St. Matthew 7:1-14: "1 Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." This is perhaps the most misapplied section of holy Scripture. This comes from a misunderstanding of what "judgment" means. What usually happens is someone commits a particular sin, and that sin being exposed in public, is accused of that particular sin, then, not wanting to stop committing the particular sin, or worse, thinking that the particular behavior is not a sin, quotes these words from the Sermon on the Mount by our Lord. The idea being, that since you have accused that person of a sin, you are judging him, and therefore, instead of judging that person, you should pay attention to your own actions, and not that persons.
This usually plays well. The person or group doing the accusing, feeling guilty for their own past misdeeds, back down, and then the sin remains unchecked.
So then, how does anyone ever correct sinful actions? For it would seem by the previously given scenario, that any accusation of someone else's sins, would be in violation of going against what our Lord is saying here, for we would be judging that person.
As was said earlier, this comes from a misunderstanding of the meaning of judging, and judgment. Judgment means delivering a sentence, whether that sentence be guilty or not guilty (we must remember that people can be judged innocent). Accusing someone of sin, is not delivering judgment, it is pointing out that person's sin, so that they may discontinue the destructive behavior that they are committing. Think of it this way, when a person is indicted for a crime, he has only been accused of it. It isn't until after the trial, that the judge hands out a sentence, whether guilty or not guilty, and then hands out a punishment. There is a difference between indicting someone for a crime, and giving a judgment for that crime. The same difference lies between accusing someone of sin, and handing out judgment for that sin.
In the final say, our Lord has the ultimate judgment, which is an eternal judgment of guilty or not guilty. Here in this life when a person refusing to amend their sinful actions, the Church may hand out certain punishments, like withholding communion, or excluding them from membership in the church. This is done to impress upon the person the seriousness of their actions, and realizing that they will no longer be allowed to participate in something that is dear to them, they will repent, and amend their sinful life. The problem that exists for the Church, is that this poor soul will probably just find some church or minister who will ignore that persons behavior and let them continue in it. Obviously, this doesn't do that person any good spiritually, not to mention the fact that this church and its minister are creating a greater sin, by calling what is a sin, not a sin. They are the ones going against our Lord's commandments.
Our Lord in telling us to not judge others, is talking about passing judgment, that is passing a guilty sentence on them, when they are committing the same sin. This is utterly ridiculous! And sadly, there are plenty of people that do just this thing, accuse people of their sins, while they are doing the same thing. This, obviously, puts the Church in a bad light, and it is a detrement to the Gospel.
Sin should be pointed out, especially the sins that are destructive to a person's soul. But our Lord would rather us focus our attention of His works, and His perfection in fulfilling the Law on our behalf. He would have us focus on His sinlessness, so that we might rejoice in the Gospel.
Our sins are forgiven, the punishment has been paid, this alone, should propel a person to obey the commandments, being spurned on by love for one's Lord and Saviour, who has judged us not guilty of all of our sin.
May our Lord grant you grace as you struggle daily with sin, and keep you in His holy arms until you reach life everlasting.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
