Judge Not That You Be Not Judged

Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit Liber generationis of the Gospel of Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days, I am reading the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.  The title of this post is one of the most quoted verses in the entire Bible.  The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verses 1-3 of the ESV reads:

 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

When I first became seriously actively involved at Seabrook Baptist Church, I guess I was somewhat naive in how Christians behaved.  My friend Chuck, who is the one who got me involved in Seabrook Baptist Church through softball, was somebody that I really looked up to.  I went to him often to learn more about how to live a Christian life.

At the time that I became involved with the church, I was a drinker.  I liked to have the occasional beer or glass of wine.  Now Baptists are famous for abstaining from alcohol.  I went to Chuck one day and asked him whether or not I needed to quit drinking.  His response stuck with me to this day.  Rather than coming out with a straight yes, he told me that the matter was between me and the Lord.  Based on his gentle and loving response, I quit drinking, at least while I remained active in the church.

One of the things that I have always tried to practice in my Christian walk is to take the verses above to heart.  When dealing with my fellow Christians, I try not to dwell on the sins of others.  I have to many of my own sinful acts to deal with.  That is not to say that it would be wrong to point out somebody's errors, but it must be done in the proper way, humbly with love and gentleness

As I said,  I think I was a little naive in how other Christians practiced their walk.  I thought that others practiced what they preached as it were.  Unfortunately, I started to find that a lot of Christians were quick to point out the faults of others, and not in a gentle and loving way.  I am reminded of a conversation that I had with one of my teammates, Kevin, prior to one of our softball games.  We were waiting at the field for one game to end so we could start our game.

Kevin was a few years younger than I was, but he had been active in the church a lot longer than I had.  The conversation went something like this:

Kevin: Did you see that?
Me: See what?
Kevin: That guy over there was smoking.
Me: So.
Kevin:  This is a Christian league.  He shouldn't be doing that.
Me: Kevin, maybe he isn't a Christian yet, or maybe he is a new Christian and the Lord has not convicted him that he should stop smoking.  It is a hard habit to break
Kevin: Still, it just isn't right.

For every Chuck that I ever ran across in the church, it seemed like there were a lot more Kevins there.  It was very disheartening.  One of my faults (sins) is that in my past experiences in the church have led to disappointment in how other people behaved and how it has driven me away from more than one church.  It is a weakness that I am working on to this day.

Related articles

• misunderstood verses of the Bible
• Did Jesus really teach that it is wrong to judge others?