‘You shall not judge’
It must be one of the best-known verses in the Bible. You only have to make a negative judgment of something spiritual or moral for the quotation to be fired back, perhaps in the King James version: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” That is indeed what Jesus says in Matthew 7:1. However, a moment’s thought shows that it cannot be an outright ban on all kinds of negative judgment.
For a start, to say that we must never make negative judgments of any kind is itself a negative judgment. It is saying that making negative judgments is wrong.
Further, that cannot be what Jesus intended. He goes on to warn against trying to take a speck out of your brother’s eye and ignoring the plank in our own eye. But that is impossible without being discerning and making a judgment. And he then says, “Do not give to dogs what is sacred” (verse 6). What is that, if not a negative judgment?
No, Jesus is not telling us not to be discerning, nor that we should never make negative judgments; after all, he does! What he is warning us against is a judging, condemning spirit, especially one that is quick to condemn what is wrong in others and yet slow to deal with what is wrong in your own life. Now, that is something we can all be guilty of.