Is it ever OK to judge?

The second part in our series, Christians Behaving Badly: How we get religion wrong, and what we need to do about it.

Readings: Ezekiel 33:1-11, John 7:14-24

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37; Matthew 7:1-6)

Often quoted … but I have only ever heard that used to hide poor behaviour. But of course, that in itself is a form of judgement in itself, isn’t it? “You are judging me” is itself a judgement!

Then we have other passages:

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement.” (John 7:24)

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15,16)

Is it ever ok to judge?

“The Lord never judges anyone except from good, for His will is to lift all men, however many these may be, up to heaven, indeed if it were possible, up to Himself. For the Lord is mercy itself and good itself, and [these] cannot possibly condemn anyone. It is man who, in rejecting good, condemns himself. As a person has fled habitually from good during his lifetime, so in the next life he flees from it, and therefore from heaven and the Lord.” (Heavenly Secrets, paragraph 2335, section 3)

Task for the week:

  • Catch yourself in the act of judgement this week: stop, and ask yourself why? Does it reveal to you something about yourself you would rather hide? Is it a distraction from the spiritual work you need to do?
  • And just as challenging, when someone criticises you, stop yourself from reacting, and ask yourself, even though this hurts, is this a gift? Does this reveal something that is true about me that I need to take to heart, examine carefully, and change about my attitude or actions?

Recorded on Sunday 6th February 2022