Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
- Matthew 7:1,2
We are all servants, not judges. We are not supposed to judge our brother in Christ. We should let the Lord be the judge. It does not matter what we think our fellow servants are in error over; God did not call us to judge them. The only thing we are supposed to judge is ourselves that we do not cause others to stumble in their faith through our actions. Jesus called us to walk in love and be an example to them. He called us to consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.(Heb10:24) He called us to say things that edify and minister grace unto the hearers. (Eph 4:29)
There is a right and wrong type of judging. Jesus told people to judge (Luke 12:57) (John 7:24). The disciples told people to judge (Acts 4:19, Rom 14:13, 1 Cor 5:12, 6:12, 10:15, 11:13, 14:29) Paul judged (1Cor 5:3, 2 Cor 5:14). Paul prayed that our love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (Phil 1:9). There is nothing wrong with discerning or appraising a situation or a person. Judging -when done as discernment is good. It is the condemning type of judgment that is wrong. (Rom 14:4, 10:13, James 4:11), because in Matt 5:22 Jesus is showing that the New Covenant He was beginning dealt with the heart and the motives, whereas, the Old Mosaic covenant dealt with outward acts. (1 John 3:15) clearly states “whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer”. We can defer passing sentence on people to God and know that He will have perfect judgment (Rom 2:2, Rev 20:13)
Jesus is not forbidding judgment, but rather warning us to be careful with our judgment because we will be judged accordingly. This principal is stated in Rom 2:1-3 and James 2:12-13. There are certain cases where we have to pass a condemning sentence as Paul did (1 Cor 5:3-5, 1 Tim 1:20) or as a judge would today.
If our friend and fellow believer is stepping into sin and yielding to immoral behavior, we cannot ignore it, we need to lovingly reach out to help, helping him to see what he is doing is wrong and that it would hurt him and rob him of the Blessing of God. Pastors and elders are charged with rebuking and even disciplining church members (I Tim 5:20, Rev 2:12-16, 18:20) but it is not something to be done lightly. This warning constrains us all to be certain that we have heard from God and are not simply venting our own frustrations. Not everyone will receive instruction (Prov 1:7- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction) (Prov 15:32-He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof geteth understanding). We need Godly wisdom to judge who is receptive and who is not.
When we perceive someone who is scorning our witness, we should heed the advice of Matt 7:6(Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you).and Prov 9:7,8 ( He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee) lest they mock the things of God and then turn on us.
Our reputation is built upon who we are, not who we correct.
None of us is absolutely correct about every spiritual issue. The Bible does not requires us to be technically correct about everything, it requires us as stewards to be faithful (I Cor 4:2)
It requires us to walk in love.