"Judge Not... the most abused scripture today"
"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Matthew 7:1-2, NRSV).
It seems that "judge not, lest you be judged" is flung around ad nausem by anyone who has the desire or impetus to do so. These verses have suffered from abuse beyond compare, textually speaking. Usually, these verses are employed as a weapon. For the record, if there is one universal "bad policy" for scripture, it is the use of scripture as a weapon. The ironic thing about this particular scripture, and what makes me upset, is that it is generally employed by those who rarely, if ever, crack open a Bible.
It seems that the scripture is thrown most commonly at a Christian or another person who is seeking to take a moral stand against a particular activity or practice. Those who seek to defend their own practices or those of people they know then load their tired bow and fling this arrow. While I apologize for the irritated tone that I have at the moment, I want you to know that I am doing so for edifying purposes.
A quick exegetical background
As I believe I have stated in other entries, the key to sound and orthodox Biblical interpretation - exegesis - is taking into account the context of the verse in question. Verses don't exist in outer space. In fact, when the Bible was originally penned, chapter and verse wasn't used. Just using the New Testament as an example, these books were written in Koine Greek. This common language didn't employ either punctuation, paragraph breaks, etc., so a particular book looked like a sheet of letters. Chapter and verse is a construct of the Middle Ages. The reason for including this trivial information is to illustrate that the Bible was written to be ingested in thoughts rather than verse by verse. This means that in order for us to get an accurate picture of what a verse truly means, we must employ contextual studies.
Judge not - in focus!
Back to Matthew 7:1-2. What Jesus is talking about in this oft-quoted and even more oft-abused passage is that we are to sure that our own affairs are in order with the Father. In other words, the context of the verse in question is set with an eternal perspective in mind. The ultimate form of judgment, the final judgment before God that will take place for all, is what is being addressed here.
It should be noted that a prohibition against making statements against sin is not being made in Matt. 7:1-2.
In the Greek, the word for judgment in these verses - and throughout the book of Matthew is "used overwhelmingly for the eschatological judgment of God" (Nolland, 2005, p.318). This means that Jesus is making a prohibition not against calling sin what it is - remember, always coated in love - but rather against our judging about the eternal destination of another. That is the sole and exclusive territory of God.
By pronouncing that type of judgment on another, I am putting myself in the position of God. For the sake of argument, doing such a thing is really in violation of the First Commandment. Nothing is to be in the place of God, save God alone. This is why it is considered by many that to "damn" someone else through the use of language is sinful and plain wrong.
Again, this time with feeling...
To emphasize: Matthew 7:1-2 is speaking against the placement of self in the position of God himself, as eternal judge. To have a stand against something and to speak in a critical yet ALWAYS loving fashion is NOT being spoken against by Jesus.
We are implored as Christians to stand for what is holy and good, righteous and just. However, we are also called to always bear in mind that we are to be loving when we do so. I'm not referring to verbal abuse or putting on an air of moral superiority in the name of love. The ultimate definition of love is given to us through both the words and life of Jesus - who said that greater love has no one than the one who gives his life for another. Love itself is also to manifest itself as written in I Corinthians 13. "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way" (I Cor. 13:4-5a).
Wrapping it up
So, the next time you feel led to either employ Matt. 7:1-2 or when you feel led to make a decision about another person's eternal destination, remember the context of the aforementioned verses. Let God handle the final judgment. Be sure that your heart and life are in order and that Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life. Check to make sure that love is your motivation. Always know that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar. In other words, let's all, you, me and everyone follow the greatest commandments: to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors - which is everyone - as we love ourselves.
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