Judge Not

“KRINO (judge) often carries the connotation condemn” states a popular Bible commentary. This idea has been accepted by many Christadelphians. It is a very convenient idea. It permits the habit of harshly criticizing the motives, minds and hearts of others, while appending the self-justification, “Mind you, I am not condemning anyone!”

There is, in fact, no real evidence for this subtly attractive notion that “judge” means “condemn” in the sense of regarding a brother unfit for the kingdom. Vine offers three pos­sible cases where it might be so, but a mere two or three percent of occurrences cannot be called “often.” There is a perfectly clear word for “condemn” which Jesus actually used in the same context, as recorded in Luke 6:37. This verse clearly indicates that “judge not” is something different from “condemn not,” since two different words are used, and there is no doubt that the second does mean “condemn.”

So what does “judge not” mean?

Paul uses the same word in I Corinthians 4:5. This passage tells us that we are not to be the judge of others’ motives, state of mind, or heart. We must leave that to Jesus Christ, the “judge of all.” We are incapable of such an assessment. We can, at best, make judgments regarding overt words and actions, as they might reflect on the reputation of the ecclesia, and even then we have to be aware that, unlike Jesus, we may be wrong (Isaiah 11:3). It behoves us to be both cautious and humble in assessing even the overt actions of others, and we should never be guilty of “pronouncing judgment” on others’ inner motives (“You know, he is a Br’er Anansi; he only comes to the meetings for what he can get!” etc.).

Reminding one another of Jesus’ warnings about judging others is both kind and useful. We are all prone to this deadly sin. It is surely better for us to follow the apostle’s advice, “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3).

“For the measure you give will be the measure you get” (Matthew 7:2).