Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:1 about the dangers of being judged when we judge others. Some have taken this passage to mean that a Christian should never judge anyone, but that is not what Jesus is really saying here. The verse in question says:
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” – Matt. 7:1
If that was the whole story, we could take it at face value, but when we read it in context, it changes the meaning:
“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. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is 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 neighbor’s eye.” – Matt. 7:1-5
A word to key in on here is Jesus’s use of hypocrite in v.5. We know from other passages that Jesus expects his followers to hold each other accountable. He provides us with a process to deal with sin within the body in Matthew 18:15-17, and there is a measure of judgment in this process as one is pointing out the faults of another. The writings of Paul also reveal his correction of believers who have taken up sinful practices.[1] We need healthy correction in the body. We need leaders who can gently correct someone when they start to stray from the truth of the gospel. And we need people to bring this same measure of correction to church leaders when they mess up. But the key thing Jesus was focused on in this passage is hypocritical judgment.
Do not judge people if you yourself are engaged in sinful behavior. That seems to be the crux of the issue. Jesus mentions the Pharisees a few chapters earlier in Matthew 5:20 as a negative example of how not to behave and it is plausible to think he had them in mind as he covered multiple topics leading up to this one on judgment. Perhaps he was also instructing his listeners not to judge in the manner of the Pharisees, who were strict in their application of the law. If we never correct a believer of their sinful practices, we will end up with a church that looks like the world. In some cases, this is already a reality. We need to avoid sliding any further in that direction and clean up the problems that already exist.
The challenge here, and I think the point Jesus is making, is that one needs to be careful in approaching the issue of judgment and make sure their heart is in the right place. His analogy of the speck and log is comical and makes the point clear. Do not engage in any form of correction until you first deal with your own stuff. James later specifies the importance of including mercy in this process (James 2:12-23) and Paul instructs not to judge those outside of the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13). If you have no mercy, you will be shown no mercy. Correction does not have to be a contentious issue. If we gently correct another in love with the goal of restoring them back to a healthy place of living fully for Jesus, we have done a good thing. One does not need to hammer another over the head or beat a confession out of them. A loving correction received by one who is willing to be corrected is beneficial for all involved.
So, judgment is good and necessary when done in a loving manner full of mercy. We should not avoid correcting others simply because we are afraid it may backfire or make us look judgmental. The body of Christ needs to be healthy, and those who are healthy should help pull others up to a healthy place of righteous living. The body will have greater success when it is whole and healthy.
[1] See 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 12-13, and 6:1-3 as examples.