Are Christians allowed to judge?

Question

I think Christians are allowed to judge because non-believers have no moral compass and do not have the Holy Spirit. Pagans just want to indulge the lusts of the flesh and care not about righteousness. Look at the way many of them live. Just drinking, partying, smoking dope, have extra-marital affairs, and acting in instinct. I believe that Christians should lead the way for people so that the world doesn't sink into chaos.

Answer 1

It depends on your definition of "judge". Christians are told to *discern* or judge whether something is for or against His Will based on His Law. The three uses of His Law may help you to understand better. It is used:

(1) As a curb that helps to control violent outbursts of sin and keep order in this world. This is the job of the secular government or God's Left Hand Kingdom. (1 Timothy 1:9; Romans 2:14-15; Romans 13:1-7). Not all pagans are totally morally corrupt because they have reasoned that being moral is logical & self-preserving. Remember that God has written His law on everyone's heart. Many just become really good at ignoring their conscience. Be fair. However, even though they may be civilly moral, they are nevertheless still sinners in need of forgiveness (Romans 3:23). That leads to the second use of God's Law:

(2) As a mirror that accuses us and shows us our sin. (Romans 3:20; 7:7). God uses the Law in this way to bring someone to the point where they haven't much of a choice but fall at His feet & ask for forgiveness. In other words to bring people to repentance in Jesus Christ. This can look ugly sometimes (hurt people's feelings--the Law does NOT state not to hurt someone's feelings if it is for their good in the end), but if you are not "judging" someone for the purpose of wanting to offer them the forgiveness they have for free in Jesus Christ, or hoping that it will bring them to repentance you are not judging in this good sense, but in the bad sense that Jesus condemns.

The third use of the Law is:
(3) As a guide that teaches Christians (not unbelievers) what we should & should not do to lead God-pleasing lives. The power to live according to the Law, does not come out of fear (like is necessary in the 1st use of the Law--which remember is the job of the secular government to regulate not the Church's), but from the Gospel out of gratefulness to Christ who kept the Law perfectly for us who couldn't (2nd use) & took our punishment on the Cross.

I think the reason that you are saying this is because you're frustrated & don't feel that the secular government is doing its job. If that's the case, you should try to get involved in getting unfair laws (e.g. legalized abortion, euthanasia) changed.

For more on Luther's Two Kingdoms theology:
https://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/Lutheran%20Witness/Witness%20jn%20july05.pdf (pp.9-11)
https://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/Lutheran%20Witness/WitnessJan07.pdf (pp.17-18)

Answer 2

Have you not even read the bible???

Do not judge that you may not be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you shall be judged. Matthew 7:1

I am an atheist with a strong moral compass. I do not drink, I do not party, I have never cheated on my husband. I am educated (far more so than you, obviously) and I have chosen to be an atheist after studying many religions. We have a christian in the white house, and he has done more damage to our country and others than the past 4 presidents put together. The world is sinking into chaos because of a religious person. I think you need to do a little more research of your own, before you start to throw stones.

Answer 3

Your not exactly judging, your talking about using your conscience and a good moral compass. A "judgement" is passing a RESOLUTE statement of fact that a certain person is basically worthless and will never be of any value. That's not acceptable, because we can never foresee the future, and the person you condemn today maybe your brother in christ in a year or two.

The fact is, you need to pick your associates wisely, otherwise people will assume that YOU ARE LIKE THOSE YOU HANG AROUND! Like the saying goes, "birds of a feather, flock together." So, if you don't want a bad reputation, stay away from bad people.

As an example, Britney Spears was thought to be hitting it low, but then she started hanging around Paris Hilton and, "wow, did she go downhill fast." Next thing you now, pictures with no panties all over the internet, not one day, two days, but at least 3 different occassions that I know of, lol. And I'm sorry, but if you got that swinging in the wind, YOU SHOULD FEEL IT and realize to take precautions, unless of course your drunk, etc. Be careful who you hang with, YOU ARE THEM!

Answer 4

No. We are not to judge. There is one judge, and we're not it. We are told to "judge" our brethern, meaning members of our congregation, to the point of going to them if they are sinning and talking to them about it. The bible explains quite simply that its not really judging, it goes into detail. I think that's where a lot of christians get the impression they're allowed to judge, but it isn't. It means what it says, "your brethern", and only to instruct, not really judge. The wording is confusing, but its quite clear it not the typical judging. A lot of the bible had some mistranslation problems, this is one of them.

Being a good example and showing good fruit is another thing, has didly squat to do with judging. Many non-believers do indeed have good moral compasses, I have atheist friends who sometimes are more strict in what they feel they can and can't do than I am.

Answer 5

But Christ instructed us not to judge?!?!? I know, it's confusing.

I found your use of the pronoun "them" interesting. Isn't it true, too, that "we" (i.e., Christians) are guilty of many of those same things, and more? To be so self-assured, so convinced that Christians are the answer to a sinful world is grave sin, my friend - the sin of pride. After all, if Christians are the solution to the world's problems, what need has the world of Christ and his sacrifice?

Am I being judgmental? You bet! My reading of Scripture tells me that Christians are commanded to counsel one another about sin. When I see a fellow believer (and I have reason to believe you are one) straying from the path of righteousness, I believe it is my duty to confront that brother and discuss the matter privately with him. Please note, though, that I do not believe this commandment extends to non-believers, who (and you are right on this) do not share the same moral compass as we do and who likely do not understand what it means to follow The Way of Christ. Rather, our task is to instruct and dialogue with nonbelievers - to profess the truth we know as Christians and to challenge nonbelievers to think long and hard about what is really true in this life.

Good luck in your journey, my friend.

Answer 6

Luke 6:37 says "Judge not least you be judge." The world often takes this verse out of context and uses it to accuse Christians of being "judgmental" when they speak of sin. In the context of the verse Jesus is telling His disciples not to judge one another, something the Bible condemns (Romans 14:10; James 4:11). In Luke 6:41,42 He speaks of seeing a speck in a brother’s eye. In John 7:24 He said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." If someone steals, lies, commits adultery or murder, etc., the Christian can make a (righteous) moral judgment and say that the actions were morally wrong, and that these sins will have eternal consequences. Chuck Colson said, "True tolerance is not a total lack of judgment. It’s knowing what should be tolerated—and refusing to tolerate that which shouldn’t."

Answer 7

Anyone who says that they don't judge doesn't understand the world around them.

You bet I judge all the time. When I see a stranger approaches me in public I size him/her up to see if there is danger. I judge people I know to decide whether they are trustworthy to be allowed to come into my house. I decide whether a phone caller with a "great offer" is lying or if they seem to be sincere. I make sure that my children are not being endangered by neighborhood children or teenagers. Or adults!

We are to judge righteous judgment.

Jesus Christ did not judge unrighteously. He helped any who would allow Him to help them. We should do the same.

Unrighteous judgment is telling someone else that they are going to hell because they are not like me in this way: (fill in the blank). It is deciding that a person is having difficulties in their life because they deserve it. And it is deciding that a person is of little or no value because they are something or do something that we choose not to do. There are many other ways to judge unrighteously.

We are warned against unrighteous judgment. At the same time, we are under no obligation to put ourselves in danger because of not wanting to judge.

Answer 8

How would your judging people help matters? You have your opinion of how people live their lives and you share that opinion with anyone who will listen. The only things you have accomplished, is to maybe make other people think badly of others and perhaps hurt someones feelings. Which, by the way both make you look bad. Nothing has changed. Everyone is still the way they were before (good or bad) and they're still doing all the same things. The only differance is, now they know what you think about it.

Answer 9

No. Christians need to be humble.
1 Corinthians 5:1, 2 shows what happens when Christianity goes into triad worshipping with its "three is family".

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?"

Look at Romans 2.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

This comes straight after the condemnation of homosexuality in Romans 1. And yet Christians are still not supposed to be judging. They are supposed to be demolishing arguments and pretensions. 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Also, they are NOT supposed to be following personal philosophies, such as your "I think" statement. Colossians 2:8 - "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ."

Pagans are those who are territorial, as pagus means "a district limited by markers." This is reflected in the way that services are regionalised in the community. This is the basis of the pagan ethic. Their main task in life, as per Asterix and Obelix, is to pursue food and clothes. Matthew 6:31, 21 - "31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

It's Christians who are noted for pursuing "hedone" as commented on in James 4:1-3
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

Why? They might be getting confused with the difference between freedom in Christ (Galatians 5:1) and the freedom that adulterers inside the church offer (2 Peter 2:13-19). You can tell the difference because those who are trying to fool others for money "carouse in the daylight." They are trying to set a good example of being entertaining. This is not good, as James 4 shows that we are supposed to turn laughter into mourning if we are repentant. This makes me wonder about even being on the computer at all. Carousing is "luxurious living." Hedone means "profligacy." It all has to do with "haste makes waste." This is reflected in Revelation 13, in which the dragon-voiced lamb misleads the inhabitans of the earth into setting up an image of the beast. However, the Bible condemns myth in 2 Timothy 4:3-5 and 1 Timothy 1:3, 4. We're not supposed to inspire others by means of being able to portray the right look. Mythology is a public liturgy. It uses psychic images as if they represent public behaviour as mime, which is then overlaid with words that provide coherence for different people with different philosophies. This is not Christian.

Christians are supposed to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Romans 13 says that there are three purposes to government, and none of them are to do what Christians think they should. They administer taxes, keep crooks scared and reward the good.

Answer 10

Judging could easily lead to hate.

No, we are not allowed to judge, but we do anyway. Judging people actually causes alot of problems for that person and ourselves. Especially since we aren't sinless either. However, if you are going to judge. You should judge based upon personality, character, and some bad actions.

Only God is actually allowed to judge. I understand where you are coming from, but if you want to help people give up most of their sins and follow the lord, you shouldn't judge them. The more you judge them, the less likely they are to listen to your advice. You should be loving and accepting so that they will at least listen to your advice and consider giving up some of their sins.