There is a large number of people in the
world, even Christians, today who say that
we shouldn't judge people. Thus, they
would go to say that we shouldn't criticize
others; saying that they are wrong or what
they believe is wrong. This is mainly due to
the influence of postmodernism, with its
idea of relativism and philosophical
pluralism.
In this article, I would first, for the benefit
of all, show that such an idea is
preposterous and is never practiced
anywhere, by deconstructing this notion. I
would then go on to show according to
Scripture what it teaches about judging
people.
When someone says that we shouldn't
judge people, what they often mean is that
we don't have the right to say someone is
right or wrong. I would answer this with
three lines of reasoning:
You are judging us when you say that.
Truth by nature is exclusive
I'm not judging you, God is
You are judging us when you say that
Judging people means that you pass a value
judgment on what others think or do or
say, of which judgment implies making a
decision whether something is right or
wrong. Thus, when someone say that we
should not judge others, they are in fact
passing a value judgment (that judging
people is wrong) and thus anyone who
does so (judging other) is doing something
that is wrong. Thus, those people who say
that we shouldn't judge other are in fact
doing exactly what they say they shouldn't
do; judging that people who they perceive
as judging others are wrong. Thus, this
sentence is self-defeating. In fact, because
this is so, those people who say that we
shouldn't judge others are in fact
hypocrites, because they practice the thing
they condemned in others.
Truth by nature is exclusive
As I have shown in this article on relativism,
truth by nature is exclusive. Most people,
when they say that we shouldn't judge
people, it is almost inadvertently related to
truth claims like those found in Christianity
(i.e. the claim that Jesus is the ONLY way, the
ONLY truth and the ONLY life — Jn. 14:6)
The fact of the matter is that something
which is true is non-negotiable. In that
article and the main article on relativism, I
have demolished the claims of relativism,
thus establishing the fact that there are
absolute truths. Therefore, if what I say is
true, you can't say that I am judging people.
I'm not judging you, God is
The Christian, whether he is presenting the
exclusivity of Christ in the Gospel or talking
about other truth claims in it, should be
basing his arguments on Scripture. Thus, for
example, when I say that Jesus is the ONLY
way, the ONLY truth and the ONLY life and
that apart from knowing Jesus as God, you
will not go to heaven, I am not passing
judgment on those who refuse to accept
Jesus as Lord and Savior, but God's Word in
the Bible is. This is because I am not saying
something new, but just reiterating what
God says through the Bible. Thus, all non-
believers' arguments are with God, not me.
Now, we will look at Scripture to see what
the Bible says about judging.
For many Christians, they would always
throw out these few Bible passages and say
that from there Jesus, and Paul condemns
judging people. However, is that really the
case? We shall see.
The passages that are quoted for saying
that we shouldn't judge people are as
follows:
Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)
“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.
Rom. 2: 1-3 (NIV)
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who
pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge the other, you
are condemning yourself, because you who
pass judgment do the same things. Now we
know that God's judgment against those
who do such things is based on truth. So
when you, a mere man, pass judgment on
them and yet do the same things, do you
think you will escape God's judgment?
Before we examine these passages in detail,
let us look at some passages in the Bible
that show Paul, Stephan and even Jesus
judging people, even scolding and shaming
them in public.
In what is probably Jesus' most acidic
judgment on the Pharisees in Luke
11:37-52, Jesus, the person who tells us to
love each other, pronounces six woes on
the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.
The word woe used here is the Greek word
transliterated Ouai and denotes a primary
exclamation of grief. Used in this context,
Jesus was saying that they are in a very
bad and grievous state. Jesus here liken
these self-righteous religious leaders to
bowls which are clean on the outside and
dirty on the inside, unwashed tombstones
and the people who kill the prophets and
then decorate their tombstones later. In
other words, Jesus is pronouncing that he
has judged them and found them wanting,
they being hypocrites who do one thing
and exalting themselves in public on their
perceived righteousness while sinning in
private.
Some people may say that Jesus can do that
because he is God. However, let us not
forget that Jesus is modeling for us the life
we are to live as Christians, thus we can't
say that Jesus can judge because he is God,
especially since judging someone is an
attitude and action, not something special
that God alone can do. To prove this, we can
look at the case of Stephan and Paul.
Stephan was one of the early Christian and
the first Christian martyr, being stoned to
death by a Jewish lynch mob made up by
his accusers and the Sanhedrin ( Acts 7:57-
8:1a). The reason behind his death is found
in the passage immediately preceding this.
In Acts 7:1-56, Stephan was caught and
tried by the Sanhedrin on false charges by
people who oppose the Gospel. When asked
to present his defense, Stephan gave the
Sanhedrin a history lesson, finally closing
with a judgment and indictment of the Jews
present, especially of the Sanhedrin.
Stephan accuses the Sanhedrin and his
accusers as follows:
"You stiffnecked people, with
uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just
like your fathers: You always resist the Holy
Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your
fathers did not persecute? They even killed
those who predicted the coming of the
Righteous One. And now you have betrayed
and murdered him – you who have
received the law that was put into effect
through angels but have not obeyed
it.” ( Acts 7:51-53 NIV)
If that is not judging and criticizing people,
then I don't know what it.
Paul, similarly, judge and criticize people. In
Gal. 2:11-14, the apostle Peter compromise
and was rebuked publicly by Paul.
In light of these examples, we must really
look very closely to the passages which
seem to support the idea that we are not to
judge people.
Let us look at the two passages, Mt. 7:1-5
and Rom. 2:1-3. In these two passages, the
Bible is not asking us not to judge; it is
against hypocritical judgments. In the
passage in the Sermon of the Mount (Mt.
7:1-5), Jesus didn't say that we shouldn't
remove the speck from another's eye. In
fact, we are asked to do that. However, we
are to remove the plank from our eye first,
then remove the speck from his eye. In
Rom. 2:3, it is saying that is is wrong to
judge someone when you are doing the
same thing. In fact, in Rom. 2:20-23, we are
told that if you want to judge or teach
others, you must apply the same standard
to yourself. In fact, God himself said that in
Mt. 7:1 and the whole of Rom. 2:1-3 that
God will judge us according to the standard
that we judge others.
So, therefore, what does the Bible teaches
about judging others? The Bible says it is OK
to judge others, as long as we apply the
same standards to ourselves and knowing
full well that God will use the same standard
on us. In fact, in light of the actions of Jesus,
Stephan and Paul, it would be strange if
judging people is wrong, for then they
would have done something wrong.
My Opera
