So why is it that we run into totally off-the-wall instructions like this one from the end of James's epistle?
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)Isn't that precisely what we're supposed to avoid? To not be correcting others' mistakes is exactly the kind of thing "Judge not" is intended to convey, isn't it? So, hold on here. Do we have James contradicting Jesus? Let's see.
1) It is quite clear that Jesus's harshest words were to the hypocritical religious leaders of His day (Matt 23:13-39). This is only exacerbated when you realize that the Hebrew concept of "woe" is a curse. Jesus was pronouncing curses on the scribes and Pharisees and lawyers (Luke 11:52). But it wasn't only the religious leaders. He used the same phrase against Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum (Matt 11:21-24), entire cities of Israel. He used the same term for the rich (Luke 6:24) and even for one of His disciples (Luke 22:22). This is much more than religious hypocrites. This encompasses all who do not repent (Luke 13:1-4).
2) In Matthew's Gospel, the first teachings from Jesus's ministry were, originally, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt 4:17), followed by the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus didn't narrow definitions of sin, but expanded them (Matt 5:17-48). Listing expanded ways to be evil doesn't qualify as "nonjudgmental".
3) In the famous "Neither do I condemn you" line from the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), Jesus followed the line with "Go, and from now on sin no more." (John 8:11) Clearly "sin no more" means "You've been sinning; stop it!" This is not "I'm ignoring any sin you might have."
4) There is the account of when Jesus threw out the confusing, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53) It upset people. John specifies that it upset "many of His disciples" (John 6:60). To His disciples He said, "But there are some of you who do not believe." (John 6:64) Now, that is judgmental. "Wait ... are you saying I don't believe? Who are you to tell me if I believe or not?" And, of course, add to that Jesus's own words, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (John 3:18) I don't know of any standard of "judgmental" that would say "You're damned" is not classified as "judgmental".
We know that there is a righteous judge (Gen 18:25). We know that judgment is necessary and right. And we know that Jesus said, "If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world." (John 12:47) On matters of judgment He also said, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." (John 7:24), "As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 5:30), and "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent Me." (John 8:15-16) So, either Jesus is contradicting Himself ... or we're failing to grasp what He is saying when we say, "Judge not means never judge." We can be quite certain it is not that Jesus was crazy, so we're going to have to go with the second option. Jesus said, "As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man." (John 5:26-27) Jesus is the judge, the righteous judge, the Judge of all the earth. As such He does judge. He wasn't doing it during His lifetime -- that kind of judgment that metes out final condemnation or release. He was judging during His lifetime the kind of judgment that identifies right and wrong, sin or not sin, and calls for repentance. And He was doing it rightly.
And we are called to do the same. That's what the James passage tells us. Further, the James passage says that it is an act of kindness. It saves people from death and covers sins. No, not eternal salvation -- only Jesus does that -- but it is a participation on the process that God uses to complete the good work that He began (Phil 1:6), to "keep you from stumbling" (Jude 1:24). And these are good things.
Quickly, then, if Christ was doing it rightly, how are we to do it rightly? First and foremost, Jesus said that His Word is the judge (John 12:48). We don't get to make stuff up; it has to be biblical. Beyond that, however, there are a couple of key ingredients that must be included. We find one set of components when Paul says, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal 6:1-2) The aim is restoration, not retribution, punishment, or anything else. It is part of bearing one another's burdens. And, most importantly, it must be in "a spirit of gentleness". Gently, not with "righteous indignation" or some sort of moral superiority. You could be next. (That's what Paul says; "Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.") Finally, we read, "Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph 4:15-16) Love is the key. Love is critical. Love is absolutely necessary. Love is the primary motive for doing it at all. It is love for the person, love for the Body, love for Christ.
The world (and many Christians) wants to tell us, "Only God can judge me" (by which they generally mean "And I don't expect He will") and "You're not supposed to judge." Why? "Jesus said so." Be careful. Given Jesus as our example and the rest of Scripture as our instruction, don't accept a simplistic, word-modified version of "Don't judge". Use the biblical version, the version that Jesus practiced, the one that is because of love rather than opposed to it like today's "Don't tell me what to do while I descend into more God-declared problems." That's just a lie.
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