Judging is Not a Sin (Necessarily)

If I had a nickel for every time a person, Christian or not, told me not to judge them (quoting Matthew 7:1), I could send my son with a full-ride to an Ivy-league university. When I was a less mature Christian, such words would stop me in my tracks and make me feel guilty. As I matured, guilt turned to frustration. Wasn't I supposed to stand up for what was right and warn people about sin in their lives? 

For those who don't know, I'm a pretty opinionated person. In high school my senior year I got voted "Most Opinionated" and was gifted with a roll of duct tape (hardiharharhar). While my lack of reticence in expressing my opinion on issues I feel strongly about has gotten me into some trouble, I have also been complimented for my bravery in speaking up when no one else did. The main reason I do it: I'm a stickler for truth and I really do care about others. I see the damage to my life of lies I have believed (and admittedly continue to believe despite my best efforts not to) and I see what lies do to damage others' lives. I see a worldly society (and I realize this isn't new) that promotes, celebrates, and encourages us to believe lies, and then punishes us when we don't. Even deeper, I know that when Jesus called me to Himself I found the most important truth of all, one that is a matter of eternal life and death. Spreading that particular truth has gotten me into the most trouble, unsurprisingly.

I don't like to be told that I'm wrong about something. Nobody does. We all like to think we have our lives figured out, whether that's the big-picture question of faith and religion, or smaller things, like who we love, how we raise our kids, what we spend our money on, or even what diet we follow. Jesus Himself spent a good deal of His time teaching about and explaining what we had gotten wrong, everything from how we perceive eternity and sin to how we treat our loved ones and our enemies, and He was ostracized, ridiculed, and eventually murdered for it.

Does no one else see the hypocrisy?

Matthew 7 is one such instance of this teaching. It's considered part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, a famous passage detailing how godly people are to behave and think. In it contains the famous quote about Jesus Himself saying not to judge others (Matthew 7:1). 

In a culture where it's increasingly repulsive to say that anything someone does is wrong, Christians and non-Christians alike have latched onto Matthew 7:1 in an attempt to ostracize those who dare make a moral judgment call. I could spend the rest of this blog post explaining why that in itself is wildly hypocritical (I doubt it's not too much of a stretch for you to figure out why that is), but that's not my point. Rather, in an age where tolerance is the highest moral good, intolerance of any kind is considered the lowest moral evil. Judging, to many people, is the same thing as being intolerant.

However, if you look at Matthew 7, and read all the verses in the context of 7:1, you'll realize quite quickly that this is not what Jesus was talking about. 

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see 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,’ when there is the log 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." (ESV)

Jesus was talking about hypocritical judging. What He was saying was wrong was entertaining and loving sin in one's own life, but turning around and calling out that same sin in others' lives. That indeed is a sin, and one we would all do well to avoid.

Really? Do people REALLY not see the hypocrisy?

If Jesus meant that we shouldn't judge anybody in the way that our culture defines judging, then these next verses immediately following the ones above would need some 'splainin':

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."

In order for Christians to follow that command, they would need to determine exactly what sort of people were "dogs" and "pigs." Doesn't that involve judging? 

So now that we've established what Jesus actually meant by judging, I wanted to talk about some objections I have personally received in recent weeks to expressing my opinion, and articulate why I'm not sinning when I do, and neither are you! If you are often afraid to speak your opinion or truth for fear of others' reactions, I hope this encourages you to do so (particularly if you're a Christian).

I make sure to adopt this facial expression any time I'm interacting with someone and "judging" them.

1. Disagreeing with someone is not the same thing as judging.

As a disclaimer, I realize that how something is said can absolutely make this judgmental. We should never actively seek to hurt people by what we say, so if we come right out and call someone stupid or bad for what they believe (no matter how wrong we perceive their belief to be), then we are sinning and should stop. I am guilty of this. I'm guilty of it both in actual words and in my heart motivation. It's something I'm working on.

However, simply expressing an opinion that others may disagree with is not judging. Here's the thing, and I'm going to be blunt. If you feel offended by other's opinions, as if they have personally attacked you, you need to grow a backbone. I have felt this way, and after getting way too upset way too many times, I have come to the conclusion that people are allowed to disagree with me. It's their right. Maybe I see that they are misguided, or I disagree with their methods or logic or conclusions, but it doesn't mean they are attacking me personally with their opinion, and I shouldn't automatically read it that way. The great secret is that honestly, the world doesn't care as much about me as I think they do. People aren't living their lives with the goal of simply opposing my viewpoints. That's ridiculous. Now granted, opinions can lead to actions which could turn into personal attack (I'm thinking specifically of current government overreach into religious matters, for instance), but someone simply expressing an opinion I disagree with is not a personal attack. It just isn't. I'm not important enough. 

2. Encouraging someone to do or think the right thing instead of the wrong thing is not the same thing as judging.

I have personally witnessed a troubling trend that is growing in the Christian community, and that is this idea that we shouldn't call people out on their sin. I think two things are causing this; one, that we fear to be called "judgmental;" and two, we are buying into this cultural idea that the greatest evil is intolerance. I've seen this trend manifested in things as severe as complete doctrinal changes and believing in universal salvation, to smaller moments of missed opportunities to steer a brother or sister on in the right direction towards Jesus. 

The Bible is very clear on some things being sin and not so clear on others, leaving Christian discernment and conscience to be our guide. This leads to obedient Christians coming up with different views and actions. Two examples that happened to me recently illustrate both these ideas perfectly.

The first was an acquaintance, a professed believer, telling me I was being judgmental for suggesting that seeing a sexually explicit mainstream movie was a sin. This falls into the first category. God is very clear on His standard for sexuality, and watching two unmarried people have abusive sex definitely falls into a "no" realm. I believe this is 100% Biblical. The Bible is clear that sex is meant to occur between one man, one woman, in a legal marriage, in privacy.We are not to be exhibitionists or encourage it by watching it or reading about it, and I was not judgmental to say so. Since I have made strides to eradicate this sin in my own life, I was also not being hypocritical. 

The second instance falls into the second category. I posted on Facebook an article detailing why it might be a good idea for Christians to vaccinate their children. The article never once said not vaccinating was a sin, in fact, just the opposite. It acknowledged that the Bible does not speak plainly about that matter and we can only use general principles to come to that particular conclusion. And while the article did not say this, I personally believe one can probably find equally valid Biblical principles to support not vaccinating. This is entirely a matter of parental discernment and following the direction of one's conscience. 

So if something is clearly a sin, like watching pornography, we as Christians have a duty to warn other Christians that what they are doing is wrong (making sure, of course, that we are not hypocritically committing that same sin and excusing it in our own lives). But if something is not clearly a sin, yet we feel strongly about our conviction on a topic one way or the other, we are within our rights to lovingly express that and even gently convince people that what we think is the right thing to think or do. 

If we come across one of these "gray" issues and we feel strongly one way or the other, I think any discussions we have with people we disagree with should be cushioned in this idea of acknowledging that the Bible is not one hundred percent clear on some topics. And we should say that more often, because being black and white in the things that are actually gray make it harder to be taken seriously on the things that really are black and white.

Now, I say all this in the context of Christian relationships, where theoretically you are coming from the same basic worldview. It's different when speaking with non-Christians. I don't think we need to never tell non-Christians that what they are doing doesn't please God, because if we don't, they'll never know why they need a Savior. However, discussing this with non-Christians and expecting them to shape up outside of genuine salvation is not only futile, but denies Christ the power to do what only He can do: change people's hearts. Leave that to Him. 

Please stop saying this. You really, really don't know what you're saying...

3. Speaking up on something you care about in a general way is not the same as judging.

Before the Internet, generally speaking one's own opinion was probably not widely done outside of letters to the editor and town hall meetings. It was not common to be in a group of people, having a friendly conversation, and then one person, perhaps reminded of their opinion by the content of the conversation, to stand up and pontificate on their point of view. Mary Bennet does this in Pride and Prejudice, and it's portrayed as socially awkward and funny, because it is. 

But the Internet has changed the way we communicate, and now generally sharing an opinion is socially acceptable and easy to do. 

So when this is done on a blog, or on Facebook or Twitter, as long as we have not accompanied our opinion with personal attack (judging), hypocrisy (judging), or rude words (judging), then we are not judging as the Bible defines it. This goes back to my first point that we would all do well to grow nice sturdy backbones when interacting with friends online. If you see something you think might offend you, don't read it and move on and allow that person their opportunity to express their opinion. You, after all, have the same right.

The Bulldog tells it like it is!

Now, I say all this acknowledging I have made mistakes. Maybe I've spoken the truth, but at the wrong time or to the wrong person. I have certainly let my emotions get the better of me and have said things in anger or frustration rather than out of love and concern for others. And if you have personally been the victim of something like this, I'm truly sorry. I plead only Christ's righteousness and pray you look to Him alone for the perfect example of what it means to be good. He got it right every single time, and that's not something I'll ever do this side of eternity. 

I think though that we all need to be bolder about speaking truth. And I'm not going to lie, it will get harder. We may be ridiculed, outcast, or even killed for telling people the truth, especially if you're a Christian. And if you're a Christian and not butting heads with people over the things that matter most, especially salvation, then rethink how you're telling people about the love of God and what you're standing for. 

And if you're not a Christian, know that I'll never fault you or want to deny your right to speak about what you believe. We live in a country where we're still allowed to dissent and disagree, even publicly. If we send the message that this is something we shouldn't do, for fear of being labeled intolerant, then the metaphorical Thought Police have won, and that's the last thing any of us want.

Let's focus on the sin in our own lives first, finding our righteousness in Christ alone, and then spur others on to do the same. And fellow Christians, let us not be afraid to speak out, in love and with prayer, on what matters most to us, because we are NOT sinning when we do so. We're doing exactly what Jesus wants us to.