Judge not…Says who?!

1	Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2	For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3	And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4	Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5	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 above verses are from the book of Matthew in the Bible.

It is a peculiar thing when non-believers of Christian philosophy or Christians attempting to avoid correction by the word of the Bible being spoken to them by another use the verse, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” This is an obvious attempt to disarm the speaker and divert attention from their actions.

 Anyone with a scant familiarity with the Bible knows that there are plenty of judgments from Genesis through Revelation.  Yeshua bin Josef (Jesus) passed down judgment on the peddlers in the temple; his disciples passed down judgments and critiques through their epistles. Are we to believe that Christians or people of any other faith that proselytizes to others are to keep their opinions to themselves? That goes against the very purpose of the most religions.

 What Yeshua bin Josef meant by these verses is not that you should not judge, but be mindful of how you judge. A person should not judge in a manner that destroys the person being corrected. Furthermore, the person that is critiquing should not act as if he/she has no flaws. Judging others is how we all improve. As long as the person judging is able to handle being judged by the same manner in which they judged, it is okay to judge one another. For example, if I were to judge someone’s eating habits, then I must be ready to be judged on some point in my life where I fall short. Helping a person that is in error and allowing yourself to be corrected by that person or another is just fine.

 What fear should the person judging have of being judged if they are being judged by the standard of their faith? Furthermore, why would a person try to avoid being judged if they know they have committed an error?

 Additionally, it is more important and effective to critique not by mouth but by acts. Case in point, Yeshua bin Josef ate with prostitutes and thieves at the critique of community. Did he eat with them because he agreed with their lifestyles? No. Did he eat with them and then berate them about how they were bad people destined for Hell? No. Did he make them feel good about their sins or teach them how to rob and prostitute safely? Absolutely, not.

 He, as mentioned in the Bible, believed that they needed help. However, he helped them by not acting as if he was better than them. He helped by displaying his lifestyle to them and his belief system. That was more effective than what they normally received from others which was condemnation.

 I think, however, whether a person is critiqued by others is not necessarily important. A person’s actions will be judged through the fruit of their labor in most cases. A person that handles his finances poorly will fall into financial ruin eventually. An obese person will fall into sickness. And on and on.

 It is a sad when a person knows inside that what they are doing is wrong, however, he/she wishes to avoid judgment. And then that person will normally go on the attack listing how Christians or others don’t follow their own religion to the point. Yes, most Christians pick and choose what to believe and follow. They are human. However, I have not noticed that many of them try to justify their shortcomings. Most, hopefully, will admit where they fall short and will look to correct it.

 Recently, I was engaged in a conversation about folk that were engaged in a deadly lifestyle. This lifestyle is counter to most, if not all, religions. However, they attended a church that did not work to change their sinful ways. The church instead taught them to cope with their sins and make the action as safe as possible. I was trying to tell the listeners that the lifestyle that they were defending undeniably ruins the mind and body and that the folks engage in this living need to find a healthier way to live.  I made no mention of religion. Safe to say no one agreed. I am sure this same group of people would have equally condemned me if I had suggested that eating fried chicken is bad for your health and the people that eat this food should eat baked chicken instead.

 As a conservative libertarian, who cares what these people do to themselves. However, if they come to a church that should be trying to steer them away from their sins, then that is what should be going on.

 So, judge one another, but do so carefully and be open to receive judgment.

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