It usually starts with a post—someone sharing a conviction, a life update, maybe just a hot take on church culture. Nothing too wild. But then come the comments.
Someone chimes in with a Bible verse. Someone else replies with a correction. Then someone calls them judgmental. Another commenter calls them “lukewarm.” A third drops a passive-aggressive “praying for you.” And just like that, a post about someone’s testimony or favorite worship band turns into a full-blown theological cage match.
Eventually, someone quotes Matthew 7:1—“Do not judge”—as if that’s the end of the conversation. But that verse, maybe the most quoted and least understood thing Jesus ever said, wasn’t meant to shut people down. It was meant to wake them up.
Matthew 7:1 says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” It’s short, direct and often used to keep the peace. But Jesus wasn’t telling His followers to avoid hard conversations. He was warning them not to enter those conversations with hypocrisy, arrogance or a hunger to feel morally superior.
The next line makes it clearer: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Jesus isn’t banning discernment. He’s calling out double standards. If you’re quick to criticize others but slow to confront your own flaws, you’re missing the point entirely.
This isn’t a call to silence. It’s a call to humility. And it’s a lot harder than just keeping your mouth shut.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for “judge” used here is krinō, which has a broad range of meanings—everything from evaluating to condemning. The early church didn’t take it to mean “never speak up.” In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5:12, Paul writes, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” That wasn’t a call to shame people—it was a reminder that the church is supposed to be a place of mutual accountability, not performative outrage.
And yet, over time, “do not judge” has become a kind of theological escape hatch. It’s a line people throw out to avoid confrontation or to shut it down altogether. But Jesus didn’t shy away from calling things what they were. He didn’t cancel people, but He didn’t coddle them either. He told the woman caught in adultery she was forgiven—but also to go and sin no more. He showed mercy and clarity at the same time.
In Matthew 7:3–5, Jesus adds another layer: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?… First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” It’s not an invitation to ignore what’s wrong. It’s a challenge to do your own work first.
That’s the real issue. Judgment, in the way Jesus condemns it, isn’t about noticing sin. It’s about approaching people with a critical spirit rather than a posture of grace. It’s about using someone else’s struggle to boost your own ego. It’s about letting your need to be right overpower your ability to be loving.
Oswald Chambers put it this way: “It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical.”
Jesus wasn’t giving us a loophole to ignore sin. He was warning us not to weaponize righteousness. And there’s a difference.
In John 3:17, Jesus says He didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it. But later, in John 5:30, He also says, “My judgment is just.” It’s not a contradiction. Jesus didn’t come to judge in the sense of writing people off. He came to call them back. And that kind of judgment—restorative, not punitive—is the only kind Christians are ever asked to make.
Still, it’s easier to either stay quiet or throw stones. It’s harder to speak truth and stay humble. It’s harder to check your own motivations before pointing out someone else’s. It’s harder to care enough about someone to confront them gently, and then stick around to walk with them through it.
But that’s the kind of community Jesus calls us to build.
“Do not judge” isn’t a free pass to disengage. It’s a warning to avoid self-righteousness. It’s a call to self-awareness, to grace, to slow, careful confrontation rooted in love and relationship—not ego or likes or moral clout.
So before you type that comment or clap back with a verse, ask yourself: Am I trying to help—or just trying to win? Because one is kingdom work. The other is just content.
