When Yeshua speaks about judging others, many misunderstand the context and it can lead to bad results.
Judging Others
1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
If we take this to mean we should not form an opinion on what is right and wrong and that we should not rebuke what appears to be wrong behavior, then we contradict much of what has been spoken through scripture. One such example to consider is in Matthew 18.
15“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Clearly we can confirm that Matthew 7 is not saying we should not use wisdom to discern what is right and wrong and rebuke what is wrong. That would be directly in conflict with Matthew 18.
Matthew 7:5 shows us an important key. We must repent and walk righteously with Yahweh in order that we will be better able to help others turn from their sin. If we condemn others for their sin, while accepting our own, we are certainly hypocrites. (This does not mean that if we struggle with the sin of anger that we should not help others to recognize that unrighteous anger is a sin. However, we will not have much credibility if we come across as if our sin is not there and they are horrible because of the same sin in their life. In this case we would want to acknowledge our own struggle with the issue and invite them to seek Christ together on affecting change.)
We must make judgments on what is good and evil to obey Yahweh. Yeshua lived out this example in His earthly ministry, rebuking those who needed to be rebuked. However, we should judge how we want to be judged. Do not judge rashly and quickly. Seek first to view the situation through the lenses of grace and mercy. Remember the one who is sinning is not the enemy. Satan is the enemy. We can also refer to Matthew 18:15-17 (above) to remind ourselves how to approach someone who may be in need of rebuke. Let us approach them privately first, and then escalate as needed. Even if they refuse to repent, it does not mean we cast them off entirely. It means they no longer walk in our close circles and we keep them a bit more distant. Remember that Yeshua ate with tax collectors and Gentiles. He just did not have them in His closest circle of friends. For Jews at this time, it was clear that Gentiles were to be interacted with at a distance in some regards. However, clearly we see that throughout the history of God’s people, there are mixed multitudes, implying that there was enough interaction with Gentiles that some accepted Yahweh as God and joined the Jews in following Him. We see this also in the ministry of Paul and Peter after the resurrection of Christ.
So, should we judge others? Yes. But we need to judge fairly and with mercy and grace. We need to judge as we want to be judged. We are called to rebuke appropriately.
For some additional thoughts regarding the guidance not to judge in Matthew 7, consider reading the Barnes commentary.
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