Judge Not

Matt 7:1-5
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

In my early Christian years, I was zealous without knowledge. I held to my strict Christian tradition, and constantly judged others. Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) persecuted the church out of a lack of revelation, and I preached out of a lack of compassion.

I was taught that judging others is acceptable as long as you were not participating in the same sin. My Christian circles emphasized that "if you take the plank out of your own eye, you can remove the speck in your brother's eye."

Let's use an example. Imagine a man (we will call him Jim) has been married to his wife for twenty-five years. Jim's friend (we will call him Luke) has decided to divorce his own wife. By following the earlier logic, Jim has every right to judge Luke. Jim has never divorced; therefore, he can tell Luke his actions are wrong.

However, Jesus said do not judge. Plain and simple. He even warned his followers that if they judged, they too would be judged. There is a flaw in thinking you no longer have a plank in your own eye. Jesus never said that a speck and a plank are the same sin. This means, if Jim has a bad habit of lying to his wife, he has no right to judge Luke for seeking a divorce. I strongly believe that Jesus is the only man without a plank in his own eye. He is the judge! He and He alone.

I will add to this train of thought later. I do believe there are moments when accountability, discernment, rebuke, and chastisement are needed. People need to know the difference between disciplining those we love and judging people's actions.