“Jesus himself says not to judge.” Thus many a conversation about Christian ethics has come to a swift end. I often hear this verse quoted to me in conversations about the Bible’s sexual ethic, especially when these conversations occur in progressive, secular spaces. But it doesn’t take much imagination to guess how it might be deployed elsewhere. When used to shut down conversations, the implicit meaning is something like this: Jesus says it’s wrong to tell me I’m wrong. Why does it work? For starters, Jesus really did make such a statement: “Judge not, that you not be judged” (Matt. 7:1). Not only did he say it, but it’s recorded in his most famous teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. This is why so many people know it (or some version of it). “Judge not” feels like it’s in the same league as the Golden Rule. So if a non-Christian or a Christian of a different opinion wants to suggest that her stance shouldn’t be opposed, the statement’s pedigree is top-tier. In the second place, “judge” does carry a meaning of moral discrimination. So it’s not outlandish to think the sentence might be a prohibition on making moral judgments. It’s at least plausible enough that when presented in the heat of a conversation, those who take Jesus and the Bible seriously pause. On the one hand, the source and the interpretation seem to suggest that whatever moral issue we’re talking about, the only safe landing spot is “agree to disagree.” On the other hand, when we’re in these situations, we retain a nagging feeling that this can’t be what Jesus means. How can we find our way out of the dilemma? By remembering how words work, how context works, and how love works. READ MORE ABOUT MATTHEW 7 | 
