My small group is going through the book of James right now. Yesterday we went through chapter 2, and we spent a good deal of time discussing what exactly judgment is when we got to these verses (12-13):
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
This, of course, brought up other verses, like these in Matthew 7:
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
A few people decided that judgment can’t mean what we mean it as in our society today, (e.g. calling someone “judgmental”) because when a judge judges you (and when God will judge us) a sentence will be passed down. They said that confronting someone on a sin isn’t judgment because you’re basically just telling them that what they did was wrong, and not sentencing them to anything.
I disagree.
While we have to be careful not to interpret the Bible with our own definitions, the definition is sort of a good one. Anytime you form an opinion of someone based on what you see or know (or think you know) about someone, you are judging them. Because based on that decision, you are often deciding to either give or take away something. It could be that you won’t offer your friendship. It could be that you soil their reputation. It could be that you decide they’re great and you want to be a part of their life. But something is either given or taken away based on the opinion you formed. We all do it, it’s human nature. And that’s why God tells us to be merciful when we judge. And if we aren’t, He won’t be merciful with us when we are judged.
If you keep reading in Matthew 7, I believe that you will eventually find something about God commanding us to “Judge righteous judgment”. I think that you’re on the right track– our judgment should be along Biblical lines about actions that we see, not about heart attitudes.
We should not be judging the heart, because we cannot see it. We cannot truly tell motives for what happened– and so that is not in our bounds as believers. However, if I see a brother caught in a sin (Galatians 6) it is my obligation to restore them. This means that I may have to reprove them, correct them, and instruct them in righteousness.
This has with it the parallel problems of gossip and not getting involved. We’re definitely in the wrong if we see a brother/sister caught in sin and we 1) do nothing about it other than 2) tell someone else about it!
We aren’t to judge people. We are meant to judge circumstances.
One has to do with diminishing and shamimg a person, the other with being wise in circumstances and discerning right from wrong.