John 7:24
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
“How to Be a Christian” was the theme for this year’s Southern States Bible Conference held at Epworth by the Sea Conference Center located on St. Simons Island, Ga. This theme presupposes there is an objective definition or description given as to how the Christian is to live their life. It should be apparent that such a description or definition would come from Jesus, the Christ of God. After all, Christians are followers of Jesus. So, Jesus, along the Apostles Jesus called and sent out in his name to teach what he commanded, and the word of God, containing the whole counsel of God, is the only authoritative source that can objectively reveal what it means to be a Christian.
Yet in this growing secular humanistic culture we live in that seeks to rebel against God’s creative order and declare its own truth and define its own terms, this philosophy of subjective truth has found its way into the church. The result is that those who identify as being disciples of Jesus seek to define for themselves what it means to be a Christian. Many will follow this principle found in the old saying, “to each his own.” This false belief system must be rejected. It has caused much conflict and division in the body of Christ. The ministry of the gospel has been negatively impacted because of such thinking. Only Jesus [and the Holy Scriptures] can declare how the Christian is to live out their life. So, in this article, we are asserting that Jesus said to be a Christian, one must judge with righteous judgment. For Jesus said in John chapter 7, in verse 24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (NKJV).
Two questions arise then regarding the Christian judging with righteous judgment. First, what does this mean and second, how is it done? What is righteous judgment and how does one judge righteously?
First, the fact that Jesus said to “judge with righteous judgment” rejects the assertion made by many that one is never to make judgments of others. How often have you heard, “you are not to judge others”? Often those who make this assertion will even quote the words of Jesus found in his famous sermon recorded in Matthew’s gospel in chapters five through seven. They will quote the words found in Matthew 7, verse 1 – “Judge not that you be not judged” (NKJV). But is Jesus prohibiting his followers from judging others? The answer is obviously no. In fact, Jesus is commanding his followers to make certain judgments regarding words spoken and behaviors observed. Just a few verses later, Jesus says this, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (7:6, NKJV). Here we see a judgment must be rendered as to when it becomes necessary to stop sharing the gospel (that which is holy) with unbelievers. Disciples of Jesus are commanded by Jesus to go and “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19, 20, NKJV). However, there may come the time when giving that which holy to debased, hardened hearted sinners should come to an end. One must make that judgment.
Later Jesus speaks of judging others when it comes to false teachers. He said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (7:15, 16). So, it is obvious that we are to make judgments of others. We are, however, not permitted to judge others with a hypocritical spirit. That is the point being made with the “plank” and the “speck” analogy in verses two through five. Finding fault with others, while you have greater faults is not judging with righteous judgment.
There appears to be more said in the Scriptures in the way of making “unrighteous” judgments than by making righteous judgments. In the passage from John chapter 7, Jesus makes this declaration of making righteous judgments by first saying, “Do not judge according to appearance…” (John 7:23, NKJV). Here is the verse in its totality, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." The question is asked, “what does it mean to “judge according to appearance”? The answer lies in the preceding verses.
In the preceding verses we find Jesus being mocked by his own family members. His half-brothers are chiding him. They say to him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world” (John 7:3, 4, NKJV). The very next verse tells why they chided or ridiculed him. It was because of their unbelief. They grew up with him. Yet they did not believe he was the Messiah. They did not believe he was the incarnate God. What an interesting family dynamic that must have been in the years they lived together.
But these family members were judging Jesus using their own perceptions of him being just their brother. They were ignorant of who he really was, and in their ignorance, they were judging him by appearance.
John also mentions the time of year when Jesus makes this declaration of judging with righteous judgment. It was the time of year when there was this celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. In this celebration, the people were required by the law to remember God’s leadership of their ancestors in the wilderness prior to their arrival to Canaan. They were to remember God’s provision for them. Notably, his provision of water. In the latter part of this chapter, Jesus refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He tells the people in Jerusalem about his provision of “living water.” There is the belief that he did this as the tradition of pouring out of water on the steps of the Temple took place. This pouring of water commemorated the pouring of the water out from the rock, whereby the people’s thirst was satisfied.
There were a number of miracles the people celebrated during this sacred feast. Yet, the brothers of Jesus mocked his doing of miracles and the religious leaders sought to put him to death because of the miracle he had recently performed on the Sabbath. This was the miracle of healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda recorded in John chapter 5. Notice these words of Jesus, “Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?” (John 7:21-23, NKJV).
Jesus is rebuking the Jewish leaders for their hypocrisy. They will perform a circumcision on the Sabbath, yet condemn him for healing a man on the Sabbath. Again, here we have the example of judging by appearance. It is judging with a spirit of hypocrisy and with unbelief. There is the denial of truth. There is the embracing of that which is false. These are all indicative of judgement made by appearance.
This is what judging in an unrighteous way involves. This is how we are prohibited from judging. How then are we to judge with righteous judgment? Here is a brief list of how we judge virtuously as God would have us to judge:
- To judge with righteous judgment, one must submit to the law of Christ. (Note: this was a reference to Elder Scott Riner’s Message on the “Law of Christ” given at the morning session on Tuesday. ED.) We must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And we must love our neighbor as ourselves. We must be willing to bear one another’s burdens. When we do these things, we are in a good place to be able to judge with righteous judgment.
- To judge with righteous judgment, one must make such judgments based upon objective truth and not with subjective truth… it is truth determined by the employing of godly wisdom with godly discernment. The example here is of James and John, the Sons of Thunder. They were wanting to call down fire from heaven upon that Samaritan village that rejected Jesus. How did Jesus respond to their request? He said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55, 56, NKJV). Judging with righteous judgement is making judgments that are not based on feelings, or emotions, but on objective truth.
- Judging with righteous judgement is based upon facts and not on false information. It is not by hearsay or gossip.
- Judging with righteous judgments are judgments made based on the truth of God’s word. For God’s word is truth. Jesus said, in his prayer in John 17, verse 17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (NKJV). Ignorance of God’s word is the breeding ground for corrupt judging or judging by appearance.
- Judging with righteous judgment are judgments made with consistency. It not with inconsistence such as found in the example of the Pharisees who were critical of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath while they would perform a circumcision on the Sabbath.
- When one judges with righteous judgment, they do so with a spirit of humility and not in a prideful spirit. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:3). If one is “pure in heart”, they will judge with righteous judgment.
- When one judges with righteous judgment, they will have justice and goodness in mind and not self-righteous condemnation. Jesus chose to dine with sinners, with tax collectors and prostitutes over that of the self-righteous pharisees.
- When one judges with righteous judgment, they will judge seeking God’s will. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:17, NKJV).
- Finally, when one judges with righteous judgment, their motivation is to honor and bring glory to God.
In conclusion, two examples from the Bible illustrate these two contrasting positions on judging others. There are the example of Jonah and his judging by appearance and there is Jesus and his judging with righteous judgment.
Jonah was commissioned by God to go to the people of Nineveh to preach repentance. These were not only a pagan people, but also Israel’s enemy. He was to preach to them for the purpose of bringing them to repentance so God would not destroy them. But Jonah did not want to do this, and so he went the opposite way to Nineveh. We know what the consequences of this decision he made. But why? Why did he not want to go to Nineveh?
He hated the people of Nineveh. There was prejudice. He was repulsed by the thought that God would spare these people. He knew that God was “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Jonah 4:2). He feared God would spare them and he didn’t want that. He judged them worthy of destruction based on their reputation as being a cruel and wicked people rather than seeing them as people made in God’s image who could repent.
In his disdain for these people, He showed a hypocritical spirit, having a lack of self-judgment. Jonah had experienced God’s mercy after his own disobedience by his being delivered from the belly of the fish. Yet he became angry when the same mercy was extended to Nineveh. It was grace for me, but not for thee. He wanted strict justice for others while enjoying grace and mercy for himself. This is an illustration of the “plank in your own eye” principle.
Instead of rejoicing in God’s mercy that led to the repentance of the people of Nineveh, he instead became more angry, angry at God for showing mercy. Jonah still hoped for the destruction of the city.
Now there’s the example of Jesus. Paul writes of Jesus being “in the form of God, [and] did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross”
Philippians 2:6-8 (NKJV)
“Why? Why did Jesus do this? It was to save undeserving, rebellious sinners from being destroyed by God. Jesus was sent to save people from their sins.”
He came to do this because of love. He chose to eat with tax collectors and prostitutes because he knew that those who were sick needed a physician. He touched lepers, preached to the demon possessed. His ministry was one of compassion.
Now, who do you want to be like? As the old hymn goes, “I want to be like Jesus.” I don’t want to be like Jonah.
To be a Christian Jesus says that we must judge with righteous judgement. He’s the true authority in the matter. Let’s obey him! Let us judge with righteous judgment.