What does the Bible really say about judging others? Jesus knew all too well what it was to be judged. In Mark 2 alone he was judged for healing a paralytic through forgiveness of his sins; eating with sinners and tax collectors; for failure of his disciples to fast, and for picking heads of grain on the Sabbath.

We flawed, selfish, and broken people read the statement: “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged,” (Matthew 7:1) and we stand on that principle against anyone who points a finger at us. We Christians are often told that we, of all people, should know better than to judge others. However, that is not what the Bible says, not even in that passage if you read it entirely!  “For the way you judge others is how you will be judged–the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you. Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye; then you will clearly see, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye!” He’s talking to the hypocrites which is a category we all fall into.

He tells us to first, before we pass any judgments, take a good look in the mirror and clean our own lives up. Then, after we are properly cleaned and focused, we are actually commanded to discern, examine, judge. “Stop judging by surface appearances, and judge the right way!” (John 7:24) “Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) How could we know evil from good if we never judge between the two? “But do test everything–hold onto what is good, but keep away from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) First John 4:1 tells us not to trust but to test the spirits so that we may recognize false prophets.

Is it right to judge? Yes, but only after you have put yourself in the tub and let Christ scrub you. Franklin C. Huling, MA puts it this way: “The greatest peril of our day is not too much judging, but too little judging of spiritual falsehood.” “Don’t you know that we will judge angels, not to mention affairs of everyday life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3) Learning the proper way to judge in this life is training us for the next.