What is the most commonly quoted verse from the Bible? If you are like me and grew up in the church, you might be inclined to say John 3:16. When I was growing up in the church that was the first verse every new Christian memorized and we could all recite it along with the reference. For countless years this was THE verse to memorize and it was drilled into us from a very early age. Sadly, it was one of the few verses that most Christians ever memorized.
Today all that has changed. There is a new verse that has become the most quoted verse in all of scripture by Christians and non-Christians alike. Anyone want to venture a guess at what it is? That’s right! The verse most often quoted these days is “Judge not, that you be not judged.” It has become the catch phrase of contemporary Christianity and is frequently used by non-believers to put Christians in their place. But, unlike John 3:16 I would venture to guess that few know the reference for that verse and its immediate context. That verse is from the Sermon on the Mount and is found in Matthew 7:1.
Most people who quote this verse do so in a context of warning another person to not criticize their way of life or the behavior of another person. Whenever a believer tries to correct false doctrine, sinful behavior or culturally accepted vice, there is always someone ready to pounce and then and yell “Judge not!”. It has become a knee-jerk reaction to any attempt to correct unbiblical and sinful behavior. Not only that, but it has also become one of those most widely misused scriptures in all of the Bible, as the manner in which it is used is contrary to the context in which it was originally used.
Here is the whole context of that passage from Matthew 7:1-6:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 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. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” (ESV)
The context is Jesus speaking to His disciples and is teaching them the way they must conduct themselves as followers of Him in contrast to the Jewish culture they have been raised under the oppressive and condemning laws and judgments of the Pharisees. The Pharisees had long lists of rule that the people were to follow. These rules, while having their basis in the original law given to Moses, had been so contaminated and added to through the centuries by men that it was impossible for any person to ever fulfill the requirements. They had rules about what constituted work on the Sabbath (for example; healing was considered work by them so when Jesus healed on the Sabbath the Pharisees only saw a violation of their law rather than the miracle and the mercy of Jesus).
Jesus is not saying that Christians should not make judgments. He is saying that there is a right way to go about doing it. First He warns that the judgment we judge with will be the same one that we will be judged with ourselves (v.2). The standard for judgment must always be the Word of God. We must not add to God’s Word as the Pharisees did so that they could judge by a different man-made standard. Secondly, He warns that we must first examine ourselves in the light of the Word to make sure the issue we are judging has been carefully applied to our own lives first (vv.3-4). Thirdly, He makes it clear that once we have established the issue at hand in our own lives biblically, then we can go to our brother and point out the speck in his own eye and show him how to have it properly removed. It would be unloving of a mature believer to allow another believer to go around with a stick (visible and blinding sin) stuck in his eye. And lastly, Jesus warns that there are times we should not “cast our pearls before swine”. This means that trying to correct unbelievers with anything other than the gospel that changes souls is like giving a pig a bath only to have it run straight to its pen and wallow once more in the mud. We do not discipline and correct unbelievers. We show them their sinful condition and then point them to the one who can save them and make them new creatures.
There is so much more that needs to be said about this very misunderstood and grossly misquoted scripture and we will address it in more detail the next time we get together. In the meantime, please take some time to read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7 and look for the many times we are given instructions about making proper judgments. I think you will be surprised by how much scripture actually tells us (as Christians) to make sound judgments to: improve our walk with the Lord, remove harmful sin from our lives, reveal and rebuke false teaching, to correct and help a sinning brother/sister in Christ, for Church discipline and to maintain the purity of the Body of Christ.
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