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Passage: Mt 7:1-6
They both claimed that everyone is going to heaven and that there is no reason to judge others regardless of their belief. I quoted Jn 8:24; 14:6, but they felt like the New Testament had already been proven to be faulty! Rom 1:16 fell on deaf ears, too. I realized that if the Scriptures were not making a dent (Heb 4:12) as far as I could discern, there was no need to take any philosophical or logical tact. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. The only thing I reiterated was that everybody goes by some authority for their worldview. Beverly and I wholeheartedly accept the Bible as the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Naturally, they were not outwardly critical of our belief even though it was contrary to how they saw the world. Ironically, when you select one worldview over another, you are making a judgment call. I mean why choose an inferior worldview that implies their choice is superior in some way to all the others out there. If everyone is going to heaven, then how could there be an inferior worldview anyway? You see going down that “judge not” road leads to philosophical pretzels and dead ends. You will not find those things that last for eternity in that nebulous neighborhood. When every man does that which is right in his own eyes, there can be no absolutes in that atmosphere, only relativity which simply creates a mess of things in every area of life.
We get a glimpse of why believers really can't have one foot in the life of the world and one foot in the life of what the church represents. I refer to those who attempt to do this as HI-HO's, half in-half out. We are either practicing sin or avoiding it. So HI-HO's are either saved and out of fellowship with Yahweh or lost. HI-HO-ism is not where we need to be. The Lord spews out of His mouth any coldheartedness, half-heartedness, or lukewarmness shown toward Him (Rev 3:15-16).
I don’t think there is a demon behind every bush; nor do I attribute every sin to “the devil made me do it.” I mention demons only because what they were saying was the doctrine of devils. This very nice couple bought this lie of “everyone is going to heaven so there is no need to judge anyone,” hook, line, and sinker! Personally, I liked these people on a human level, but I was reminded that he who stands for nothing falls for anything. In the spiritual realm, this man and his wife were deep within this crevasse of darkness, and I had a lifeline to reach them, but neither would grab hold. It was very heartbreaking.
If we left it at that, that is what it means grammatically, but then there is context to make sense of this clause. Boy, we can prove anything from the Bible; can’t we, if we take things out of context to prooftext our actions! What is intellectually honest and sound hermeneutically is to keep this clause “judge not” fastened to the first six verses of Matthew 7, and the meaning becomes crystal clear and consistent with the principles of Scripture.
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Have you ever been wrongly accused of anything? An accusation or
being formally charged with something conveys the sense of some wrongdoing. In
our jurisprudence, a person is innocent until proven guilty, but sometimes the
lack of evidence or not possessing all the facts can, and often does, sways
public opinion in the other direction: guilty until proven innocent.
In the tempest careers and lives have been irreparably damaged
by an accusation that was later proven to be untrue. Once the world knows that
the person was found to be innocent, the invisible scars have a way of dragging
on for a lifetime, and there are those who for no right reason will still cling
to a false belief in a miscarriage of justice that the “guilty” person had been
set free. Sometimes you have to wonder if people want a false to be true.
Perhaps they feel empowered by the fall of others or carry some hidden agenda.
After adjudication, the finger pointers are evading the
exonerated person and getting as much distance from them and their unfairness
in being associated with the accusing crowd, i.e., adjoined to an opinion in
support of what is now considered to be a false accusation, fancy that! Just
earlier prior to justice, they had jumped in and joined in on the talk of the
town! Jesus never spoke against a righteous judgment that exercises wise and
careful discernment. No, He was against unrighteous judgment: full of hypocrisy,
capricious, critical, unjust, unfair, and harsh.
Would we want to be the recipients of unrighteous judgment? I
don’t think so! Jesus, during the Sermon on the Mount, warned us of this kind
of prejudice or prejudging because it can boomerang on us, and we wind up being
repaid in kind, reaping what we had sown, “for as you judge so you will be
judged, and the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves”
(Mt 7:2, Moffatt).
The world system is constantly guilty of this very thing of
judging Christians unfairly. Unbelievers are very quick to take one of the most
familiar verses of Scripture known to them (Mt 7:1) and quote it out of context
and treat it as an absolute prohibition for Christians to judge them – “How
dare you judge me! Your own Bible says to judge not, that you be not
judged! You have no right in any way, shape, or form to judge me or
others, ever!” My favorite criticism from the lost and ignorant believers
is, “You believe the Bible don’t you?” Another one is, “Well, that's
your interpretation.” Oh, and one more, “That's not my god! My god doesn't
do that; he is a god of love, not a God of wrath!” Concerning the latter, they
are right about that; their god is not the God of the Bible. This is nothing
more than the talk of blindness (2 Cor 4:4; 1 Cor 2:14). We expect that from the world of the
lost.
This is a comic/tragedy of sorts, but have you ever
noticed that the world won't kick up much of a fuss with us if you judge them
favorably by agreeing with them on abortion, euthanasia, sex outside of
marriage, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, global warming, and so forth even
though they claim “Judge not” is a prohibition of any judging of
others. However, should they perceive you or me as “forcing” our morality on
them, the “judge not” card comes out along with the horns, and their
displeasure is expressed in vitriolic tones! They simply cannot tolerate others disagreeing with them. Isn't that, uh, judging?
Let me tell you a story about taking the concept of not judging
others to the nth degree. Beverly and I met a couple this past summer who took
“judge not” to a further expanse than anyone we had personally known. He
was a very successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. His wife spent over 14
years studying New Age doctrine and accessing “the book of life” supposedly
located on the astral plane, discovering things her husband admitted that there
was no way anybody could have known. All I could think about was the numerous
demons that are in that astral plane. You would be hard-pressed to find a
kinder, gentler couple, but philosophically, they were an admixture of
liberal Judaism, humanism, new ageism, and of course, good old venture
capitalists.
They both claimed that everyone is going to heaven and that there is no reason to judge others regardless of their belief. I quoted Jn 8:24; 14:6, but they felt like the New Testament had already been proven to be faulty! Rom 1:16 fell on deaf ears, too. I realized that if the Scriptures were not making a dent (Heb 4:12) as far as I could discern, there was no need to take any philosophical or logical tact. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. The only thing I reiterated was that everybody goes by some authority for their worldview. Beverly and I wholeheartedly accept the Bible as the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Naturally, they were not outwardly critical of our belief even though it was contrary to how they saw the world. Ironically, when you select one worldview over another, you are making a judgment call. I mean why choose an inferior worldview that implies their choice is superior in some way to all the others out there. If everyone is going to heaven, then how could there be an inferior worldview anyway? You see going down that “judge not” road leads to philosophical pretzels and dead ends. You will not find those things that last for eternity in that nebulous neighborhood. When every man does that which is right in his own eyes, there can be no absolutes in that atmosphere, only relativity which simply creates a mess of things in every area of life.
We get a glimpse of why believers really can't have one foot in the life of the world and one foot in the life of what the church represents. I refer to those who attempt to do this as HI-HO's, half in-half out. We are either practicing sin or avoiding it. So HI-HO's are either saved and out of fellowship with Yahweh or lost. HI-HO-ism is not where we need to be. The Lord spews out of His mouth any coldheartedness, half-heartedness, or lukewarmness shown toward Him (Rev 3:15-16).
Getting back to this couple, what struck me as odd is in the way
they expressed their belief. It was conveyed in a lofty manner, almost in reverent tones of peace and composure in the certainty of what
they were saying was the truth. You got the impression, “Why would anybody question
this reality?” The husband declared, “We respect all beliefs.” It sounds so
warm and fuzzy, so noble, but in reality, for me, it sent chills up my spine
being exposed to a “kind” side of darkness. This of course is ironic given
the fact that behind the spiritual darkness were demons lurking, bent on the ultimate destruction of any man, one way or another, particularly believers in
Jesus Christ.
I don’t think there is a demon behind every bush; nor do I attribute every sin to “the devil made me do it.” I mention demons only because what they were saying was the doctrine of devils. This very nice couple bought this lie of “everyone is going to heaven so there is no need to judge anyone,” hook, line, and sinker! Personally, I liked these people on a human level, but I was reminded that he who stands for nothing falls for anything. In the spiritual realm, this man and his wife were deep within this crevasse of darkness, and I had a lifeline to reach them, but neither would grab hold. It was very heartbreaking.
I quit long ago trying to make sense of darkness, but I am
keenly aware of its objectives, and doctrine, and getting better at recognizing its
various camouflages used in the dark craft of seduction and deceit. How so? By
learning, living, and loving the Word of God. The light of the Word exposes all
darkness. If Jesus had to confront Satan and his demons, why do we think
they no longer exist or can avoid them today? These critters have no shelf-life
of 70 years; they are eternal. What we are battling today are the same demon
hordes from Jesus’ day, but their days are limited though they are ancient.
Eventually, they will spend their eternity in the lake of fire.
Returning to the judge not, what is concerning is that there are
a host of Christians using that same verse in defense of their own questionable
behavior! If we say anything construed as negative, they pull up stakes and
move on to a more “loving” church...
“Judge not that you be not judged” (Mt 7:1) has been used as the
mantra of so much immorality in our culture that it is concerning. Abusers of
this passage could care less about the verse or the warning. In the mind of the
lost it is meaningless other than “shutting up” the Christians and their goody-two-shoes mentality. Alarmingly, it is emanating not only from the lost but the
saved as well! Let’s look a little closer at the ever-popular Mt 7:1.
“Judge not” (Gk, mē
krinete). “Judge” (krino) means to separate, distinguish, and
discriminate between good and evil. If you add “not” to it, it would mean not
to separate, distinguish, and discriminate between good and evil! Our English
word “critic” comes from the Greek word krino.
The general idea of judging in the NT is “to form or give an opinion after
separating and considering the particulars of a case” (The Complete Word
Study Dictionary, Zodhiates on krino).
In other words, we are to judge rightly, justly, fairly, objectively, and
without hypocrisy all the time and not do the opposite all the time like the
Pharisees who were habitual critics of anyone who didn't agree and go along
with their program. The verb “judge” is in the present (tense) active (voice)
imperative (mood). What does all of that mean?
Well, the present tense in Greek means continuous action without
a terminus. The active voice means the subject (you) is doing the action. And
the mood is a command (so judging is not optional) – “(You) judge not.” Now
isolating “judge not” from its context, like those who pull out the “judge
not” card, would mean that we are commanded at all times not to form
or give an opinion after separating and considering the particulars of a case.
By isolating the clause, there would be a prohibition of judging rightly. Isn't that just what
the world desires from us, “Quit calling our lifestyle a sin!” It makes
absolutely no sense at all by doing that unless you are part of the world
system. Recall, Jesus never condemned anyone for judging rightly so why would He
prohibit it? He wouldn't; He didn't. Taking “judge not” out of its context
leads to a wrong conclusion. By leaving it nestled in its context, we will see
that it is a prohibition alright, but not against judging rightly according to
the standards of Scripture but against hypocritical judgment
according to Pharisaical standards.
If we left it at that, that is what it means grammatically, but then there is context to make sense of this clause. Boy, we can prove anything from the Bible; can’t we, if we take things out of context to prooftext our actions! What is intellectually honest and sound hermeneutically is to keep this clause “judge not” fastened to the first six verses of Matthew 7, and the meaning becomes crystal clear and consistent with the principles of Scripture.
As we will later see in Part 2, according to context, the clause
to “judge not” only pertains to judging hypocritically (while
something is in the eye, sin). Jesus warned us not to do that to avoid being
judged in return, “That you be not judged” (Mt 7:1). In the following verse
Jesus gives us the incentive to avoid judging hypocritically by qualifying it
with a boomerang effect,
“For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with
the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Mt 7:2).
If we judge rightly there is nothing to concern ourselves over
because we will be judged rightly in return. Isn't that what all of us want is
to be judged rightly? What we should take note of here is when we
knowingly judge unfairly. It will come back to haunt us; God will make
certain of that, not to mention it is a clear violation of the second command
to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mk 12:31) which is inextricably linked to
command one, the prime directive of all of Scripture – to love God with the
totality of our being (Mk 12:30). Hypocrisy has a way of undermining both of those
commands. Lest we forget; a boomerang comes with judging hypocritically. <><
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