Editorial
May/June, 1984
Volume 19, Number 3
The cry today is “Let’s be more positive; you must not be so negative; people who are negative are critical and judgmental.” Those who teach a careful obedience to the Scriptures are labeled as showing a spirit of intolerance, and being void of saltiness, and demonstrating a lack of love.
However, issues cannot be decided by a simple appeal to “love.” Each of us is duty-bound to love, especially those who are of “the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10), but our first and foremost duty is to love our Master who bought us with His own blood. John (in the second Epistle) writes with great emphasis upon love (2 John 5). But in the next verse, he immediately adds that true love is always qualified by obedience to God (“that we follow His commandments”).
It is possible, all of us know, to carry a good thing too far. Suppose a doctor prescribes some pills for your high blood pressure. You take four pills a day (as the doctor ordered), and you begin to feel better than you have felt for years. As a result, you say to yourself, “if four of those pills make me feel this much better, / wonder what twelve would do?” So you take twelve pills each day — and soon you get your answer. Just so, it is possible to carry love too far. Are we to treat everyone with the open arms of love? No. There are some with whom we must not always have fellowship. The Bible says so.
Neither can issues be completely solved by promoting “the positive.” To those who frequently quote the saying, “I would rather be positive and light a candle than curse the darkness” — we ask: How many candles are being lit by persons who avoid the negative and whose “smooth sayings” are really deceiving people? The candlelighters, without thinking (or perhaps by design), often create darkness by the false hopes which they proclaim.
Also, it is true that the Christian is to be a “salt” to the earth. And salt is a valuable commodity. Salt seasons, purifies, and preserves. But somebody needs to remind us that salt also irritates. Real authentic Christianity rubs unregenerate people the wrong way. Godly living is a ~ebuke to this age, and many resent the light that exposes their corruption. Cats become ruffled when someone rubs the fur against the grain. Billy Sunday used to say, “They tell me I rub the fur the wrong way. I don’t. Let the cat turn around.”
It is time that genuine Christians quit losing sleep over the charge that they are “judging” when they take a courageous stand against sin. We need to stand firmly for truth, for the Ten Commandments, for codes of decency. May God help each of us to “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known” — but to hold firm biblical convictions with a spirit of charity.
Guidelines Related to Judging Evil
By Harold S. Martin
The words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 7: 1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” have often been quoted, but many times they are misunderstood and misapplied. The phrase “judge not” has been used to say that individuals within the church have no right to draw conclusions about wrong conduct and wickedness in the lives of others. If anyone raises a voice against certain kinds of social behavior, or says that certain conduct violates biblical standards — the rebuttal is, “You are judging, and the Bible says, ‘Judge not.’ ” One repeatedly hears the argument, “Brethren believe in no force in religion; we are not supposed to judge.” And so, by implication, all of us — if we are good Christians — must become easy and tolerant and just overlook evil conduct:
The remarriage of divorced persons
Two men living together in a homosexual relationship
Conducting a Buddhist wedding in a Christian church
Attending religious movies that border on the sacrilegious
Worshipping God through acts of clowning
Many say that what we need today is unity and love and fellowship. You don’t dare to speak against the kinds of things named above. You are judging if you do that! Even people who don’t know the Bible well are often aware that it says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
A Bible study writer in one of our church publications spoke about the remarriage of divorced persons, and said that those who condemn the remarriage of persons who divorce are “religious bullies” like the Pharisees, and further declared that those who disapprove of remarriage are “judging” and need to learn “the way of love.” The writer insisted that we must say clearly to divorced persons, “None of us is perfect…[you] go and do what you must do” in order to lead a happy life and not to make the same mistake again (Messenger, November, 1982).
But surely, brothers and sisters, the warning “Judge not” does not mean that we must refuse to discern between truth and error, and that we should turn a blind eye to wickedness and sin, and condone those kinds of things. Some think that “Judge not” means that we are to see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing — just be nice, pat everybody on the back, let immoral conduct go on as if nothing ever happened. After all, we may not judge!
Yet that was not the attitude of John the Baptist. John could have said, “Well, Herod, I see you’ve got your brother’s wife today, but I’m not your judge.” Is that what John the Baptist said? Instead, John plainly told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have the woman!
Usually what happens (when we consider the matter of judging) — is this: We remember that somewhere the Bible says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” — but we seem to forget that the Bible says (in other places): “Judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24) “Thou hast rightly judged” (Luke 7:43) “He that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Cor. 2:15) As we examine more carefully the first six verses of Matthew 7, we will note the main thrust of what Jesus is saying to His followers.
1. SPITEFUL CRITICISM (Matthew 7: 1-2)
“Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ” A first reading of the words, “Judge not that ye be not judged” — gives the impression that our Lord is speaking against all criticism. Yet we are told elsewhere to “prove all things”, to “try the spirits”, and to “beware of false prophets.” Surely this means that we must use our critical powers to evaluate the performance of others. We can’t tell who the false prophets are, if we don’t use our critical powers of judgment to decide who is true and who is false.
There is a difference between spiritual discernment and spiteful judging. We are to use discernment. We are to distinguish between the false and the true. But we are not to condemn others with a harsh, fault-finding spirit. We are not to be quick to blame others for trifling offenses. And one of the ways to avoid harsh judgment (and spiteful criticism), is to consciously endeavor to look for the good in others. Remember the little bit of poetry?
“Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I’ve been to London to look at the Oueen.
Pussy cat, pussy eat, what did you see there?
I saw a little mouse under her chair!”
But didn’t you see the London Tower and Buckingham Palace and the House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey? No! All the pussy cat saw — was a mouse because that is what she was looking for!
When Jesus said, “Judge not,” He was saying, “Don’t go around looking for the bad and magnifying the evil, constantly fault-finding and nit-picking.” To judge others with a mean, critical, fault-finding spirit is denounced in Matthew 7:1. The only exercise some people get (one writer says) is jumping at conclusions, running down other people, and side-stepping responsibility. We must not destroy people by putting the worst construction on their motives, and by being super-critical of their trifling mistakes. That’s sinful.
2. SELF CRITICISM (Matthew 7:3-5)
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?… Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye. ”
Jesus tells a little parable about some obstructions in the human eye. He compares little specks of dust with large beams of lumber. He contrasts small trivial defects with more serious failings. The purpose of the parable (in verses 3-5) is to encourage self-judgment, for if we don’t face up to our own sins, we blind ourselves so that we can’t see clearly to help others.
Jesus illustrates the point by picturing a man with a 2 x 4 stuck in his eye, trying to remove a speck of dust from another person’s eye. The person with a major fault (a big piece of lumber in his eye), is in no position to try and correct an offender with some trivial defect (a tiny splinter in his eye). All of us must seek to correct our own major wrongs before we try and set others straight. Too often we tend to think that whatever we do is right, but whatever somebody else does — smells! But we had better take a good look at ourselves, and get rid of the big piece of lumber in our own eye — before we start talking about the tiny splinter in our brother’s eye.
It is only when we recognize our own imperfections that we begin to temper our evaluation of others with a measure of mercy. When we judge ourselves first, we become so aware of our own failings, that when we must evaluate others, we do it with moderation and compassion — and not with self-righteous smugness and harsh severity — because we know that we ourselves have some improvements to make.
Notice, however, that the Lord Jesus is not forbidding us to cast out the mote from our brother’s eye. Our Lord is really encouraging helpfulness. We are to see the mote in the other person’s eye, and to do our best to pull it out — but we must see clearly to do it! Jesus is not forbidding the correction of those who sin, But He does condemn our correction of others when we have not first corrected ourselves. He says, “First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the mote out of your brother’s eye.” We may rebuke sin, but not when we indulge in it ourselves. We may protest against evil, but not if we ourselves willfully practice it. We may denounce immoral conduct as sin, but not if moral filth is characteristic of our own lives. We have seen now the warning against spiteful criticism (Matthew 7:1-2), and the command to practice self-criticism (Matthew 7:3-5). And that brings us to the third part of the brief passage recorded in Matthew 7:1-6.
3. SENSIBLE CRITICISM (Matthew 7:6,15)
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine…beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ”
Dogs! Swine! Wolves! “Dogs” in Palestine were not always domestic pets. The word translated “dogs” speaks of scavengers — untamed, and almost savage animals. “Swine” in the Jewish mind stood for everything that was unclean and repulsive. “Wolves” are wild animals — fierce and dangerous.
Jesus says in verse 6 that we are to use tact in our presentation of Christian truth, and not carelessly broadcast God’s Word to those who ridicule and despise it. We will not take space here to go into the various implications of that instruction. The point here is this: We must recognize different types of persons and we must learn to discern between the true and the false. This is sensible judging.
Our Lord has been telling us not to judge, and that we should cast the beam out of our own eye before we begin to think about the mote in our brother’s eye. He has warned us that with the same judgment that we judge, we shall be judged. And now, suddenly, He says, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” and “Beware of false prophets” (who really are “wolves” in sheep’s clothing).
The instructions of verse 6 and verse 15 clearly show that while harsh and spiteful judgment is to be shunned — at the same time, careful discrimination must be practiced by God’s people! How could we put the teaching of verses 6,15 into practice, if we didn’t exercise judgment? How would I know which kind of person is a “dog” if I didn’t use discrimination? How can I beware of false prophets if I am not to make an assessment of their teaching? Such people come in “sheep’s clothing.” They use Christian terminology. They appear to be harmless. They usually are “very nice” persons. But we must not be taken in by those kinds of things. Jesus says that we must use discrimination and judgment to decide between the true and the false.
The admonition in Matthew 7:1 (“Judge not, that ye be not judged”), is not intended to stifle a clear stand against sin. Jesus does not mean that we are to condone sin, and that we must be soft toward those who violate God’s law. Jesus is not saying that we are to be blind to iniquity and wickedness and moral filth. Spiritual maturity demands that we do make certain judgments. We are to test values, and weigh propositions, and determine correct doctrine, and exercise sensible criticism — in order to discover true character–but we must never do it with a spitefully critical spirit.
A lot of unscriptural teachings are finding their way into our churches, and are being sheltered by statements like this: “Well, maybe we don’t agree with it, but, you know, we am not supposed to judge. ” But the fact is, as Christians, we should not be afraid to speak out against unbalanced anti-American attitudes, against homosexual sin, against the immorality of most TV programs, against departures from the faith, and so forth. Don’t ever lose any sleep over the fact that you have been judging, and seeking to discern between the true and the false! But at the same time, always guard against a harsh, fault-finding, bitter spirit.
Judging others with an abrasive spirit is sinful and wrong, but discerning right from wrong, and seeking to discover a person’s attitude toward God’s truth, and standing firmly against evil, and separating the false from the true — these are activities in which even/ mature Christian needs to be engaged. Thus every committed Christian needs to “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24), and all of us need to cultivate the art of spiritual discernment.
One of the problems related to a proper understanding of judging, is that many folks have a distorted view of the biblical concept of “love.” Some argue that “love” should make us tolerant, and that one who “loves” – overlooks all kinds of deviations from God’s norms. One often gets the impression (when hearing others speak), that the lenient are loving and the strict are unloving. But this is not the teaching of the New Testament. In the Second Epistle of John we are given a definition of “love” in one single sentence: “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments” (2 John 6). Love cares too much to let a person go on in his waywardness and sin and to continue in the wrong way. Love is defined as obedience to God’s commandments, and those who defy and disobey God’s Word, need to be judged.
The teaching of the words “judge not” is not a requirement to be blind to sin and wickedness, but it is a plea to avoid dealing harshly with those who have gone astray.