This whole Judging matter.

This is a topic which I am approaching with caution and some trepidation as it is a touchy subject for a lot of people. In the past few days, I have heard  so many people bandy the word, 'do not judge around'  so much, for every little opinion one expresses,  that I had to take time out to look into the word of God for direction about this whole judging matter. Recently, some friends and I, were sharing our thoughts and opinions on a BlackBerry broadcast that had gone viral. Apparently, a woman had made her husband pay rent on their home for 10 years, with yearly increases, all duly collected by an appointed agent, not knowing that the house belonged to her. The man eventually found out after 10 years! In the course of trying to analyze if she had been right to conceal such an important information from her  husband for 10 whole years or not, some people tried to justify her actions by saying that she probably had a good reason to hide the information, that the husband was probably an irresponsible man, who had children all over the place, and that the wife  only did that for security purposes; others argued that it was deceitful as the Scriptures advocated oneness/transparency in marriage. Some of the women said that  those that were saying that the woman had erred by concealing information, were sitting in judgement over her, as she probably had good reason to do what she did. I decided to really look at the word, 'judge' and find out what it means, and what the Bible has to say about it. Do we have the right to judge in any way? Please read patiently along. The ancient Hebrew and Greek words translated as “judge” covered not
merely assessing or evaluating, but “to assume power over,” “to call to
account,” “to judge as if in a courtroom,” “to sentence,” “to arraign,”
and even “to condemn.”  

Webster's dictionary defines the act of judging as:

"to form an opinion
about, through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises."

Therefore, the act of judging is merely the process of evaluation/assessment that
people naturally employ everyday to determine what is true. We make snap judgements everyday with regards to, what we should wear each day, taking into consideration the weather or occasion, we judge the credibility of others and decide if we want to deal with them or not, we judge if a school is right or wrong for a child,  we mediate in quarrels between our children or friends, and evaluate what went wrong, and so on. For us as humans, the objective of our judgement, should be to ascertain what went wrong, with the aim of correction. Our focus is on the action that necessitated the judgement in the first place. However, as human beings, there is a real danger of making judgements based on our perceptions, motives, and understandings alone, which limits our judgement and sometimes makes it subjective. This explains why two people could draw different conclusions from the same situation. Hence, the big question under-girding the 'thou shall not judge stance' remains, 'What makes you think your judgements are objective and sure, and is not rooted in your human opinion? So, do we have the right to judge?

YES...

Yes! We  can judge others. In Zechariah 3:7, the authority to judge has been given to those who obey God. It 

states: 

 

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways,

and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my

house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places

to walk among these that stand by." 

Some buzz words that others will most likely throw at you, are: Who are you to
judge? Judge not lest you be judged,  show tolerance. In our society, the, 'thou shall not judge' admonition, is often virtually used as a gag order over those who dare to 
speak out against popular and accepted world practices which contradict God's word. This admonition is also bandied around by Christians  as well when questionable doctrines/practices in church are examined. When people do as they like, without any checks in place, there is bound to be lawlessness-which is what the devil wants. You are not judging when you voice your opinion; everyone is entitled to an opinion. There is a thin line between voicing an opinion and judging, but the two should not be confused because there are different things. Judgement, as a legal  parlance, is a final action after a series of hearings. It is usually a final step in the legal process, and not the first step; before judgement, there are series of warnings. The Bible does let us know that we can judge those within the church.  1 Cor 5:9 says:

 "What business is it of yours to judge the heathen, God will do that. It is our business to judge those inside the church."

Let us see an example of how sexual immorality was judged in the church. 1
Cor 5:11-13  states:

 "But now I am writing you that you must not associate
with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or
greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a
man do not even eat." 12 "What business is it of mine to judge
those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will
judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you." NIV

In the execution of Judgement, action is required. Mere talk, or opinion does not suffice.

Rev
2:20 "Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my
servants into sexual immorality..." NIV

From these scriptures, you can see an instance of  a sin -sexual immorality- and how judgement was supposed to be executed. The sin of sexual immorality was totally not acceptable, and the sexually immoral, was to be put out of the church ; but if you speak out against someone who has committed a sexual sin, for instance, and say that what the person did is not good, some  mouth 'thou shalt be tolerant and
not judge' at you.

1 Cor 6:2-5 says:

"Do you not know that the saints will
judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you
unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall
judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then
you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you
appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say
this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you,
not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?" NKJV

 Within the church, we have the right to judge sin, but outside the church, we are to warn the world about right and wrong and its consequences; warning someone about the consequences of sin, is not judgement.  It is even recorded in the Bible that there are instances where it is even necessary to name those who are in error as a safeguard for others whom they would have influenced negatively.

 "But shun profane and vain babblings:
for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will
eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning
the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already:
and overthrow the faith of some." II
Timothy 2:16-Also I Timothy 1:19-20; I Timothy 5:20-21; II Timothy
4:10; Galatians 2: 11-14; II Timothy 4: 14-15; III John 1:9

Just
as God is a righteous judge, Christians are expected to show
discrimination and judgment in matters of His concerns. Ezra 7:25, shows the two key roles that judges are to perform: to judge those who know the law; to teach the law to
those who do not know it.  It is our
responsibility, duty, and obligation to judge. We should judge all
wrongs, condemn sins(the act), and take a stand. Christians should not fear
to oppose injustice, immorality, and all vice. When you speak out against unpopular government policies for instance, you are judging, when traffic officials wrongly assault an innocent person on the road, and you speak out against it, you are judging, etc. We extend God's grace and Mercy to a brother or sister, who is clearly in the wrong, when we provide the correction they need.This gives them a chance to repent of the wrong and helps others as well. If we see a brother or sister do wrong and refuse to say anything because we do not want to 'judge,' we demonstrate a lack of love because that wrong could eventually lead them away from the faith.  God uses our fellowship with each other as one of the safeguards against drifting from the faith. Hence, we owe it to each other as Christians to judge ungodly behavior.



NO...

When Jesus told us not to judge in Matthew 7:1, He was warning against hypocritical judgement. Matthew 7:2-5
declares,

"For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,
and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you
look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention
to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me
take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's
eye."

 Jesus seriously forbade hypocritical, self-righteous
judgments of others.  We should not set ourselves up as moral superiors to every other person by saying things like, "You aborted your baby, therefore you are evil, and will go to hell," or, "you quarreled with your friend, therefore you are not fit to be in church" and other related pronouncements. You attempt to make yourself equal with God, when you set yourself up as the better christian than the person you have condemned as an evil sinner. God wants us to love and forgive others, and not  condemn them by the manner in which we judge. Hence, in judging, you must not do it in such a manner/attitude that condemns the guilty person and make them feel totally hopeless and useless-that is cruelty. Do not make it look as if you are the only person that God loves most, of everybody in the whole wide universe. God loves every other person, and loves them as much as He loves you.

Matthew 7:2-5, 
contains a clear warning about judging someone's sin, when you are doing worse things yourself.  In other words, if we are guilty of a particular sin, but hound others about theirs, without first examining ourselves, this kind of judging is hypocritical. This is in line with

Paul's advice in I Corinthians 11:31-32 that we should judge ourselves

first so that we will not be judged.  We are to confront sin in others, lovingly and respectfully. Matthew 18:15-17. 
This is not judging. Your goal is to bring about repentance. James 5:20 and restoration to the fold. The Bible says that we should speak the truth in love. Ephesians 4:15, and proclaim what God's Word says about sin. 2 Timothy 4:2 contains this instruction,

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of
season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful
instruction."

In deciding to agree with God in calling sin, that which He calls sin, we should not use our personal opinions as the yardstick for our pronouncements. It should be based on the truth of God's word, like Jesus said in John 5:30:

 "I can

of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment

is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father

which hath sent me."

John 8:15-16 Jesus asserts that true judgements are those which emanate from God.

"Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but

I and the Father that sent me."

In order for us to judge right, we must be submitted to God and this can only happen when we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit . 1 Corinthians 2:15 states:

 "But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

Finally, it is not our place to judge anyone's eternal destiny. That is for God alone to determine. We are to judge truth in ourselves, in others, and doctrinal believes, based on the word of God, but the consequences belong to God to enforce, which is, justification for those who are right, and condemnation for those who are wicked. Hence, it is not our place to condemn anybody. I Kings 8:32; II

Chronicles 6:23, 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 butresses this:

3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God." NIV

   In summary, as Christians, it is allowed for us to "judge" sin, but it is not our place to judge the motives of others, as it is God alone who knows the motive of a man, but we can judge the actions of others which clearly violate scriptural stipulations. Always, we must judge within the parameters that I have shared above:

-in love

-with respect

-without hypocrisy

-not after the flesh or human opinion 

-with the goal of bringing about repentance/restoration to fellowship,

-presenting our Lord Jesus Christ, as the model/ solution for sin and its consequences. John 14:6.

-You must also be yielded to the Spirit of God

-you must not judge a person's eternal destiny.

-you must not judge motives

At all times, model Christ to others and not your own self-righteousness such that the other person finds God in the midst of their pain and wrong.

Your thoughts for, or against, are fully welcomed, as we are continuously learning from one another, but back up your answers with supporting scriptures. Thank you and hit gently.