Q: Can you define Biblically, what is, “A Critical Spirit Of Judging?”
A: [Now] that is indeed a good question! Jesus extended the message of, “Except your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom,” over into the area of judging. The meaning of the verse is, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged.” People judge others for all sorts of reasons, such as suspicions (unconfirmed rumors). I remember when a prominent pastor was out of town on an evangelistic tour, and a saint from another church saw someone that looked like him coming out of a corner liquor store. When the pastor returned from his evangelistic mission, a friend of his called him to report the rumor that had spread. The following week, the Lord permitted that same man to come out of the liquor store. The man that started the rumor got close enough to identify the man as not being the pastor. The next time he saw the pastor, he was so apologetic, but the damage had been done. We need to watch what we say about others, if our facts are not verified.
Hypocritically finding/detecting faults in others is another form of judging. God wants us to be charitable and merciful to others. We should always be ready to think the best and slow to think the worst of others. If we follow this pattern, judgment will be merciful to us from others. Regardless of whether we are true or not in our judgment, God’s judgment is true. He also warns us to beware of forming wrong judgment on our brethren, because our judgment will be reviewed by God. Soon, Judgment Day is coming for saints, as well as sinners.
We better remove the beam from our eyes and then we can see how to remove the mote (splinter) from our neighbor’s eye. It should never be our desire to judge anyone. We should be very careful what we hear and what we say about people. Apostle Paul stated, “Who are you to judge another man’s servant?” (Romans 14:4)