What Are We to Judge?

David sports a blue-ink artist’s conception of “Jesus on the cross” tattooed on his inside left forearm and works at the Aberdeen, N.C. carpet manufacturing mill where I work.

David’s “etching on epidermis” extends almost from wrist to elbow. Above his on-arm image of a suffering Savior loom the arched words “Only God,” and beneath that depicted crucifix are the words “can judge me.”

A “fixer,” David works on machines that needle-punch (tuft) yarn into backings to produce 12-foot-wide carpets. He’s thin, white with a bit of a tan and has a slightly beaked nose. Probably in his early twenties, David usually wears an oversized baseball cap that covers the tops of his ears. I seldom see him but think often about his “Only God can judge me” tattoo.

I’ve considered asking David about his arm-borne communiqué. “Is that a message to your parents?” I want to ask. “Did you attend church during your childhood? Did you wander from ‘the straight and narrow’ during your teen years? Did you wander or were you pushed? Are you a Christian? Is your arm a billboard for your faith? What motivated you to endure the pain involved in getting ‘Only God can judge me’ tattooed onto such a visible body part?”

Perhaps if I asked David those questions, he might think (make his own “judgment”) that I was judging him. He might raise his left arm, point to his tattoo and say, “Here’s your sign.”

Discussions often stop, if a person feels cornered and plays the “You’re judging” card.

Someone said that one of the most misunderstood Bible verses is Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Jesus made that statement during his 3-chapters-long Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and it means “Do not pass judgment, so you won’t be judged.” A paraphrase is “Don’t criticize, and then you won’t be criticized.” The verse following that pronouncement indicates that whatever judgment you declare for someone will be the same judgment you’ll answer to. You’ll be measured by the same yardstick you use to measure others. Someone interpreted Matt. 7:1 to mean that “Others will probably treat you the way you treat them.” I’ve often heard, “What goes around comes around.” Perhaps that’s some king of “law of nature.” Jesus was talking about common-sense stuff.

According to Romans 14:12, “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” That statement cautions us to get our own lives in order, so we truly can help others and lovingly inform them of God’s law and grace. (“Christians need to clean up their own backyards,” a friend once told me.)

Here’s a dictionary definition of “judge”: “The presiding official in a court having power to decide.” A second meaning is “to determine.”

Many of us back off, if friends hint that we’re judging them. But is there a “time to judge”? And what are we to “judge”? The Bible contains guidelines about wise and foolish behaviors, labeling some actions and attitudes as sinful. If we talk about those behaviors, are we “judging”?

Some may interpret Matthew 7:1 to mean that we’re not supposed to judge between right and wrong. However, in 1 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you.” Paul didn’t tell the Corinthians to remember Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Paul didn’t hesitate to “judge.”

Though we should take care to judge actions rather than people – “Love the sinner; hate the sin,” someone said – Christians should declare (“declare” is a stronger word than “share”) the Word of God and speak out about Bible-described “right” and “wrong” behaviors. Christians should expose and judge error by the Bible.

David’s tattoo declares “Only God can judge me,” and I believe that is correct. But a right-with-God Christian need not be silenced by an accusation of “You’re judging.” An in-touch-with-grace Christian is no judge – simply a messenger who’s trying to let the Davids of this world know that Jesus has already taken God’s judgment for them.