Judge not, that ye be not judged.

[gfm7175]

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." -- Matthew 7:1 (KJV).

This is definitely one of the most-often quoted Bible passages, but unfortunately this is also one of the most misunderstood Bible passages. For this reason, I thought that it would be prudent to briefly study its meaning.

Too many people mindlessly quote this particular verse out of context, believing that people should "never judge others". People who are on the receiving end of reproof (and don't appreciate it) will often bring up this particular verse in defense of their ego and as an attempt to excuse their wrongdoing, but The Bible makes it very clear that reproof is actually a righteous form of judgement that is encouraged for the purpose of restoration.

With consideration of the four verses immediately following this one, it becomes clear that what is being taught here is not to "never judge others", but rather to judge others righteously. It goes on to explain how one ought to "remove the plank from one's own eye" before concerning oneself with the speck in one's brother's eye. It also warns about being careful in judgement of others because, essentially, "what goes around comes around".

When reviewing The Bible as a whole, one will notice that The Bible actually commands people to appropriately exercise discernment and judgement. See (John 7:24), (1st Corinthians 5:12), and (Matthew 7:15-20). Even Matthew 7:6 is an example of righteous judgement in which Jesus is advising people to not "throw pearls before swine".

So, in conclusion, "judging" is useful for numerous things, including but not limited to:
1) Discerning truth from lies.
2) Reproving oneself.
3) Reproving others.
4) Discerning who is receptive of The Gospel vs who isn't.
5) Discerning who is a false teacher vs who isn't.

"Judging" is only bad whenever it is used to cause destruction rather than restoration. Such destructive uses include but are not limited to:

1) Hypocritical judgement
2) Judging via appearances
3) Judging the heart (only God knows a person's heart)
4) Self-righteous "holier than thou" judgement
5) Hasty judgement

 

[zymurgy]

I often wonder if my biggest issue with theology is not the theology itself, but the impressive ability of theologians to take a very simple idea and bury it under a mountain of words.


Somehow, “constructive criticism, with humility and self-examination” turns into twelve paragraphs, four cross-references, three Greek words, a footnote war, and a guy named Augustine being dragged into it for no obvious reason.


Congratulations, scholars. You successfully made “don’t be a hypocritical jerk when correcting people” sound like you need a seminary degree and a leather-bound library to understand it.


And yes, before anyone points it out, I am criticizing this with absolutely no humility, no self-examination, and no constructive purpose whatsoever.


That is called commitment to the bit.

 

[gfm7175]

I often wonder if my biggest issue with theology is not the theology itself, but the impressive ability of theologians to take a very simple idea and bury it under a mountain of words.


Somehow, “constructive criticism, with humility and self-examination” turns into twelve paragraphs, four cross-references, three Greek words, a footnote war, and a guy named Augustine being dragged into it for no obvious reason.


Congratulations, scholars. You successfully made “don’t be a hypocritical jerk when correcting people” sound like you need a seminary degree and a leather-bound library to understand it.


And yes, before anyone points it out, I am criticizing this with absolutely no humility, no self-examination, and no constructive purpose whatsoever.


That is called commitment to the bit.

You make a fair point here. In plenty of instances, "less is more".

I do think there's also an aspect of just how interested somebody is in something (or in the technicalities of it). The greater the interest, the wordier about it someone will be.

For instance, a meteorologist can blather on and on about the technical weather terminology of a storm, meanwhile the average viewer just wants to know if and when that storm is expected to reach their location so they can prepare for it. Same is true with theology. Scholars are quite interested in the technical accuracy of it, meanwhile the "normie" just wants the 'cliff notes version'.

 

[Ichabod Stain]

I often wonder if my biggest issue with theology is not the theology itself, but the impressive ability of theologians to take a very simple idea and bury it under a mountain of words.


Somehow, “constructive criticism, with humility and self-examination” turns into twelve paragraphs, four cross-references, three Greek words, a footnote war, and a guy named Augustine being dragged into it for no obvious reason.


Congratulations, scholars. You successfully made “don’t be a hypocritical jerk when correcting people” sound like you need a seminary degree and a leather-bound library to understand it.


And yes, before anyone points it out, I am criticizing this with absolutely no humility, no self-examination, and no constructive purpose whatsoever.


That is called commitment to the bit.

it takes a lot of bullshit to obscure Christ's simple message.