In reading through Mark's Gospel this week, I've been deeply encouraged by Jesus' honesty with the disciples when they were struggling to walk in Christlike-love toward one another and outsiders. When James and John vied for the best seats in heaven and the others found out and become "indignant", Jesus warned them all that "He who wants to be first must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Again, when the disciples were setting themselves above others who were driving out demons and trying to stop their work, Jesus reminded them that "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other" (Mark 9:50).
Jesus warned that they were not appointed judges over one another. While he gave them the responsibility to "Judge a tree according to its fruit" (Luke 6:43-45), this was never an open invitation for them to sit in judgement over a person's heart or their motives based on their understanding of a situation. If they chose to do this anyway, he promised they would be judged by the same measure (Matthew 7:2), which would not be pleasant.
I've learned that it's easy to walk in this kind of superficial, critical judgment, especially when I'm not allowing the Spirit to convict me of my own sins. Jesus said that if we simply look at another person lustfully we have committed adultery in our heart (Matthew 5:28). Or if we hate someone, we've spiritually murdered them. And John says that this is a matter of life or death: "You know that no murderer has eternal life in him" (1 John 3:15). If we're living in true awareness of our utter sinfulness and condemnation apart from the saving blood of Jesus, our attitude will be one of grace toward those who do not meet our demands and expectations. Like the tax collector, instead of condemning others we will beat our breast in the presence of God in sorrow for the sins we've committed (Luke 18:9-14).
In addition to these reasons, there are others that show why unkind judgment is forbidden by the Lord:
Things are not always the way they appear (Proverbs 18:13): This can be seen in the story of the woman caught in adultery and how Jesus responded to the Pharisees' accusations regarding her guilt and their reasoning that she deserved to be stoned. He gave them complete freedom to throw the first stone if they were innocent in the matter (John 8:7). Instead of throwing rocks, they experienced God's conviction in their consciences of their personal guilt and "Went out one by one, beginning with the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." This same kind of superficial judgement occurred when the "sinful" woman anointed Jesus' feet with perfume and Simon the Pharisee had contempt for her. Jesus' rebuke to Simon showed that he had judged incorrectly and, as a result, had dishonored God (Luke 7:36-50).
Unkind judgment is often linked to hypocrisy (Matthew 6:2): I am challenged by the reminder that the Pharisees, who were so quick to find the speck in someone else's eye, had a log in their own (Matthew 7:5). Jesus told them to first deal with their own huge sins of lust, hate, greed and idolatry and then they would be able to address the "speck" in their neighbor's eye. Though they were committing the sins they accused everyone else of committing, they were completely blind to them. This same hypocrisy was seen in Cephas' life, a believer, when he shifted his focus from God to man and began fearing and seeking the praise of man over God (Galatians 2:11-14).
Slander is unkind judgment put to words (Proverbs 19:5): The Bible speaks a lot about slander and gossip, so much so that 1 Corinthians 6:10 and Revelation 22:15 say that those who continually practice this sin will not inherit eternal life. I have often wondered why slander is so offensive to God and believe that it's because ruining or harming someone's name is a destruction of their nature as image bearers (James 3:9-12). God calls us each by name and kindly addresses many of the prophets, disciples and others by their name. He forbids us from taking his name in vain, showing that the words we use to identify him are extremely important (Exodus 20:7). Since we are made in his image and created to reflect his glory in Christ, when someone slanders our name it is a reflection on his character and nature in us (Acts 9:4)!
We've all witnessed this kind of slander and evil judgment and know how devastating it can be. Praying today that the Lord will keep reminding me of the seriousness of this sin so that I remain in his grace, showing others mercy and allowing him to be the Just Judge who alone is able to discern the heart of man.
