JUDGES 2 - 4 The people lifted up their voice and wept
This is a very good question; with emotion, and no study. The general answer is of course No, and an argument is quickly to start if you don't believe this. I for one would rather take God in his word, and not believe what is generally preached today. It is so easy to get your ears tickled; as the Bible says, but I would rather study to show myself approved. The scripture that is used to show that a Christian is not to judge is Matthew 7:1-2, which reads:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged; For with what judgment you judge shall ye be judged, and with what measure ye mete shall it be measured unto you." (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible), or "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete (Are measured) it shall be measured to you again." (King James Bible).

I say all this because this afternoon I had a voice lesson. The student before me was about 6 years of age, and I noticed that he didn't have much of an attention span. Of course this is something that you can expect for a child so young. I told my teacher that the child was not going to continue with the voice lessons because he is to young and can't be attentive. Of course now I was judgmental and being negative. Is this really true? I told my sister about all of this; and she told me that her voice instructor won't teach a child unless he/she is of age. In other words, has reached a level of maturity. I believe this to be true. In many things you can't start a child to early because they aren't developed enough.

I remember in college, when I was minoring in music, one instructor I had was Ruth Slezenska. You might not have heard of her, but she is in Who's Who in Music. She made her piano debute at Carnegie Hall at the age of 4. Now it seems that I'm contradicting myself here. However; if you were to go into her background, I am willing to wager money that she came from a musical family. This is how she was able to learn the piano at a young age, and so quickly. While in college I use to go to the college restaurant to have dinner, or to participate in any meeting of an organization that I was involved in. One student that I knew played the piano in the evening during dinner. One day I walked up to him and asked him how he was able to play so beautifully, and songs off the top of his head. He told me that he played by ear; but he also told me that his mother was a pianist, and that she would play the piano while he was in her womb. This is how he was able to play the piano so beautifully, and off the top of his head.

So can Christians judge? I think that it is important to realize that we all judge to some extent. Every new person you meet; no matter what race, I guarantee you that you judge them by the way they walk, talk, their hair color, and so forth. However, is this what the Bible is talking about?

The word for Judge in Matthew 7:1-2 is the Greek word krino, it means to distinguish, decide (mentally or judicially); to condemn, punish; avenge, conclude, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, to go the law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think. To get technical; it literally means to god damn someone. I truly believe that it is possible to curse someone by what you say. By god damning someone, you are actually asking God to damn that person.

It is interesting what James says; "So also the tongue is a little member and yet of great things maketh boast, Lo! how small a fire kindleth how great a forest; and the tongue is a fire, as the world of unrighteousness the tongue becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life. And is set on fire by gehenna." (James 3:5-6, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible).

However, I refer now to the Gospel of John 7:24; "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment," (King James Bible); The Rotherham's Emphasized Bible states; Be not judging according to appearance, But just judgment be judging." In other words, looks are deceptive, and the only way you will know if it is true or not is through righteous judgment. In order to do this, you must study to show yourself approved.