In John 7:24, Jesus said, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Jesus made this statement following a discussion concerning his healing of a man on the Sabbath.

We learn three important points from this statement:

• We must make judgments. Here, Jesus actually commanded righteous judgment.
• There is a wrong way to judge.
• There is a right way to judge.

Many people hold to the view that human beings should not make any judgments about the morality or righteousness of other people's behavior. To assert that people sin because they lie, commit adultery, or steal brings a partial quotation of Jesus statement in Matthew 7. There, he began by saying, "Judge not, that you be not judged." But a closer look at the context of Matthew 7 shows that Jesus was condemning only hypocritical judgment, not all judgment. His statement in John 7:24 makes that clear, for it includes the command: "judge with righteous judgment."

In Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus elaborated on judging: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plant in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." It is hypocritical to judge someone else a sinner when you are doing the same thing or something equally sinful. You can't judge a situation fairly unless you are living an upright life. Drunkards who condemn other drunkards are hypocrites. Fornicators who condemn others for immorality are using unrighteous judgment.

In John 7, Jesus also described another wrong way to judge. He urged us not to judge merely by appearance. Like judging "a book by its cover," instead of reading its contents, judging according to outward appearance is wrong and leads to false conclusions.

Judging people on the basis of second- and third-hand information, rather than talking with them and garnering the facts, also is erroneous judgment.

It is easy to make rash judgments; that is, judgments based on first appearances. Seeing a brother or sister emerge from a bar or casino could, on the basis of appearance alone, lead to a false conclusion. That brother or sister may have been there for a legitimate reason, i.e., rescuing a family member or friend, collecting a legitimate debt, etc.

Outward appearances can be deceptive. Jesus used false teachers to illustrate this fact. He said some of them come wearing "sheep's clothing" but actually are hungry wolves (Matthew 7:15). Rather than looking at how they appear outwardly, Jesus urged us to look at their lives and actions (their fruits). He said, "You will know them by their fruits...Every good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."

Judging people by their dress or their apparent wealth (or lack of it) is evil. James 2:2-4 says, "For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand here,' or 'Sit here at my footstool,' have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

Jesus affirmed that the right way to judge is "with righteous judgment." A number of passages direct us to watch for one another's souls and to exhort, admonish (warn), and rebuke one another. There is absolutely no way to do this without making judgments.

Galatians 6:1 directs those who are spiritual to restore saints who have been overtaken in faults. How can a "fault" be established unless we make a judgment about the saint's behavior? But Jesus declared that such judgments must be righteous. That means several things.

• Those who have righteous motives must do the judging. Its purpose can't be to make oneself look better than someone else. Nor can it be for the purpose of damaging another person's reputation or life. Judgment must be out of love.
  
  
• As explained earlier, righteous judgment does not require us to be sinless, but we certainly cannot practice the thing we condemn in another. The apostle Paul rebuked the Jews for this practice. In Romans 2:1-3, he wrote, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?"
  
  
• Righteous judgments needs to be based on God's law, not our opinions or personal scruples. We can't judge others to be sinners because they don't do things the way we do. Sin is a violation of God's commandments.
  
  
• And we must always remember that God will judge us as we judge others. In Matthew 7:2, Jesus declared, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

Therefore, we conclude that we must judge, but we must be very careful in our judgments, not only for the sake of those we judge, but for our own sake.

Brother Blackaby touches on a very serious and troubling problem in the Lord's church today. Why is it that so many of God's people are anxious to place the worst possible "spin" on their brethren's conduct before they learn all the facts?

Gospel preachers often receive outlandish accusations, based simply on what someone sees. In one case, because the preacher's car was parked in front of a sister's house, a brother arrived at some reckless conclusions. Did he bother to check with the sister? By the way, the sister had four children, three of whom were home, and the preacher was called to the house because of a family emergency. This brother didn't check with the sister or the preacher to determine the facts.

Preachers are sometimes guilty of the same type of misconduct. Whenever a preacher observes the actions of another preacher and draws the wrong conclusion about his motives, he is judging improperly. I am amazed that so many brethren think the worst before the better!

Christians would do well to reread Jesus' words in Matthew 7:2. I'm very thankful that, in the final judgment, the Lord will not be using the same standards and practices as many of our brethren. Do I show love for my brethren when I use an improper standard and arrive at improper personal judgments?

Let us be very careful how we arrive at conclusions concerning the actions or conduct of our brothers or sisters in Christ. Get the facts together, and if some harsh judging needs to be done, be sure to do it with love. Christians should not take pleasure in seeing other Christians fall into sin. Let us reread Paul's words in Philippians 2:2-5 and seek to have the mind of Christ. (KMG)