Brian Cole: 'Don't Judge Me'

I have said often that our society has slowly drifted from one of Postmodernism (where absolute truth does not exist, or truth is up to each individual to determine for themselves), to that of entitlement attitude. The result of the postmodern mindset in thinking that truth is determined individually is why we have the entitlement attitude so prevalent today.

The entitlement attitude has really had an impact on this whole “judging” issue. In the last 25 years the comments such as: “Don’t judge me.” “Only God can judge me (and HE WILL!).” “You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do.” “Who are you to tell me...” and many others have become almost daily words in some people’s vocabulary.

It’s bad enough when you hear the statement “Don’t judge me” coming from the mouths of unbelievers, that’s expected. An unbeliever has no purpose or ultimate goal in life other than to do the things that make them happy and give them satisfaction, often at the expense of others. After all, all that matters is what they want, when they want it and how they want it. But the much greater concern is that this has become a huge problem in the Christian community. More and more so-called Christians are telling other Christians that they have no right to judge them. What makes the matter worse is that they then start quoting scriptures out of context to back up and justify the things they are being confronted about. Nothing irks me more than people using God’s word to justify their sins.

Even to those who are not believers, its ironic they use the statement “Don’t judge me” since we all pretty much “judge” people every day. We all “judge” our children’s actions because we want to correct them when we see them doing things that will get them arrested, hurt, or making wrong decisions. We “judge” people when we feel we are affronted in some way. We “judge” them but they have no right judging us!! We “judge” our parents when we feel they have made a mistake or did something they told us not to do. We “judge” our friends when we see them messing up because we love them and don’t want to see them making mistakes. So, people “judge” every day, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing, yet we make it a bad thing when we feel like someone is trying to go against what we believe! Then it becomes “offensive” to us.

Jesus command not to judge others is probably one of the most used quotes of the bible, even though it is almost always quoted in complete disregard of its context! People use: “Do not judge or you too will be judged” (Matt. 7:1). People use that verse in an attempt to shut others up, interpreting it as: “You don’t have the right to tell me I’m wrong.” However, there is much more to that passage than those three words.

I would not be where I am today if other Christians did not “judge” me and continue to do so. I need people to see the things I do not and hold me accountable to them. I want to be accountable as much as I want my children to be accountable.

Christians are often accused of “judging” or intolerance when they speak out against sin. But opposing sin is not wrong. What is wrong is when we do “judge” in wrong ways. Superficial judgment is wrong: Passing judgment on someone based solely on appearance is wrong. Jumping to conclusions before getting the facts is wrong. Hypocritical judgment is wrong: Pointing out the sin of another while we ourselves commit the same sin is wrong. That’s the second half of Matt. 7:1-2 that people leave out: “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Self-righteous judgment is wrong: We are called to humility. And untrue judgment is wrong: The Bible clearly forbids false witness.

I often tell people that I have too many logs in my eyes to see their sawdust, but I will ALWAYS keep a brother or sister in Christ accountable and I expect the same back. I want them to warn me the same as I will warn my children. And if they don’t, then I question their loyalty to God and to me. If you saw your child watching porn, you would “judge” them. How much more so for a brother or sister in Christ knowing the outcome of living that lifestyle!!

Let me end this with the final judgment. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t change the fact that it WILL happen, and one day all knees will be bowed before the Lord and he will judge ALL people. Rev. 20:11-15 – “...I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done...Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”