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Should we judge others?

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged." (KJV Luke 6:37)

This is part two of the answer to the above question. If you have not read part one, you may wish to start with part one.

Judge behavior, not people: We now see that Jesus is telling us to not judge other people. This makes sense, we have no way to know someone else's thoughts or motives.

However, we do need to judge the behavior and speech of others.

For example: 2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us that we should not marry a non-Christian: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers". How can we tell if someone is a believer or unbeliever? We judge their behavior. James 2:14-26 shows us that we see another's faith through their behavior.

Another example: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 tells us that if someone is an unrepentant sinner, that person should be "turned over to Satan" by excluding the sinner from Christian fellowship.

"How terrible that you should boast about your spirituality, and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don't you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? Remove this wicked person from among you so that you can stay pure." (NLT) - 1 Corinthians 6-7

We should judge other's behavior: Throughout the Bible we see that we are to judge the behavior of others.

We should not punish: However, we are not--as Christans--to punish them. Punishment is to be left to the proper authorities (government) and God.

We should not support sin: On the other hand we should not support sinful behavior, nor should we protect people from the consequences of unrepentant sinful behavior.

Should we shun unrepentent sinners?