by Dave Brown
Ye often hear it said ...
“We should not
judge since none of us is perfect.”
but Jesus commanded (John 7:24) ...
"Do not judge
according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment."
First, let us hasten to agree that (1) none of us is
perfect, and (2) there are situations in which it is sinful to judge (e.g.,
James 4:11). But to take this to the extreme and state that we should never
judge anyone’s actions is so totally unworkable that no one even gives it
serious consideration. Those who are judging this author for what he is
writing right here are proving my point. We all DO judge; we are all critical
of others at times, probably far more than we ought to be. So let us not be
hypocritical with this “do not judge” smokescreen.
The Christian’s concern is not with whether or not to judge; we are commanded to judge under certain circumstances (e.g., see 1 Cor. 5). Our concern is with meeting our obligation to judge righteously. Jesus gave us the criterion. He said: “do not judge according to appearance.” That is, we are not to judge according to our superficial, prejudiced, viewpoint. Get the facts. Look deeper. Get the other side of the issue. Be fair and honest. Find out and accept reality. Then, based on the verified truth, make your judgment. To fail to “judge righteous judgment” is to disobey the command of Jesus given above. Those who accuse others of sin for pointing out the truth are merely hiding behind a misunderstanding of what the bible teaches on the subject of judging.