I was originally typing this as a response to a thread on Tara's journal and then decided it was preachy and I felt bad leaving it there. So instead I moved it here
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I guessed that was where your comment came from, honestly is was the first thing that jumped to my mind when I read Tara's post and what other people wrote too. But the more that I thought about it the more I considered that that passage (when taken as a whole in context) does not forbid all judging, just one kind of judging. Trying to do this briefly enough to be just one comment:
"'Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the mearsure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye"; and look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5).
I don't think the point here is never judge. Instead I think that it point to hypocrisy. For example, it would be hypocritical and sinful to judge anyone for what they have done and leave it at that. Instead I have to recognize "the plank in my own eye" and deal with that before attempting to judge anyone else. The point is that I need to recognize and deal with my own greater faults before I can gently and humbly criticize others. It also point to a few verses earlier when Christ said "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matther 6:14-15). It is the height of arrogance to hold anyone to a higher standard than we ourselves can match. How can we call on God for forgiveness for a multitude of great sins that He hates while refusing to forgive another for a slight wrong against us? The point isn't "never judge anything or anyone", it's "never judge anyone by a more stringent standard than you yourself expect to be judged by" (preferrably the perfect law of God). To back this up by interpreting scripture with scripture: "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear I judge; and my judgement is righteous, because I do not seek My own will be the will of the Father who sent me." (John 5:30). "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement." (John 7:24).
"'Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the mearsure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye"; and look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5).
I don't think the point here is never judge. Instead I think that it point to hypocrisy. For example, it would be hypocritical and sinful to judge anyone for what they have done and leave it at that. Instead I have to recognize "the plank in my own eye" and deal with that before attempting to judge anyone else. The point is that I need to recognize and deal with my own greater faults before I can gently and humbly criticize others. It also point to a few verses earlier when Christ said "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matther 6:14-15). It is the height of arrogance to hold anyone to a higher standard than we ourselves can match. How can we call on God for forgiveness for a multitude of great sins that He hates while refusing to forgive another for a slight wrong against us? The point isn't "never judge anything or anyone", it's "never judge anyone by a more stringent standard than you yourself expect to be judged by" (preferrably the perfect law of God). To back this up by interpreting scripture with scripture: "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear I judge; and my judgement is righteous, because I do not seek My own will be the will of the Father who sent me." (John 5:30). "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement." (John 7:24).
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