Judge And Jury...

How many times have you heard that statement?  It is a quote from the Bible, however we can get the meaning of it all mixed up in attempting to have it our way. We use it when we don't want criticism, or we don't like what people have to say to us.  

So, what am I getting at? We all have two things in common, we like to tell others how to live, and we don't like when others tell us how to live. 

 Let's take a look at our younger members of humanity.  Toddlers and teenagers.  Let's start with toddlers.  We laugh at them when they shake their finger at us and talk about what we need to do or something of the like, but the instant they're told to do something or change something they don't want to, even the most well-behaved children, turn into selfish individuals.  Teenagers are the exact same way.  They're quick to tell others how to be or how to act, but when it is turned back on them, they become defensive and defiant.  

We humans cannot take any kind of criticism, constructive or not!  We can't handle it.  Even when God, our Creator, brings something to our attention we defend it over and over.  We justify what we are doing and why we did it.

So let's look at this verse we get confused.  

““Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 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? 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? 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.”

Matthew 7:1-5 ESV

Where is Jesus going with this? 

Looking at the context of the verse, He is speaking of the hypocritical leadership of the Jews at that time in history.  Jesus teaches how to give, pray, and fast without hypocrisy and see things through God's eyes and not our own.  Jesus is showing us, today, that we should not be hypocritical in our dealings with each other.  

Can we, as Christ followers, keep each other accountable and it be biblically aligned with this verse?  

I'd venture to say we can.  Without the judging of others, we would lack Christ-centered leadership in many important areas of our society.  If we were handcuffed to not judging, parents couldn't be parents.  Coaches couldn't be coaches.  Teachers couldn't be teachers. Need I say more? 

The preceding chapter gives us the context explained above.  Verse two through five of chapter seven give us even more evidence of the anti-hypocrite stance of these verses.  Jesus' words threatened the Pharisees' way of religion.  These Jewish leaders had built the Jewish religion around 613 laws and were hypocritical in their practice.  

We can look at this verse this way,  stop judging only by appearances and judge correctly.  

An interesting point that Paul brings out in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 is for the church to stop trying to judge the people outside of the church.  It is God's place to judge this outside the walls of the church.  

So, Coach, what you're saying is I can "let 'er fly" with my fellow believers?  U didn't say that.  In Galatians 6:1, Paul explains that we are to do something totally different.  We are to facilitate gentle restoration through relationships.  That is the key to judging correctly, a relationship.  If you have a relationship of trust with a brother or sister in Christ, then you could be called to hold them accountable.  Accountability is a soft word that we use to replace the word judgement.  

Let's face it, we hate judgement against ourselves, but we know it is good!  

Use that judgement to make yourself better.  If you judge someone else, make sure that your heart is right and aligned with Jesus Christ!