Judge Not Lest You Be Judged?

     Matthew 7:1 is probably one of the most misquoted/misunderstood verses in Scripture.  It's become a mantra for those who want to live their lives contrary to what the Scripture teaches.  If you've had any interaction with professing Christians who live their lives in rebellion to his Word then you have no doubt heard this misuse.  If you profess Christ and seek to live a life of faith, repentance, and obedience to His commands, how do you respond when this wall of defense is erected?  A wall that says, "you can't judge me, mind your own business, I'll live my life the way I want to live and you live your life the way you want to live."  They seek the moral high ground by taking a position of tolerance.  This "tolerance" of course is nothing more than manipulative technique to get you to shut-up and go away.   Many Christians at this point will find themselves perplexed and respond by arguing or shutting-up which is just what the person is looking for in the first place.
     In order to respond to this person correctly we must understand the context of Matthew 7:1-5 as well as what the Bible as a whole has to say about judging.  Verse 2 gives us a reality check and a warning by reminding us that we are all fallen/finite human beings who will stand before our maker one day so we must be careful not to be hyper-critical of our neighbor.  Then Jesus goes on to give a picture of a man with a tree trunk in his eye and another man with a piece of sawdust in his eye.  Jesus speaks directly to the man with the tree trunk in his eye by calling him out on his hypocrisy.  He first questions how he can even see the speck in his brother's eye and further questions why he thinks he has the ability or the place to address the speck in his brother's eye.  The tree trunk and the speck are analogous to sin and Jesus is calling the hypocrite to repentance in-order that he may see clearly to help his brother with the speck in his eye.  Jesus is not here forbidding Christians from judging but from overlooking our own sin and being hyper-critical of others.  This is clear in verse 5 where we see the result of the log being removed is that the man can now see clearly to help his brother with his speck.  So, there is a type of judgment that is clearly forbidden but there is also a type of judgment that is commanded and quite necessary.

Biblical Guidelines for Christian Judging:

• We must ask the Spirit to reveal any logs/sins in our own eyes/hearts and confess them before we attempt to exercise Spirit led judgment against a brother.
• Christian judging must always be done in a spirit of love and patience with a goal to help/build up/restore.  
• The standards by which the Christian rightly judges must be clearly set forth in the Bible and not human tradition. 
• We are not responsible to judge the world the same way we judge our brothers and sisters in Christ because the truths of God are spiritually discerned. Faith, repentance, and obedience are fruits of a regenerate heart indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  The unregenerate therefore are unable to receive judgment and respond rightly.  They need the gospel.

     There is much more that could be said but for the sake of brevity I'll leave it at this.  There is no set way to respond to the person who demands not to be judged but it's clear that the Bible does allow for judgment within the right parameters.  We have a responsibility to hold each other accountable and build each other up in the faith.  None of us are perfect or claim to be.  We must strive for holiness together. God has not left us alone in this life long endeavor but has graciously given us His Spirit and a community of pilgrims who walk together toward a common destination(Heaven), with a common purpose(God's Glory), and a common Saviour(Jesus Christ).