"DON'T JUDGE ME!!! God knows my heart..."

"Don't judge me!"

No doubt, you've probably heard this phrase and other derivatives of it before. Everybody knows you're not supposed to judge people. "Don't judge a book by its cover", we say. (I know it's not meant to be literal; but seriously, when's the last time you willfully continued to read a book after deciding that you didn't like the cover? Don't worry, I'll wait...)

This popular concept originated from the Bible, in Matthew 7:1-5. Pastor Rodney Finch expressed during a sermon that this is such a popular scripture (or rather, the message from the scripture is popular) that even non-Christians and Atheists know it. Everyone is so quick to blurt out "don't judge me!" It's such a well-known concept that it has even become a popular hash-tag or "trending topic" on twitter - #dontjudgeme. People tag their tweets with this whenever they tweet about something that someone may give them the "side-eye" for, or otherwise question their actions. "I just bought Justin Bieber's new album! #dontjudgeme." "I just ate a whole carton of cookie-dough ice cream. #dontjudgeme." "I just killed my wife and kids. #dontjudgeme." Ok, I was being extra sarcastic on that last one, but dare I say it may just go that far one day. In my opinion, I think the phrase "don't judge me" is ridiculously over-used and misused. It's being used as a defense mechanism for people who want to do whatever they want with no accountability for their actions. For those of us who are "Christians" (using that term lightly here), we want to live our lives the way we want without anyone challenging us on our sin.

This scripture, contrary to popular belief, is not forbidding judging. In fact, there are many other scriptures in the Bible where we are told that we should judge; in some cases, we are even commanded to judge. Here are just a few:

1 Corinthians 6:1-6 The Lord's people will judge the world, and even judge angels!

1 John 4:1-3 We are to judge whether or not a spirit is from God or not.

Romans 16:17 We have to judge whether or not someone is causing divisions in the Church, because we are commanded not to associate with them.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 We are commanded to expel so-called believers from the Church if they claim to be a brother or sister, yet still live in sin. We are to judge those within the Church.

It would not come as any surprise to me if anyone reading this tries to pull the age-old "the Bible has contradictions" card on this. For this subject and any other subject where the Bible allegedly has a "contradiction," I implore you to dig deeper. As we are about to do so now, you'll see that a deeper study of a "contradiction" will reveal that there is not one at all. If you look up the word "judge" in the dictionary, or --for you aspiring Bible-scholars out there-- if you look up the root Greek word krinō, you'll see that the word judge has many uses. This should be obvious after looking at the various scriptures that the word "judge" is used in, but the meaning changes depending on the context. The only method of judging that is really outlawed in the Bible is condemnation, in which a sentence or punishment is carried out. Only legal authorities and God can do that (hence, the phrase "Only GOD can judge me"). Unfortunately, people assume this is the case for all forms of judgement, thinking that only God can make a discernment or an identification of one's actions.

By now, you're probably wondering, "what does Matthew 7:1-5 really say?" This scripture is not speaking against identifying faults and sins, but against harsh and hypocritical judging. It simply states that if you do judge, the same degree of judgement that you use will be returned to you. Meaning, if you judge someone harshly, with disrespect and malice, you will be judged the same. Likewise, if you judge someone gently, with respect and genuine concern for the person's well being, you will be judged the same. Also, we should not judge someone on something that we also are guilty of, especially if we are even more guilty of it than the person we judge. Many commentaries on this passage also state that a fault-finding spirit is being addressed here. There is a difference between calling out sin when it is noticed and just going around sniffing for sin in people's lives. We are all commanded as brothers and sisters in Christ to call out each others' sin for the purpose of calling each other higher and get each other to heaven, but constantly looking for sin and nit-picking at each others' faults is very destructive.

Another scripture that is often misused in similar fashion is John 8:1-11. The phrase that is coined from this passage is "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (verse 7). People mistakenly interpret this as meaning that only those who are without sin themselves can challenge others on their sin. Conveniently for some, this would, of course, mean that no one can call anyone out on their sin. However, this was not Jesus' intent. Again, if we look closely at the context of the situation, we get a more accurate meaning. In those times, the punishment for adultery was to be stoned to death. If you look at the anatomy of a stoning, either the judge presiding over a case or the witnesses of the crime was allowed to throw the first stone during the execution. In verse 7 of this passage, Jesus is referring to the actual execution of the adulteress' death sentence, not the identification of her sin. Both the Pharisees (verses 4-5) and Jesus (verse 11) identify her sin. In regards to throwing the first stone, Jesus is turning the tradition of the execution against the Pharisees, stating that those who have not sinned should be the first to carry out her execution. Clearly, Jesus is not speaking against the identification of sin. If only those without sin could call another person higher (clearly, this was not the Pharisees' intent) by correcting the sin of another, no one would be able to do so, and we'd all be hell-bound.

So, we've made it clear that the Bible does not speak against challenging and correcting each others' sin, so long as we are not judging harshly or digging for the negative. However, I know there are many who, upon being corrected, will use an excuse that I love (to hate): "Well, God knows my heart." This is indeed true, as shown in many scriptures (Psalm 44:20-21, Luke 16:14-15 and Acts 15:8 are just a few). However, just as is shown in these scriptures, this means that God knows both the good and the bad in our hearts. The impression I get from most who use this excuse when challenged on their lives is that they are implying that whatever is showing in their appearance or actions is not revealing the true good that is within their hearts. Granted, we all mess up and will fall short of God's glory from time to time. I get that. None of us are perfect or "without sin." However, there is a difference between a mistake and a habit; between sinning and living in sin. To paraphrase a good friend of mine, you must ask yourself if your mistake is really just a mistake, or if it is the norm. Proverbs 27:19 reveals that your life reflects what is really in your heart. What you consistently do, think, and say shows what's really in your heart. 1 Timothy 4:15-16 also states that if you really are devoting yourself to something (aka if it is really in your heart), it will be evident to all. You won't have to say that "God knows your heart." Yes, he does. And that's usually not a good thing for us if we're having to make excuses for ourselves as to why we're not living the way we should.

As we've seen, many scriptures get twisted and taken out of context. Some innocently, some with selfish or prideful intent. Either way, we must be careful not to misuse God's word. In regards to these particular scriptures, we must be mature in how we correct others and take correction ourselves. Those of us doing the correcting must be sure to do so out of love and respect, not just trying to dig for dirt in our brothers and sisters' lives. We must also be sure not to correct when we are guilty of the same sins. On the other end, those of us who are being corrected must learn to let our defenses down and realize that those who are correcting us are doing so out of love for God and us. In my humble opinion, no true believer should ever use "don't judge me" or "well, God knows my heart" as a rebuttal to correction from another. We should be mature and humble enough to take it to heart and repent where necessary.