It Is a Sin to Judge Our Neighbor
September 28
(From a Saying of Saint Evagrius: “Do Not Judge Your Neighbor”)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
September 28
(From a Saying of Saint Evagrius: “Do Not Judge Your Neighbor”)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
Since God is the one Judge over all, it is obvious that when we judge our neighbors, we usurp the right of the Lord; and therefore, in passing judgment on others, we thereby give cause for judgment to be passed on ourselves. “He who judges his brother,” says the Apostle James, “speaks evil of the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver and Judge, Who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” (James 4:11–12). And indeed, the law commands us to love our neighbor. Therefore, he who judges his neighbor acts contrary to the law and, if not in word, then in deed judges the law, as though the law were insufficient and therefore one might depart from it. The Apostle Paul likewise teaches: “Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Romans 14:4).
An Elder, having heard that a certain brother had fallen into a grave sin, judged him, saying, “He has committed a great evil!” Some time passed, and the Elder saw an Angel bringing to him the soul of the brother whom he had judged, and the Angel said to him: “Behold, the one whom you judged has died. Where do you now command that his soul be placed, in the Kingdom or in punishment?” The Elder was terrified. “You are the judge of the righteous and the sinners,” the Angel continued; “so tell me, then, what do you command concerning this soul? Will you have mercy on it, or will you deliver it over to punishment?” Then the Elder understood that, in judging his brother, he himself had fallen into a grave sin, and with groaning and weeping he began to ask forgiveness for himself. For a long time the Lord did not answer him, but finally He had mercy and sent an Angel to announce his forgiveness. “God has forgiven you,” the Angel said, “but from now on do not forget how grievous the sin of judgment is.”
But if, as you see, it is sinful to make ourselves judges even of those who have truly sinned, is it not even more sinful to condemn the innocent? And how many such cases there may be! If the hearts of people are closed to us, how can we know with what intention a person does this or that thing? The Venerable Vitalis (Prologue, April 22), while living in Alexandria, hired himself out for work during the day and spent the night in the houses of fallen women, and the whole city, both to his face and behind his back, called him a profligate. Yet he went into the houses of fallen women in order to give them the money he had earned for their sustenance and thereby restrain them from sin. Saint Savvas the Sanctified wished to make one of the monks of his monastery, named John, a presbyter, but the patriarch refused to ordain him. Savvas considered John a great sinner; but it turned out that John could not be a presbyter because he was already a bishop (Teaching of Piety, vol. II, p. 304). Andrew, the Fool for Christ’s Sake, was considered insane by the inhabitants of the city in which he lived. Some laughed at him, others reviled him, others beat him, and many drove him away from themselves, whereas in reality he was a great servant of God. But what am I saying? The chief priests and scribes judged Jesus Christ as an evildoer, whereas He was the Son of God, “Who committed no sin!”
Therefore, brethren, “judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, Who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts; and then each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5). “Judge not, and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned” (Luke 6:37). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
