Let’s face it: we all judge other people.
Sometimes that’s because we’re in a role that requires it, such as being a Justice of the Peace or sitting on an interview panel.
But we also judge in our personal lives: do I trust this person? People judge when deciding on a spouse (good provider, loving, wandering eyes?). Teenagers judge potential friends (fun, kind, nightmare?).
Despite this, judging others gets a lot of stick in society. “Don’t judge” is an established part of the vernacular.
And the (I presume) source, Jesus, is often quoted saying: “Do not judge”, but out of context.
The bible, as we shall see, is a lot more nuanced about judging and gives plenty of guidance. Here’s four ways to approach passing judgment.
1. Make sure the scales are just
Academics have found that people who bosses deem physically attractive are more likely to be hired, promoted and earn more. Other research suggests that bosses have a bias against candidates who have “status inconsistency – lower university status and higher attractiveness, or higher university status and lower attractiveness”.
It seems we want to put people in boxes based on flawed criteria.
Proverbs 11:1 urges us to avoid such unfair judgments:
The Lord detests dishonest scales,
but accurate weights find favour with him.
2. Avoid hypocrisy
Both Jesus and Paul speak out against hypocrisy in judging.
Jesus says (Matthew 7:1-5 NIV):
Do not judge, or you too will be judged… 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.
The theme is picked up by Paul, writing in Romans 2:1. He criticises the hypocrisy of those who pass judgment on others for acts they are also committing:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
3. Remember grace
In talking about judging others, Paul highlights the importance of grace. He flags up up God’s “kindness, forbearance and patience” (Romans 2:4).
We can discern that someone is in the wrong, but respond to that by showing love.
By sending his son to die in our place, God has shown an enormous act of grace. He, the ultimate judge of all creation, has prioritised grace, forgiving those who truly repent.
People like to receive grace when they’ve messed up, but often forget to pass it onto others. In the parable of the unforgiving debtor, as it’s sometimes called (Matthew 18), Jesus talks about the king who forgave a huge debt owed by one of his servants. That servant, however, failed to show any compassion towards another who owed him a much smaller amount money. He had the debtor sent to prison.
4. Hope for the best of people
Giving people the benefit of the doubt, rather than racing to criticise, is a form of love or “charity” that should be central to our process of judging.
The 19th century Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle wrote:
What our Lord means to condemn is a censorious and fault-finding spirit. A readiness to blame others for trifling offenses or matters of indifference, a habit of passing rash and hasty judgments, a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbours and make the worst of them—this is what our Lord forbids. It was common among the Pharisees. It has always been common from their day down to the present time. We must watch against it. We should “believe all things” and “hope all things” about others, and be very slow to find fault. This is Christian charity (1 Corinthians 13:7).
* * *
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you always act justly.
We pray that we will avoid the rush to pass judgment on others;
and that we will put aside fault-finding;
but instead “hope all things” about others.
We pray for your help in avoiding the errors of judgment
that are so common when motives are misguided.
Just as your grace, though undeserved, has set us free,
we pray that we, too, will be willing to show grace to others.
Amen.