Judge not lest ye be judged
«Judge not lest ye be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven» (Luca 6,37). It is possible to put this word of the Gospel into practice? It is perhaps not necessary to judge, if you don't want to give up on what's wrong? But this call of Jesus was deeply engraved in the hearts. The apostles James and Paul, moreover so different, they echo it in almost the same words. Giacomo writes: «Who are you who judge your neighbor?» (Giacomo 4,12). And Paolo: «Who are you to judge a servant who is not yours?» (Romans 14,4).
Neither Jesus nor the apostles tried to abolish the courts. Their appeal concerns daily life. If the disciples of Jesus choose to love, however, they continue to make mistakes with more or less serious consequences. The spontaneous reaction is then to judge him who - by his own negligence, his weaknesses or forgetfulness - cause of wrongs or failures. We certainly have excellent reasons for judging our neighbor: it's for his own good, so that you learn and progress ...
Jesus, who knows the human heart, he is not a victim of the most hidden motivations. Dice: "Why are you looking at the straw that is in your brother's eye, and you don't notice the beam that's in yours?» (Luca 6,41).
I can use the mistakes of others to reassure myself of my qualities. The reasons for judging my neighbor flatter my self-love (see Luca 18,9-14). But if I spy on my neighbor's smallest mistake, is it not perhaps to exempt myself from facing my problems? The thousand errors that I find in him still do not prove that I am worth more. The severity of my judgment perhaps does nothing but hide my own insecurity and my fear of being judged.
Twice Jesus speaks of the "sick" or "bad" eye (Matteo 6,23 e 20,15). This is how he names the troubled look of jealousy. The sick eye admires, he envies and judges his neighbor at the same time. When I admire my neighbor for his qualities but, at the same time, it makes me jealous, my eye goes bad. I no longer see reality as it is, and it may also happen that I judge another for an imaginary evil that he has never done.
It is still a desire for domination that can incite judgment. For this, in the passage already mentioned, Paul writes: « Who are you to judge a servant who is not yours?». Whoever judges his neighbor raises himself as a teacher, and usurp, in fact, God's place. Now we are called to "consider others superior to oneself" (Philippians 2,3). It is not a question of disregarding oneself, but to put oneself at the service of others rather than judging them.
Renouncing to judge leads to indifference and passivity?
In the same sentence, the apostle Paul uses the word judge with two different meanings: «Let us therefore stop judging one another; think (judge) instead not to be a cause of stumbling or scandal to his brother» (Romans 14,13). Stopping judging each other does not lead to passivity, but it is a condition for right activity and behavior.
Jesus does not invite us to close our eyes and let things go by. Because immediately after saying not to judge, keep it going: «Can a blind man lead another blind man? They will not both fall into a hole?» (Luca 6,39). Jesus wants the blind to be helped to find the way. But he denounces the inept guides. These somewhat ridiculous guides are, according to the context, chorus that judge and condemn. Without giving up judging, it is impossible to see clearly to lead others on the right path.
Here is an example taken from Barsanufio and Giovanni, two 6th century Gaza monks. After blaming a brother for his negligence, Giovanni is sorry to see him sad. He is still hurt when he in turn feels judged by his brothers. To find calm, he then decides not to blame anyone anymore and to deal only with what he would be responsible for. But Barsanufio makes him understand that the peace of Christ does not lie in closing in on himself. He quotes a word of the apostle Paul several times: «Ammonisci, scolds, exhorts with all magnanimity and doctrine» (2 Timoteo 4,2).
Leave the others alone, it may still be a subtle form of judging. If I want to take care only of myself, it is perhaps because I consider others unworthy of my attention and efforts? John of Gaza decides not to take any of his brothers back, but Barsanufio realizes that in fact he continues to judge them in his heart. He writes to him: «Do not judge and do not condemn anyone, but feel them as true brothers» (Letter 21), It is by renouncing judgments that John will become capable of genuine concern for others.
«Don't want to judge anything ahead of time, until the Lord comes» (1 Corinthians 4,5): Paul recommends the greatest restraint in judgment. At the same time, he insistently asks to worry about others: «Correct the unruly, confortate i pusillanimi, support the weak, be patient with everyone» (1 Tessalonicesi 5,14). From experience he knew that shooting without judging could be costly: «For three years, night and day, I have not ceased to exhort each of you with tears» (proceedings 20,31).
