What Is Judging? (Part 1)

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Introduction
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Tolerance is on the rise in our society. Everything is relative. There is no absolute morality. People can decide to do both what feels right and what feels wrong. "Everyone [does] what [is] right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). One of the arguments that secular society makes against Christians is that they are judgmental or intolerant. Judgement happens when Christians make a response against a behavior or a lifestyle that God hates and sees as sin (Proverbs 6:16-19; Romans 1:18-32). And ironically, those who judge Christians are already considered "judgmental". And ironically, those who put Christians on the pedestal of intolerance also make themselves out to be intolerant. 

Do Christians have the right to judge? On what basis? Judging seems to be a taboo word in our society. What gives them the right to judge? In this part, I want to specifically talk about what is good judgement and what is bad judgement, according to the teaching of the Bible. 
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What The Bible Says
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Matthew 7:1-5
Verse 1 should be crowned as the most cited and the most misinterpreted verse in history by Christians and non-Christians, I think. "Judge not, that you be not judged" (ESV) or "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (NIV). When people/Christians make a judgement, the other party would respond, "Hey, don't you dare judge me or else you too will be judged." 

In the given context, the passage does not teach that we should rule out judgement. It teaches us what is appropriate and inappropriate judgement. Inappropriate judgement is when a person judges out of hypocrisy, self-righteousness or pride. Jesus does rule out prideful or self-righteous judgement that views oneself as better than others. 

Jesus is not teaching us to forbid all evaluation or even judgment of others, for we are told to recognize and discern the fruit of others (Matthew 7:16-20). Appropriate judgement happens when, ultimately, the one who feels humbled and sees his/her own sin can lovingly help remove the “speck” from others.
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Conclusion
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The lesson that we want to take away is to pray and ask God to help us make appropriate judgement, as the next passage teaches us about prayer (7-11). We are also instructed to pray and discern the fruit of false teachers (15-19). Ultimately, it is not our job to judge someone's eternal destiny because that is God's job. 

It is right to examine ourselves first and repent of our sins before we pluck the "speck" from the other person's eye.