If there was a civil crime that many people would like to be punishable by death, it would be judging others. It’s the one thing that many people bash one another for, and yet, everyone does it.  Many people who know little or nothing of scripture know Matthew 7:1 which says, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” In this case, a better word would be condemn because that is what the Lord is talking about- judgment to condemnation- saying that a person is “no good.”

When people are attacked for being “judgmental” these days, they are usually doing nothing more than speaking of another person’s behavior, and not making a decision about the person’s worth as an individual. Nevertheless, they are usually condemned by their accusers. Judgment is not condemnation as one uses the word today. Matthew 7:1 is not the only thing that the Bible has to say on the subject.

Jesus tells us, “Do not judge according to appearances, but judge with a righteous judgment,” John 7:24. Everyone judges. Some judge wrongly. All too often, people judge according to what puts them in the best light for the company that they are in at the time.  This is capricious- being a social chameleon and adapting the prevailing beliefs of one’s present company- not a quality that anyone can trust.

Every one judges according to how they were raised. Survival often depends upon the ability to size-up people and situations quickly.  (Beware of those who condemn righteous judgment. They are the harshest judges). So the issue is not so much judgment itself, but how one judges that is important. People who live in a society generally share a common set values. There is general agreement on what they consider to be right or wrong, good or evil, innocent or wicked. 

To a certain extent, these values are not taught so much as they are recognized. Children do not have to be taught that lying or stealing are wrong, they know that it is by measuring the responses of their parents or friends when they are discovered. In the same way, a sailor who was brought up in the Midwest and enters a bar in Barcelona where men are dancing with one another, does not need to consult tea leaves, the Bible, or a USA Today poll to know that something is wrong, but if he says so, well, he might be condemned as intolerant, bigoted and a number of other dubious charges. 

Christians are often castigated as “judgmental,” simply for stating what God has to say about homosexuality or abortion. In this case, it is not the person who is judging, it is God. The person is simply stating the obvious. It should be mentioned that Islam does not condone homosexuality either, but the Christian is far more likely to be openly attacked for saying so. Despite the efforts of public schools to weaken a child’s aversion to homosexuality, it is rarely effective, and only then, with those who have the weakest of value systems. The Bible says that God has written His word on the hearts of men [and women]. When it comes to right and wrong, good and evil, the evidence speaks for itself.

Thomas Jefferson, despite his own proclivities to the contrary, said, “The great principles or right and wrong are clear to any reader. To know them requires not the aid of many counselors.” He was right, and he still is. Each person who lives in a civil society has not simply the right, but the responsibility- the duty- to call right and wrong, good and evil as they are when it is clear that someone willingly and openly violates what the society values. It is not judgment to do so.  And contrary to the belligerent claims to the contrary, it is not hate to remind someone of the truth- it’s hate not to.