11. Judging and Not Judging (Matthew 7:1,2)
We are on a hillside overlooking the Sea of
Galilee. Jesus has come up from Judea after his experience of temptation in the
wilderness; he has gathered round him many disciples and is teaching them
— “a light shining in a dark place”. His teaching is
altogether extraordinary, as one having authority, and not as the scribes. His
opening note is something new and beautiful: “Blessed!” Blessed are
the poor... the mourners... the meek... the pure in heart.
He comes at length to judgment — judgment
not in the sense of discernment and discrimination, but in the sense of
fault-finding and condemnation:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again” (Matt. 7:1,2).
The context is the “parable” of the
mote and the beam (vv. 3-5). The saying is found in the rabbinical writings, and
is an example of the caustic Jewish humor.
It is not difficult to make the transition here
from the case of individuals to that of ecclesias or “fellowship”
groups.
“With what measure we mete and with what
judgment we judge, we shall ourselves individually and communally
be assessed” (The Committee of The Christadelphian,
“Fellowship — Its Spirit and Practice”, Vol. 109, No. 1291
— Jan. 1972 — p. 12).
Who belongs to a “perfect” (or even
“near-perfect”) group? Are there not always problems nearer to home
to occupy the industrious brother, without the necessity of seeking to remove a
“mote” from an ecclesial “eye” halfway round the
world?
We should never judge those in other
“fellowships” more severely than we would wish to be judged in the
weakest link of our own “fellowship”. And if such judgment
would make us wince, then perhaps we should re-evaluate our
situation!
“The wonderful thing about the Speaker [of
Matt. 7:1,2] is that he himself is so clear-eyed! There is neither beam nor mote
there! He can judge without ‘hypocrisy’. And he will. ‘The
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son’ (John
5:22). Whosoever therefore usurps this function is guilty of ‘contempt of
court’, ‘the court above’! Hence an apostle says to his
brethren in the midst of their carnal jealousies and strifes: ‘With me it
is a very small thing that I should be judged of you... but he that judgeth me
is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
comes....’ (1 Cor. 4:3-5)... Do not behave as though you sought your
brother’s damnation rather than his salvation. ‘He that covereth a
transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very
friends’ (Prov. 17:9). Do not do it; God hates it!” (C.C. Walker,
“Judge Not”, The Christadelphian, Vol. 61, No. 720 —
June 1924 — p. 266).
It must not be supposed that Matthew 7 prohibits
all ecclesial “judging”. Obviously, there are times when ecclesias
(through their arranging brothers, or by other means) are called upon to
“judge”. But in such cases it must be the clear pronouncement of
Holy Scripture which provides the basis, and not a whim or passing fancy or even
a tradition, well-intended though it be! And judgment must be approached very
carefully and humbly, according to the spirit as well as the letter of Matthew
18. Some good rules to observe in such cases, which reflect the Spirit teaching
of the verses under consideration, are as follows:
- Do not impute to your brethren evil motives (James
4:11).
- Do not condemn your “weak brother”
for what you may consider to be his “imperfect” service (Rom.
14:1-13).
- Do not withhold forgiveness when the Bible
teaches that God can offer it (James 2:13). Under no circumstances has our
Father laid upon us the burden of being stricter than He has expressly said
Himself to be!
- Do not anticipate Christ’s judgment
(1 Cor. 4:5). Our brother is above all else “another man’s
servant” (Rom. 14:4), not our own!
In all the above the emphasis is upon this: We
must only with extreme care and reluctance undertake to pass any judgment. We
must do so only when absolutely necessary, and not just to satisfy some whim or
to elevate ourselves by casting others down. And we must never assume our own
infallibility; the Holy Spirit power of “judging” (such as that
employed by the apostle Peter upon Ananias and Sapphira) has long since ceased
from among the ecclesias.
With all the above agree the wise words of
Brother Roberts:
“It is certainly true that no man ought to
speak of a brother’s faults behind his back until he have spoken to
himself alone, and afterwards with others. But even then, you must be quite sure
that the fault is of a kind that would warrant you in withdrawing if he do not
submit. If there is any doubt on this head, be silent, and leave the Lord to
judge at his coming. We generally find men unwilling to leave things to the
Lord. They act as though they had no faith in the Lord’s coming, and as if
Paul had never written:
‘Judge nothing before the time, till the
Lord come who will make manifest the counsels of the heart’ (1 Cor. 4:5)
—
that is, the secret motives which no man can
know, and which require to be known before a correct estimate of his action is
possible....
“It would be wrong for us to judge in
personal cases. It is possible to say what ought and what ought not to be done,
as a matter of duty for all men; but when it comes to a question whether these
are or are not done by particular men, we enter a forbidden field. We must not
judge; we must not condemn. We must leave the Lord to do that at his
coming.
“We can, of course, withdraw from a brother
who walks disobediently and defends it; but even this we must not do till we
have seen him a few times and given him every opportunity of justifying himself.
If men were more busy judging THEMSELVES, which they are COMMANDED to do,
they would not have so much propensity for judging others, which they are
forbidden to do” (“Judge Not: Condemn Not”, The
Christadelphian, Vol. 35, No. 411 — Sept. 1898 — pp.
388,389).
“The scriptural command is, over and
over:
‘Judge not, that ye be not
judged.’
“With our puny little limited minds, it is
impossible for us to judge fairly, even if we should have all the facts. And we
never have ALL the facts... We must never judge motives, or seek occasions of
fault-finding, or believe and peddle hurtful rumors, or talk behind
peoples’ backs, or speak of sins — either real or supposed —
TO ANYONE EXCEPT THE PERSON INVOLVED. In doing such, we condemn ourselves. The
stern penalties of the law of Christ are very fearful against any of these
fleshly abominations:
‘As ye judge, so shall ye be
judged’ ”
(G.V. Growcott, “Tribulation Worketh
Patience”, The Berean Christadelphian, Vol. 61, No. 3 — March
1973 — p. 81).
“This is a very important first principle
of the Truth. The warning is:
‘With what judgment ye judge, ye shall
be judged’ (Matt. 7:2).
“Therefore it is always wisdom to judge
with mercy and kindness and compassion and fellow-feeling, wherever we must
judge at all. When we indulge in the flesh-satisfying practice of judging and
criticizing others, we are not only directly disobedient to this command —
we are also manifesting that we do not have the mind and spirit of Christ, and
therefore are none of his” (G.V. Growcott, “Be Ye Therefore
Perfect”, The Berean Christadelphian, Vol. 57, No. 2 — Feb.
1969 — p. 51).