen as being as bad as directly attacking a person. But that's not the case. Christians aren't supposed to be just on the front lines, correcting each other's individual beliefs and behaviors, but we're also supposed to be in the background, showing the entire world the superiority of God's ways over man's. Think of it as like exposing a dodgy fast food restaurant. While popular with those who sit on the tables, you take a look in the kitchen and find it covered in mould and crawling with rats, some of which pee in the coffee machine. Do you expose the poor hygiene, or let the customers drink the poison?

Titus 1:13 tells us not only to judge, but to strongly rebuke certain people. The liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons he speaks of deserve such strong rebuke, and in order to remain sound in the faith, they need it. And note, Paul isn't exactly flirting with them. Liar, evil beast, lazy glutton, these are some very offensive terms. If you don't deserve them, you have been unjustly slandered. If you do deserve them, you better not reply with "judge not lest ye be judged". Take note and make effort to stop deserving such terms. It is utterly insane to cast off a legitimate judgement by claiming the Bible says not to make it.

Finally, in 1 Corinthians 6:3, we read "Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?" In context, Paul is quite upset with the Corinthians for being so incapable of judging even the smallest matters. When disputes arose among the Corinthians, they would go before secular judges, but Paul says it should not be this way. The Church should judge the Church. This leads into a particularly famous, and in this culture, offensive passage where Paul describes a number of sins that prevent one from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. In this list, he describes some sins which people who abuse Matthew 7:1 often commit or defend.

From these 5 examples, we see that, far from precluding all forms of judgment, the Bible prescribes judgment. It is impossible to go through life without judging, it is impossible to live a Christian life without judging, it is ironically impossible to tell someone "the Bible says you shouldn't judge", in response to their judgments, without first judging that person. It is time to stop abusing Matthew 7:1 and put that verse back into context. No, you cannot judge hypocritically, and vengeance is the Lord's alone, but you can, and indeed you must judge righteous judgement.