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Thou Shalt Not Judge! ... 11th Commandment Or Politically Correct Liberal View?
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"Many tender-minded Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianity and breathing the name of Jesus. They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit their town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God. They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgment or shut their eyes and accept everything without question. This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality. But in sober fact it indicates no such thing. It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit. Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality. Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the color of the supernatural. Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be. ‘Try the spirits’ is a command of the Holy Spirit to the Church. We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine. And the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question. To appraise things with a heart of love and then to act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world. And the more as we see the day approaching." A. W. Tozer
Contrary to popular beliefs.. the Bible makes some very straight forward statements about ‘judging’ (Below)
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INDEX
Who Are You to Say?
The "Who are you to say?" challenge is used by non-Christians and Christians, especially by those who deplore the "heresy hunters" in the church. This rejoinder, though, deftly sidesteps the real issue.
Thou Shalt Not Judge!
People often believe politically correct, liberal view that we, as Christians, are not to judge others. “Thou shalt not judge” is, in reality, a false commandment and a common cliché among liberals whose theology comes from socialists instead of Scripture.
Attack Dogs of Christendom?
The August 2007 issue of Christianity Today contains an article by David Aikman entitled Attack Dogs of Christendom.. in which he severely criticizes what he calls the “self-appointed attack dogs of Christendom” who “seem determined to savage not only opponents of Christianity, but also fellow believers of whose doctrinal positions they disapprove”. Way of Life ministries correctly called the article hypocritical, shallow and unscholarly, slanderous, biblically and historically wrong, fearful of strong biblical language, and evidential of CT’s own error and spiritual blindness”.
Who Are You To Judge
Unfortunately, as we do ministry on the streets, that is the one Bible verse that most people love to quote. They are not sure where it is found, but they do know that those are the words of Jesus. In fact, in today’s modern Christianity, “judge not” carries more weight than another of Christ’s one-liners, ”Go and sin no more.” [John 8:11] This is a situation where a little Bible knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
How 'Judge Not' .. the Most Misquoted Verse in the Bible.. is Destroying America
If Americans don't start to judge and punish evil instead of accepting all ideas and beliefs as equal, we will become a nation that welcomes same-sex marriage, polygamy, pedophilia, incest, euthanasia and likely a host of moral aberrations so bizarre they're still hidden in the darkest reaches of the Internet.
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WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
MARK THEM AND AVOID THEM--"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THEM--"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," (2 Corinthians 6:17)
REBUKE THEM--"...rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;" (Titus 1:13)
REJECT THEM--"A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;" (Titus 3:10)
WITHDRAW FROM THEM--"...we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)
TRY THEM--"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits wheth I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
REPROVE THEM--"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
TURN AWAY FROM THEM--"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5)
HAVE NO COMPANY WITH THEM--"And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed." (2 Thessalonians 3:14)
RECEIVE THEM NOT--"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." (2 John 1:10-11) *
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Discernment
“Criticism for its own sake, or out of a bitter spirit, or criticism which is borne out of hypocrisy is plainly wrong, and is not motivated by the Holy Spirit. But there is another vital side to criticism” which -- “The word "criticism" comes from the Greek word "krino" meaning to judge. One of the gifts of the Spirit is "discernment of spirits" (1 Cor.12:10). The Greek word translated here as "discernment" is "diakrisis", which comes from two Greek words: dia (through or between) and krino (to judge). In other words, the Holy Spirit gifts people so that they can make a judgement between two things as to which is right and which is wrong. The specific gift of "discernment of spirits" involves being supernaturally able to distinguish between a person who is serving the cause of evil spirits and one who is serving the cause of God. (Alan Morrison. Is It Right For Christians To Judge? )
Also See
What is ‘love’ in the Bible (Agape) and How Did It Work?
We tend to assume at once that "love" means what it does to us in modern times -- in this case, a mushy sentimentality that never says a harsh word and never steps on the toes of others. but conceptually, it is certainly possible to love one's enemies, and yet also attack them; and the same for one's disciples or allies
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Judgements
We should make judgments which are based on the yardstick of righteousness as revealed in his Word, which look beyond mere appearance, and which are also made with the right spirit in heart. When Jesus said "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt.7:1), He immediately shows what kind of judgement he is speaking of there. He obviously cannot mean that we must never make any kind of judgement at all, otherwise we would not be able to fulfil the exhortations of the Word in numerous places, such as being told never to let anyone deceive us (please read Matt.24:4; Luke 21:8; 2 Thess.2:3; Eph.5:6; Colossians 2:8). If only God can judge, as you say, then how will we be able to fulfil the Apostle John's command: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1)? Far from being wrong, judgement is actually a vital part of the Christian armoury. Christ has put pastors and teachers into the church precisely to make judgements which will prevent people from being "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting" (Eph.4:14). The judgement which the Lord Jesus forbids in Matt.7:1 (as the context very plainly shows) refers to a person who makes a judgement about another person when he himself is a practitioner of the very thing which he is judging in the other! That is hypocritical judgement, which is forbidden by Christ. But the kind of judgement which builds up God's people by advising them of danger and outright falsehood is an absolute necessity.
(Alan Morrison. Is It Right For Christians To Judge? )
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Index To Controversial Issues
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Index To Section 8B 
