The Eleventh Commandment

Carl Pollard

One of the most misquoted verses in the Bible has to be Matthew 7:1, “Judge not.” Those two words have become the universal conversation stopper. Mention that drunkenness is sinful? “Judge not.” Say that living together outside of marriage isn’t God’s design? “Judge not.” Teach that Jesus is the only way to the Father? “Judge not.”

In our culture, those words have been turned into an eleventh commandment that supposedly means, “Never tell anyone they’re wrong.” But if that’s what Jesus meant, He constantly violated His own teaching. He called people hypocrites. He exposed false teachers. He rebuked cities that refused to repent. Clearly, Jesus wasn’t forbidding every kind of judgment.

The context explains what He meant. In Matthew 7, Jesus is wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount. He’s been exposing the shallow righteousness of the Pharisees, people who looked holy on the outside while their hearts were filled with pride. Then He gives one of the most memorable illustrations in Scripture, a man trying to remove a speck of sawdust from his brother’s eye while a massive plank is sticking out of his own.

The problem isn’t that the brother has a speck. Jesus acknowledges that he does. The problem is the man trying to help while refusing to deal with his own sin. Jesus isn’t condemning correction, He’s condemning correction without self-examination! 

Notice what Jesus says, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” He doesn’t say, “Ignore the speck.” He says, “Deal with your own heart first.” The goal is to remove both! 

The rest of the New Testament makes this even clearer. Jesus tells us to beware of false prophets (Matt. 7). Paul commands the church to confront open, unrepentant sin (1 Cor. 5). John tells Christians to test the spirits (1 John 4). None of that is possible without discernment. In fact, Jesus Himself later says, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24).

Our culture has redefined love as unconditional approval. Scripture doesn’t. If your child wandered into traffic, love wouldn’t stay silent. Love warns because love cares. In the same way confronting someone living in sin isn’t hateful when it’s done with humility and compassion. Sometimes the most loving conversation is also the hardest one.

Before we correct someone else, though, we need to ask ourselves some honest questions. Am I trying to help this person, or prove I’m right? Have I dealt with my own sin first? Do I genuinely love them enough to seek restoration?

Galatians 6:1 captures Jesus’ point perfectly: restore those caught in sin “in a spirit of gentleness.” The goal is never humiliation, but restoration.

Matthew 7 wasn’t written to keep Christians from speaking the truth. It was written to keep us from speaking the truth with pride. Healthy Christians aren’t blind to sin. They’re aware that they need God’s grace just as much as everyone else. When we remember that, we’ll speak the truth with humility, compassion, and love, the same way Jesus did.