What does it mean to “not judge?”
Discussion question for December 4, 2009 – No meeting on November 27, 2009.
Jesus said: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” What tempts you to be judgmental? How does that attitude affect you? What difference is there between judgment and discernment? How can you manage your life so that you obey the command to not judge?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
The first thing we have to do is understand what Jesus meant when He said not to judge. He did not mean that you mustn’t form an opinion about what is right and wrong. John 7:24 says to “judge rightly”. Also, in John 8:15-16 He warns about judging by human standards or outward appearance. We are to discern truth according to God’s standards, not our own. This is also stated in James 4:11-12.
We are called to correct a brother that is trapped in sin. This can look like judgment, but the difference is apparent when the motive or method is evaluated. As long as my intent for my brother is to maintain God’s standard, and when my motive is love and not self-confidence or pride, then the outcome is healing and forgiveness. Short of that, the outcome is comparison and conflict that does not lead to life.
Each of us must be on guard against becoming judgmental, especially in areas that are personally important. A core value that we hold in high regard (often because of the pain we experienced in gaining that value) is a particularly vulnerable area for us. Similarly, there is a risk of projecting on someone else what you are struggling with yourself, making you hypersensitive to that sin.
Another attitude to test in times of judging is related to the object of offense. When someone acts in a way that is against my moral code (and/or God’s code), I am in danger of being judgmental if my response is due to an offense I take at the action or person. This goes right along with pride instead of love. When I am tempted to judge, I need an internal integrity check: who’s offense am I defending, what attitude am I using, and which standard am I measuring the offense against?
Each of us must determine whether our opinion is judging or discerning. As it says in James 5:19-20