Condemnable and Commendable Christian Judgement

Romans 2:1-11

"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things." Romans 2:1

Christian judgement is often an idea that (I believe) we often understand very incorrectly. We are constantly told not to judge others, but what does that even mean? I believe the word "judgement" is often tossed around too loosely, and we ought to define what it actually means. I believe that there are two types of Christian judgement, one that is condemnable, and one that is commendable.

Condemnable Christian Judgement...

When the Bible condemns the act of judging others, it speaks of two things. Firstly, here in Romans 2:1-11 as well as in Matthew 7:1-6, "judgement" speaks of condemning someone else for the very same sin you are committing. This is the entire "take the log out of your own eye before you judge the speck in someone else's eye" idea. This deffinition of judgement, as we see in Romans 2, is condemned by God. We ought to not judge others that are in sin if we are committing the same sin that they are committing, not only because it his hypocritical, but also because it is arrogant. We ought to not judge others by condemning them for the very same sin we are committing.

Secondly, in the often quoted verses of James 2:1-13 and James 4:11-12, "judgement" speaks of determining someones inward reality based on his external reality. This is the type of judgement where we see a homeless man on the street corner and automatically think that his own bad decisions have placed him there. This is the type of judgement that sees a poor, raggedly dressed man walk into church and we refuse to treat him like family. "For if...a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in [to the church assembly]...while you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there,' or 'Sit down at my feet,' have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:3-4). We ought not to judge others by determining their inward condition based on their external condition.

Commendable Christian Judgement...

However, there is a type of "judgement" (or perhaps you would prefer to use the term "discernment") that I believe is commendable by God. This is very often missed. In both Matthew 7:5 as well as Romans 2:1 (the verse quoted above) we see a clause that we often look over when we speak of Christian judgement. "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:6). Commendable Christian judgement is when we judge the actions of others with a pure heart. It is completely acceptable and even commanded in scripture to discern the intentions of a Christian brother's heart if our own heart has pure intentions, and even confront him about his sin in the proper way (Matthew 18:15-20). We see this constantly throughout the entirety of scripture. When David committed adultury with Bathsheba, Nathan judged his actions and confronted him (2 Samuel 12:1-15). When Peter was incorrectly alligning himself with some men who had false doctrine, Paul judged his actions and opposed him (Galatians 1:11). It is commendable to judge if we define judgement as discerning the actions of others while having a pure heart.

In conclusion, we ought to be careful how we talk about Christian judgement. To pridefully condemn someone else's sin when we commit the same offense is indeed sin. Furthermore, to render someone unrighteous simply because of his outward appearace is also sin. However, I would say that there is a completely commendable and even commanded aspect of Christian judgement. We might define this type of judgement as "discernment," but nevertheless, the action of discerning a brother's heart and confronting him in sin if done in the correct way (I cannot stress this point enough) is completely and entirely commendable. "Judgement" in the sense of pure-hearted discernment and confrontation is something that we ought to not shy away from.