Judging

by Tim Howard 

Three weeks ago my grandson’s kindergarten teacher contacted me about his recent behavior. She said he has been so busy critiquing everybody else and pointing out his or her faults that he has lost sight of his own shortcomings.

I was instantly reminded of Jesus when he taught the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. He said: “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?

Those words were spoken in the context of a discussion about judging people for what they do or what they don’t do. Jesus simply said don’t do that! Matt. 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged…” Ultimately, that’s what the teacher told my grandson. Stop doing that - focus on yourself first.

The desire to judge people starts early in life and I’m convinced we’re all susceptible to the temptation. We like to put people in their place before putting ourselves in their place. Someone said: “Never judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.”

If you are going to judge anybody, however, start with yourself!  Matt. 7:5 “… first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” We tend to focus on the foibles, faults and failures of others before we clean up our own act. Maybe that reveals how highly we view ourselves and how lowly we view others. Maybe our thoughts say: If they were just like us then the world would be a better place. Really?

Maybe, just maybe the best idea is to let God do the Judging. After all, He is the only one who sees clearly. He sees the past, present and future. He not only looks on the exterior of mankind but inside where the motives and attitudes reside. The Bible says He is the only one qualified to bring all mankind into accountability when everything comes to an end. Further more, Jesus didn’t come to judge but to rescue those who call out to him. John 3:17-18.  You will win the favor of a lot more people if you try to help them rather than hurl your opinions at them with a derogatory attitude.

Jesus didn’t mean we should not draw conclusions or evaluate things around us. We must make judgments between good and bad; right and wrong as well as what is good and best. The person who believes all he or she hears and accepts everyone who claims to be true will experience confusion and great loss. They must make judgments. They don’t, however, have to be judgmental and that’s at the crux of this teaching found in Matthew 7.

Being judgmental is to point out something that is wrong in someone else’s life, making the person feel put down, excluded and marginalized. When your tone becomes condemning and condescending the door to being judgmental has opened. If you equate your personal preferences with God’s truth and add your opinions to God’s word, you have a recipe for a good batch of judgment that’s gone astray.

If you want to live at peace with others, take the words of Jesus to heart. 

Use this as a rule of thumb: Judge things but let God judge people!