To Judge . . .
Or Not To Judge ?
That Is The Question !!!
Let's answer this question according to God's Word.
The answer must come from God directly because every man has his own opinion. Opinions don't really matter. They are not set in stone. Opinions change, people change. Opinions are often based on emotions. God's Word is set in stone. It has been here since the beginning of time and it will be here forever. In the Word of God, Jesus states in Matthew 24:35: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." There are a lot of scriptures about the Bible being inspired (2 Timothy 3:16); it's purity (Psalm 12:6); it is not of anyone's own interpretation (2 Peter 1:20); and it was written by God, not by man (2 Peter 1:2). So the best and most accurate way to answer our question is by knowing what the Bible says about judging.
Let's start with the verse most people half quote often but they don't even know where it is found in the Bible. So let's go there first. It is in Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus says: "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. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in the brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how will thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
The Lord is talking to His disciples in these verses, to saved people. He is talking about judging our 'brother or sister' in Christ. He is teaching judgment here. First the Lord warns us to be careful when judging because He says: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." In other words, 'What goes around, comes around'. Second, the Lord is telling us that there are times when our 'brother or sister' in the Lord may have a 'mote' , a small sin, in their eye while we have a big beam or a big sin in our eye. In other words, we may have more sin in our lives than our 'brother or sister' has in their lives and we are coming down on them for the smaller of the two sins. It is not right to do that. The Lord says here: "how will thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" That is like someone coming down on a fellow Christian for smoking while they are out having a few drinks. Both are wrong but the drinking is the bigger sin because it is condemned in God's Word (that's another study). Then lastly, the Lord rebukes the Christian who does this unfair judgment by calling that person a "hypocrite". The Lord proceeds to tell them to get rid of their own sin out of their own heart and THEN they can help their Christian 'brother or sister' to get the mote out of their eye. In other words, clean up your own life FIRST, don't be a "hypocrite".
There is another instance in the Word of God where Jesus is teaching about judging. In Luke 7:41-43, Jesus is teaching Simon to judge. He says: "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And He (Jesus) said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged."
Now let's look in the two books of Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 10:15, Paul says: "I speak as to wise men; JUDGE ye what I say." Paul is saying here, 'Don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourselves ... judge.' Look at 2 Corinthians 5:14: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge," Judging is a great thing, if done properly like Christ teaches us in His Word. 1 Corinthians 2:15 says: "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things,"
God's Word tells us over and over that we need to learn to judge. Why? Check this out! 1 Corinthians 6:2 says: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" If you are a Christian, someone who is truly God's child, then you just read that God is going to have you do judgment on the world. You are a saint if you are His child, and He says here that "the saints shall judge the world". WOW, that's huge. However, you need to know how to judge. Look at Hebrews 5:13-14: "For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that ae of full age, even those who by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
So back to the question ... To Judge or Not to Judge ??? According to God's Word, we are to judge. We are to judge righteous judgment. John 7:24 Jesus says: "Judge not according to the appearance, but JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT." These are Jesus' own words!
To Judge or Not to Judge .... That was our question .... Answered by Jesus Himself through His Word.