Overused, misunderstood - "Judge not . . ."

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I have noticed, over a period of years, that many people who write letters to the editor like to quote the biblical "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), when disagreeing with someone and trying to win an argument. Christians and non-Christians alike continue to use this much over-used and misunderstood quote. What they have done is try to make any, and all, judgment wrong by singling out this verse. In fact, there are instances in which the bible says we need to judge, to wit: "James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." "John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." "Jesus and the Apostles were very bold and rebuked and condemned evil. They even openly rebuked people in the church for doing evl, in order to strengthen the church." (From www.truechristianity.com). I have paraphrased or directly quoted some of the above from the article "The Confusion Between Judging and (Bold Rebuking, Warning or Correction.)" an article on www.truechristianity.com. For those of you out there who are fond of citing "Judge not that ye be not judged". You need to read this article to understand this biblical quote in a fuller context, if you are going to use/abuse it.
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posted on Sun, Jun 29, 2008 11:54 PM
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all in the presentation bychopsui3 months ago (0 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
I think that it is all in the presentation...do you present it as constructive manner or a destructive manner...
Judge, Correct, Rebuke - Always with Love byAlphaBeagle3 months ago (0 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
Chopsui I agree with you. From a biblical and Christian standpoint, judging, correcting, rebuking - whatever you call it - is to be done in a loving manner.
okay byDrogoscg3 months ago (1 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
To be the gadfly...when was the last time any public Christian used it in a loving manner?? I can't remember one. It is always used to beat someone over the head no matter what. That is human nature.
Don't look to people for how to behave byAlphaBeagle3 months ago (1 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
It's quite common for people, when arguing against Christianity, to say "look how badly these Christians behave (or have behaved)". Yes, Christians can be just like the rest of us at times! How about that! I always thought the bumper sticker "Not perfect - just saved" pretty much says it all. Christians are FLAWED, they DO do things out of human nature, which is flawed - how shocking! The difference is, they know they need Jesus because they are flawed. That is why to be a Christian one always has to work hard at it. Christians are trying to be Christ-like - not an easy thing to do and keep up consistently! Christians are sinners like the rest of us! Please do not base the practice of Christianity upon what ordinary people, Christians, do. Look to what Jesus would HAVE us do. The goal when it comes to judging, correcting and rebuking is to try to do it in a Christ-like manner. Unfortunately, you are right that many people, including Christians, fail to fully emulate Christ in this, and other aspects of what constitutes real Christian thinking and behavior, including myself, btw.
I think..... bydwainegf3 months ago (1 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
I think it is not our place to assume to know what God will do. I try not to judge because I know God will do a much better job at it than me. There is another statement "Let him without sin cast the first stone." Like the statement made above about judging and the counter statement to the contrary, I am sure that there is a "contradicting" statement that can be found somewhere in the bible. I feel that each of us should do our best at following our beliefs. If you feel comfortable judging others, I'm fine with that. Personally I am trying to hedge my bets.
Clarification, dwainegf byAlphaBeagle3 months ago (0 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
In the sense that God judges who is saved and not saved, I agree with you. I don't think it's my place to tell someone they're going to hell - or heaven. However, as I pointed out above, as Christians, we are to speak out against wrongdoing. As for, "Let him without sin cast the first stone", was clearly referring to taking things much farther than judging, rebuking or correcting. This was judging and passing sentence. God passes sentence on our souls and where we end up - we don't. In this passage about the woman, it wasn't that she didn't sin. He didn't say to the people who were getting ready to throw stones that the woman hadn't sinned. Perhaps you've forgotten the rest of what Jesus said. He tells the woman to "go, and sin no more". Perhaps the lesson is that while we judge and rebuke, we must remember that we are also sinners, and as such we should show mercy and give people a chance, as Christ did with this woman.