“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way that you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you.” Matt.7:1-2
This passage is probably the most misunderstood passage in the entire Bible. We have taken judging completely out of the contents with this entire chapter in Mathew 7.
The first thing I want you to see is that this verse says “in the way that you judge” follows the “do not judge” part. This indicates that it is referring to the way you judge because it is impossible not to make judgements of any kind. We all make judgement calls every day, all the time.
Secondly, it says “and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you.” How many of you have skipped over this part as you read these verses?
So the first question you need to ask yourself is, “what standard do you want to be measured by ?” Do you want to be measured by God’s standard or some man made standard ? How you decide to answer this question will determine by what measurement you should use to judge someone else as well as how you would like to be judged.
God is the ultimate judge so don’t you think we should be measured by His standards and not some standard man may have come up with? After all, since God is Holy and Just, He should know how to judge the people He made. Besides, not only should we use God’s standards, but when we do, we really do not have to be the judge. All we have to do is to be the messenger that God says this and my opinion does not really matter. You deflect becoming judge because all you have to do is says, “well God’s word says this.”
Now remember right after it says “judge not” it says ” in the way that you judge, you will be judged.” So it is really not talking about us not judging anyone but rather HOW we are we judging someone.
Now I realize that this might throw you for a loop at first, but bear with me. We have entered into a time in history where man is trying to avoid judgement. Not just the judgement of each other but the judgement of God. We have come to a place in our society where we want to excuse all kinds of behavior so when some start calling out the “do not judge” card, that gives them religious approval for bad behavior and bad decisions.
This has lead us down a path where the bible says there is a day coming where we will see people calling good, evil and evil, good . This day is upon us. We have arrived at that time in history.
We need to make a decision if we are going to stick to God’s measure of standard, according to His word, or we are going to allow some politician or famous movie star determine what is right and what is wrong.
Let me give you a couple examples of what I mean. One example is that your toddler is running down the driveway into the street and you yell out “stop” but he keeps going. So you run after him and grab him before he gets hit by the oncoming car. You make a judgement call because his life was in danger. But what standard did you use to determine to make that judgement? Was the decision based upon God’s standard or yours?
Second example, there is a young man about 14 years old and he lives in the hood. His mother is a prostitute and his dad is in jail. He is approached by an older kid and offered some heroin. As he starts to take it, a man of God comes running to warn him not to take it. This man of God had to determine if he was going to follow God’s standard or just let some kid destroy this sad 14 year old. Was the man of God just supposed to look on at the catastrophe and let the kid take the heron and have his life ruined ? All because he’s not supposed to judge ? Or was he supposed to lift up God’s standard and rescue the kid from destruction?
Two extremely easy decisions to make , correct ? But they were still decisions made based upon biblical principles. Both decisions were based upon a standard of measure. The standard was biblical.
Lets take a look at a more complex judgement call. Two men worked together and one overheard the other one setting up a meeting with a women to meet up to commit adultery. These guys knew each other pretty well and the guy overhearing the call knew his coworkers wife and kids. This guy will make a decision whether to say or do anything based upon a “standard” that he lives by. A standard based upon Gods standard that would direct him to tell his coworker that he was going to make a decision that would ruin his life. He may lose his wife and kids. The standard of measure the man lived by would determine what he would do; Get involved and stop a disaster or rationalize and think the girl he is meeting may be hot. Again, how would you want to be judged ? How you want to be judged is the way you will determine how to judge others. Would you want to be rebuked and avoid making a huge mistake or would you want your coworker to mind his on business and let you fall into sin ?
In the same chapter of Matthew the Lord explains further about this. “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12 nasb
So you need not worry about judging others as your responsibility lies in presenting what God’s standard says. You don’t need to be worried about their response if you present things in a spirit of love and concern. So many people are destroying their personal lives and, as believers, we are called to help present God’s word in order to rescue them from destruction.
We must take a stand for what’s right and what’s wrong. Just because others may not want to live by God’s biblical standards, we still need to warn them. This is our responsibility as believers. Take a stand for Jesus Christ and don’t worry about being accused of being judgemental. We are responsible to God, not man.