Are Christians Too Judgmental? {Matthew 7:1-2}

Are Christians too judgmental? Most polls say yes.

Memorize Matthew 7:1-2 with us this week: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

The  Billboard

The same billboard catches my eye every time. As I drive back and forth on Highway 280, the words loom large. They preach: “STOP JUDGING.”

I always wonder, “Who paid for this? And why?” Is it a progressive organization responding to a harsh church? Is it a Christian group striving to protect its reputation? Is it a political group making a point?

Last week I decided to find out. I made a note to look up the website when I got home: stopjudging.org.

It wasn’t what I expected.

Do You Judge?

This week we’re studying and memorizing Matthew 7:1-2 (you can join our memory challenge here).

Jesus said these words: “Judge not, that you be not judged”. It sounds so simple: Don’t judge. Don’t draw definitive conclusions about someone else’s opinions or behaviors as right or wrong.

We read similar thoughts from Paul and James:

“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
Romans 14:4

“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
James 4:12

Yet, we do it anyway. We judge.

• Sometimes we judge based on political party or favored candidate.
• We judge if someone isn’t wearing a mask or if they are.
• We judge others based on accents, on clothing, on causes supported or not supported on social media.
• We judge by church attendance, by doctrinal stances, by worship styles.

We assume our way is the right way. So if others don’t agree with us, they must be wrong. And too often, we let them know.

We frame it as “speaking the truth in love,” but others perceive it as obnoxiously spouting our opinions.

Don’t Judge

Yet Jesus is clearly saying here: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

That doesn’t mean we can’t hold opinions and form beliefs. Jesus wants us to hold onto His teachings, to properly discern right and wrong. And to help others do likewise.

But there’s a line we aren’t to cross. Don’t pass judgment on a fellow human. We don’t know enough to do so. Only God sees what is in a person’s heart. He alone can properly read motives.

And when we refuse to stop judging? When we remain judgmental?

We reap what we sow: the world judges us back. Unfavorably. It reflects bad on us. It reflects bad on Jesus.

Our judgmental attitudes need to go.

Love More

When I arrived home last week, I looked up the website from the billboard, stopjudging.org.

It discovered it is a statewide campaign launched by the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Department of Mental Health. The goal? Stop judging those with mental illness and substance disorders. Stop piling on shame and ridicule. Start healing instead.

The site gives a list of resources. It gives a list of vocabulary we can use to change the way we talk, to change the way we’re perceived, and to change the way others feel perceived by us.

I think they’re on to something. They’re encouraging conversations of kindness and understanding, to help free people from unwanted behaviors, to promote healing for illnesses.

I think it’s what Jesus was saying, too.

Jesus didn’t need a billboard to say it. He said it in a sermon on a mountain.

But maybe He also is using this billboard to remind us of His message: Stop judging.

We have many opportunities every day to practice this. We’ll improve our reputation (and by default, His reputation) by loving more, judging less.

That’s how people will know we are His: by our love, not our judgments.

Have you ever felt judged? Done the judging? Share your thoughts in the comments.