Romans 14:4

Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.

The presumption of one Christian judging another overlooks the fact that God judges all, a prerogative categorically withheld from mortal, fallible men, and wisely so. No man is capable of accurate judgment, in things pertaining either to himself or to his fellow Christians; and nothing is quite so detrimental to Christian fellowship as a censorious and condemnatory attitude displayed within the family of the redeemed. Judging the conduct of other Christians is a subject of such universal concern within the church that the collateral scriptures applicable to this question should be remembered here.

ON JUDGING OTHERS

Jesus said, "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1); and, while upon earth, not even the blessed Son of God himself judged people, saying, "I came not to judge the world but to save the world" (John 12:47). This is not a prohibition of discerning other people's actions, but of presuming to utter a condemnation, break the fellowship, or disturb the unity of the church. Any Christian might lawfully make a private, personal, and tentative evaluation of another person's conduct; but he is forbidden to pass judgment, in the sense of stating an opinion, announcing a conclusion, or otherwise making such an appraisal known to others. The trouble with judging is that it breeds a reciprocal adverse judgment from them that are judged, thus multiplying and proliferating all kinds of bitterness, recriminations, and vindictive hatreds. James declared that:

He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. Only one is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor? (James 4:11,12).

Judging fellow Christians tends to freeze them in the line of conduct judged; whereas, by the exercise of patience and forbearance, their undesirable conduct might, in time, become relaxed and changed, due to growth and development. Thus, all judging is premature, as indicated by Paul's command, "Judge nothing before the time" (1 Corinthians 4:5). In the warmth and fellowship of Christian service, many Christians find the grace to grow and develop strength; and it should be remembered that every Christian begins as a babe in Christ.

The admonition against judging is not unconditional, the exception having been noted by Hodge, thus:

One Christian has no right to judge another, except where Christ has expressly authorized it, and given him the rule of judgment.[3]

Whiteside also cautioned in regard to this, thus:

This injunction against judging must be confined to such matters as Paul was discussing. How could anyone beware of false prophets, unless we first judge them to be false prophets? (Matthew 7:15). And we must judge a man to be an evil worker, or we could not obey the command to "beware of evil workers" (Philippians 3:2). Neither could we obey Paul's injunction (Romans 16:17,18) without judging which men belong to the class he mentions.[4]

Despite the sad necessity, however, of observing certain exceptions, the master strategy for dealing with weak brethren is that of containing the situation in love and forbearance, wherever possible. Peter wrote that Christians should, above all things:

be fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

Another man's servant ... is an appeal to an earthly situation in which one does not meddle in the business of judging the servants of other people; and thus, how much more appropriate it is for Christians to refrain from judging the servants of the Lord? The power of the Lord to make a man stand, despite his errors, is seen in the strength of believers to remain faithful to the church, a strength which comes only from the Lord, and a strength which exists in some instances coupled with all kinds of weakness, errors, and even sins.

[3] Charles Hodge, op. cit., p. 416.

[4] Robertson L. Whiteside, A New Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to Saints in Rome (Denton, Texas: Miss Inys Whiteside, 1945), p. 271.