Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge”
Mt 7:1 – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
I once heard it said that a generation ago the most celebrated verse in the Bible would have been John 3:16 – “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But nowadays, the speaker went on to say, most people’s favourite verse is possibly Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
This text is popular because it seems to chime in with today’s moral relativism. But, as Sam Storms remarks,
‘Never has a passage of Scripture been so utterly abused, misunderstood and misapplied as this one. Non-Christians (and not a few misguided believers as well) use this text to denounce any and all who venture to criticize or expose the sins, shortcomings, or doctrinal aberrations of others. One dare not speak ill of homosexuality, adultery, gossip, cheating on your income tax, fornication, abortion, non-Christian religions, humanism, etc. without incurring the wrath of multitudes who are convinced that Jesus, whom they despise and reject(!), said that we shouldn’t judge one another!’
But (says Storms) this is to commit the fallacy of the false dilemma; to assume that there are just two alternatives and that these are mutually exclusive. Either we never criticise or disagree with another person, or we fall under the condemnation of Christ himself. Part of the irony is that it is precisely the same people (generally speaking) who say: ‘Never judge’ who are also urging, ‘Always question’.
But are we never to exercise ethical discernment? Must we manifest complete and uncritical acceptance of everyone and everything?
Consider the immediate context of this saying of Jesus. The entire Sermon on the Mount is based on the assumption that we will use our critical powers to discern what is true and what is false, what is good and what is bad. When Jesus urged us not to be ‘like the hypocrites’ he was exercising those critical powers himself, and urging us to do so also.
Immediately following this command comes an exhortation not to give what is holy to dogs or pearls to swine. But it is impossible to obey these commands without using our critical judgment. We must work out who the ‘dogs’ and the ‘swine’ are!
Then, consider such texts as
‘Mt. 18:15–17; Rom. 16:17–18; 1 Cor. 5:3; Gal. 1:8; Phil. 3:2 (where Paul refers to his enemies as “dogs, evil workers, false circumcision”!); Titus 3:10–11; 1 John 4:1–4; 2 John 9–11; 3 John 9–10.’
In fact, Scripture has quite a lot to say about the rights, as well as the wrongs, of criticism.
1. There is a self-righteous, fault-finding, condemning, malicious, kind of criticism, which is kind referred to in Mt 7:1, and also in Rom 2:1; 14:4; 1 Cor 4:5; Jas 4:12. Such criticism does not build up; it destroys. Instead of being sorrowful over another person’s faults or failings, such an attitude may even rejoice in them.
This is, in other words, a prohibition against a censorious spirit. Such as spirit
‘does not mean to assess people critically, but to judge them harshly. The censorious critic is a fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking out their failings. He puts the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes and is ungenerous towards their mistakes.’ (Stott)
2. But there is also a loving, correcting, protecting, kind of criticism, and this is referred to in Mt 7:15; Lk 17:3; Eph 5:11; 1 Thess 5:14; 1 Tim 5:20; 2 Tim 4:2; Tit 3:10; 1 Jn 4:1; Jer 5:31; 23:26; Lam 2:14; Eze 13:6; Mal 3:5; Acts 20:29f; 2 Thess 2:3-6; 2 Pet 2:1.
Three sub-types would be:-
(a) discernment to be exercised by all Christians;
(b) direction, to be exercised by ministers and pastors;
(c) judicial discipline, to be exercised by the church and magistrates.
Our Lord himself distinguished between these two types of criticism – the good and the bad – in John 7:24, when he says, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
Note the justification given: ‘…or you too will be judged.’ This probably refers to judgement by God, which may come in the form of chastisement in this life (1 Cor 11:31) or assessment in the life to come (2 Cor 5:6-10). In either case, writes Storms:
‘when we set up a standard to which others must conform, we are no less obliged to keep it than they are. That is why humility and love must govern our judgments.’