I used to visit chat rooms, and when the topic turned to religion, liberals often tried to misuse “judge not” in order to protect false teaching. It’s only recently that I’ve seen this same thing coming from conservatives, and it’s disturbing.
The truth is that Scripture tells us TO judge, and how to do it. An example is John 7:24, when Jesus tells us, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Matthew 7:1 is often used to try and tell Christians never to judge, when in fact, when the whole passage is read, Jesus is telling us HOW to judge (i.e., not to judge someone if you are guilty of the same thing he is doing). Also, in Luke 12, Jesus asks, “Why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?”
Bottom line: we as Christians are instructed over and over to discern, to test all things-—not to throw away all discernment and abandon the truth. THESE are Christ’s teachings.
Simple formula:
Unrighteous judgment: He is a sinner and I am better than him...time for some fun gossip!
Righteous judgment: He is a sinner just like me. He needs to know about Christ’s forgiveness.