The Prohibition Against Judgmentalism

Jim ButlerMatthew 7:1–5

Matthew 7:1–5 contains one of the most abused texts in Scripture — 'judge not' — which is habitually weaponised to silence any Christian voice of discernment, yet just as habitually practiced as censorious fault-finding within the church. This exposition distinguishes the absolute prohibition Jesus does not give from the specific sin he does condemn: the nitpicking, petty, fault-finding spirit toward brothers and sisters in Christ that magnifies their specks while ignoring one's own log. The sermon traces the prohibition, its explanation in terms of divine judgment, and its illustration, showing that censoriousness is simultaneously an arrogant assertion of authority over others, an expression of self-righteousness, and a failure of charity — and that the Sermon on the Mount, rightly interpreted, drives every guilty hearer to the foot of the cross.