The Sermon On The MountExemple

If Matthew 5 is about “true righteousness” and Matthew 6 about “false righteousness,” then Matthew 7 is about “self-righteousness.” In this passage, Jesus warns against the danger of judging others. Jesus’s warning here is not that his followers should never judge; or that his followers should become moral zombies. His warning is that we should not be judgmental. In other words, Christians should not be self-righteous. When we make judgments, we should be careful that they do not have similar or bigger weaknesses; we should also be aware that we will also be judged, both by others and by God. 

We should be aware of and first address our own moral conditions: there are often moral logs and obstacles in our own lives that not only make it impossible for us to see clearly and discriminate between right and wrong accurately, but also make it difficult for others to accept our corrections and exhortations.

Without addressing our own faults, if we attempt to correct other people by attacking their faults and weaknesses, they will, in turn, attack us. Jesus says that such a thing is like throwing pearls to pigs. Pigs will not see the value of what is being offered; they will not accept what is being offered. They will themselves, before long, attack you.

Jesus’s injunction, “Judge not,” also reminds Christians to remember that, in the final analysis, Christians are not called to be judges; they are called to be witnesses. This means that when Christians consider or call something “wrong” or “right,” it is not because they have independently and autonomously adjudicated the case themselves, but because God has done so, and they are merely testifying and witnessing to God’s verdict and judgment.