As Christians, should we be judging others? And if so, who? Those outside of the church, inside the church, or both? If you have ever had an exchange with a non-believer, this is a very common question brought up in discussions. Let’s look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 and see if we can make sense of it.

Matthew 7:1-5 is part of the Sermon on the Mount. In these first five verses, is Jesus making a blanket prohibition against all judgment and discernment? Not at all. What Jesus is forbidding is self-righteous, hypocritical judgment (refer Luke 18:9-14).

Judging Others Outside the Church

If you remember the mass shooting at the nightclub in Orlando in 2016 where 49 were killed, there was a proclamation from a few churches that the victims received their just due because of their homosexual lifestyle. For anyone to believe this was a Biblically correct response, I would only ask that they read Mark 2:15.

In Mark 2:15, Jesus was able to eat and celebrate with ‘sinners and tax collectors’ without condoning actions that broke the Law of Scripture. Jesus was able to see past actions and lifestyles that were contrary to Scripture and see the intrinsic worth of every human life. He knew that every person on this earth has been created in the image of God (see my post here about the Image of God).

If Christians can’t “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15-17) because we differ on political, religious or sexual issues, the problem lies with us, not them. We have become the very groups that Jesus condemns. We cannot live in this world with the hope of bringing those who live a life in contrast to the teachings of Christ if we first do not love them. Paul clearly states the judgment for those outside of the church rests with God alone (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).

Judging Others Inside the Church

But what about those inside the church? In 1 Corinthians 5, we are commanded to judge our brother, but in Romans 14:10, we are commanded not to judge our brother. This appears to be a contradiction. But it isn’t, because the passages are talking about two very different issues. First Corinthians 5 is talking about definite sins for which we are to judge our brothers in Christ in light of God’s revealed truth. We are to go to them in love, confront them, and call them to repentance. Romans 14 addresses matters of Christian liberty (disputable matters). It tells us we shouldn’t judge our brother if he doesn’t feel the liberty to do what we do. And we shouldn’t judge our brothers who feel the liberty to do what we in good conscience cannot.

We should exercise judgment concerning sin. In the other case, where it is gray, we should withhold judgment and give our brother the benefit of the doubt.

Satan’s two-step strategy is simple: first, to tempt God’s people not to judge our brother when we should, in primary areas revealed in Scripture (rather than take appropriate steps by going to him and following through if he doesn’t repent). Second, to tempt us to judge our brother when we shouldn’t, in gray areas not revealed in Scripture. A third strategy, where there is indisputable sin, would be to tempt us to judge it with a spirit of self-righteousness, rather than with what Paul encourages: a spirit of grief and humility.

As members of the body of Christ, we have the duty to judge other fellow believers to protect the church from corrupting influence of a self-proclaimed follower of Christ, but we must first examine ourselves for any hypocritical behavior as well as judging from an attitude of superiority. The church has authority and obligation to exercise godly discipline (Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1-5).

It is the world to whom we are to witness, to whom we are called to bring the Gospel. We are not to conform to the world (Romans 12:2), but we must be in the world and have contact with unsaved people or we could never evangelize them. God intends us to be in the world so we can be its salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16) and His witnesses to it (Acts 1:8), but not to pass judgment on the unsaved.

That’s His job.