Line upon Line

By Brent L. Top
Professor of Church History & Doctrine
Brigham Young University

Over twenty years ago, while I was a very young and inexperienced high councilor in our stake in Arizona, the stake president gave me a very challenging assignment. We had encountered a problem in one of the wards in the stake. An individual had been sowing seeds of discord among the members through unwise words and actions.The stake president had asked several priesthood leaders to combine their efforts to solve the problem. As part of those efforts, he also asked me to address the issue as part of my regular high council speaking assignment to that ward. The stake president said to me, “You are to address the problem without addressing the person. Call the guilty person to repentance and teach correct principles to the entire ward.” His final charge was especially daunting to me-“Be direct, but not too direct.”

I struggled with the assignment. I worried, prayed, studied, prepared, and prayed and worried some more.  Finally, the day to deliver my high council talk arrived.  I had prepared with the one particular person in mind, and as I gave my talk I envisioned myself speaking to that person as if we were the only two in the chapel.  I felt the Lord had indeed answered my prayers and blessed my efforts, for the Spirit was strong in the meeting and the desired message had been delivered.  At the conclusion of the meeting, a very interesting thing happened.  The person who had been the “target” of my talk-the very person who had been guilty of the misbehavior I was addressing-approached me on the stand.  I didn’t know what to expect.  Had I been too direct and forceful?  Was the person offended?  Was he angry?  Was he going to express his displeasure?  Was he going to punch me in the nose?  Had he been touched by the Spirit and had a desire to repent and do better?  I didn’t know what to think!  Numerous thoughts of all the possibilities-some of which were made me quite nervous-raced through my head.  Within a moment, however, the true motivation for his visit to the stand became apparent, and I was left shaking my head in amazement.

“That was a great talk, Brother Top,” he said and then continued.  “You really hit the nail on the head!  There could be no misunderstanding what you were saying.  There was only one problem with it.”

“What was that?”  I asked, almost dreading to hear his answer.

He then said matter-of-factly:  “Sister So-and-so was not here!  She really needed to hear your message.  She has a problem with that, and you were speaking right to her.  She needed to be here!”

I couldn’t believe my ears.  Did he just say what I thought I heard him say?  How could he have missed the mark so badly?  I was speaking directly to him, but all he could think about was how Sister So-and-so needed the message, not he. As I was thinking to myself how dense this man was to have missed it so badly, I came to a sobering realization. I realized how common this character flaw is among us mere mortals.  We all have it to some degree or another.  It is part of the natural man that we need to put off.  It is the tendency to deflect counsel and correction away from us and toward others.  Have you ever noticed how easy it is to see shortcomings and faults in others and yet, how painfully difficult it is to look deep within ourselves-at our own weaknesses and recognize our own personal need for change.  It is difficult and painful, but one of the most important things we should do in our quest to be more pure disciples of the Master.

Sermon on the Mount

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught a valuable lesson about avoiding the natural tendency to judge, criticize, and condemn others when we are really the ones with the problem.  He taught his disciples-both those anciently who sat at his feet on that mountainside and each of us today who figuratively “sit at his feet”-to judge our neighbors less and to humbly search our own hearts more.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye!

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of they brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:3-5)

It is clear from this passage that Jesus is using hyperbole-extreme exaggeration-in a somewhat humorous way to testify against one who is quick to point out the faults and failings of others, but who is blind to his own.  You may not ordinarily think of Jesus using humor or sarcasm in his teaching, but he did it to illustrate his points in that his listeners could readily understand and relate.  The humor in this illustration is most evident when we look carefully at the meanings of the words and then visualize what the Master is saying.

In the King James Version of the Bible, as translated from the Greek, the word mote can also be translated as “speck”-something as small as a tiny dust particle or some other miniscule foreign object that irritates the eye.  In contrast, the Greek term from which the word beam is translated connotes a large log, such as a building timber or construction beam.  Now can’t you see the humor in Jesus’ use of these terms?  Just picture it in your own mind:  a person with a steel construction beam sticking out of his own eye who is overly concerned about a small-virtually invisible-speck in his neighbor’s eye!  It is ridiculous!  And that is exactly what the Savior wants us to understand.

Think of how silly it would be for someone with a construction beam in each eye criticizing and correcting a child for not tying his shoes properly.  How could he even see the child, let alone her shoes?  Unfortunately, many of us today unwittingly, and sometimes wittingly, do the same thing by deflecting corrective counsel from ourselves and scornfully casting it upon others.  This deflection, characterized by the Savior as “unrighteous judgment” occurs in a myriad of ways, yet almost always turns into gossip, backbiting, and contention-all of which result in a loss of the Spirit.

Judge Not is Often Misinterpreted

The Savior’s admonition, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1) is often misinterpreted.  Virtually all parents of teenagers have probably had that scripture tossed back at them when they have expressed some displeasure in their child’s choice of friends or activities.  (My children should have known better than that.  They should have known better than to get into a scriptural interpretation match with their religion professor father!  I would say to them, “Yes I know that scripture, but do you know what the Joseph Smith Translation says?”  And then they would shake their heads and walk away.  They know not to mess with me-scripturally speaking.)  Have you noticed how people who often cite this passage, including my own children, would have it be interpreted to mean that we should never, under any circumstance make any judgments or evaluations regarding people or situations.  This is certainly not what Jesus meant.

The Lord expects us to be discerning and wise.  We all need to make judgments and evaluations every day.  Sometimes our very lives-spiritual and physical-depend on those judgments.  Would God expect us to have a que sera, sera attitude and say, “judge not” when we see someone speeding in an SUV to the intersection where we will soon be and wonder if he is going to stop at the stop sign?  Of course not!  Should we “judge” that driver and make some evaluation concerning his intents or behavior?  Of course!  What, then, did Jesus mean when he said “judge not” and how does his teachings apply to us today in our everyday lives and challenges?

To answer that question we must look at the meaning of the word judge.  Let’s look at what it means and what it doesn’t mean.  The Greek word from which judge is translated in this verse does not mean “to discern or to appraise something in order to make a wise decision.”  Its meaning is much harsher than simple evaluation.  It means to condemn.  In this context, the word judge implies sentencing someone to death or to prison.  It connotes a sense of finality.  What Jesus seems to be urging us to avoid is making value judgments about someone’s spiritual standing with the Lord-assuming that he is “unworthy” or is “unacceptable” before God-because of our personal biases or misconceptions regarding the gospel standard.  The natural man often condemns, criticizes, and gossips about a person for something which he, himself, may be guilty.  The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 2 verse 1 declared, “Therefore thou are inexcusable, O man, whosoever judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things”.

Likewise, the Master’s teachings remind us that we have no right or stewardship to make final judgments regarding the souls of men-only God can do that.  While some in the Church have the callings and the keys to pass intermediate spiritual judgment on others, Jesus is reminding the rest of us that it is not our stewardship to make spiritual value statements regarding others’ relationship with the Lord.  To do so, is unrighteous judgment, and is always spiritually destructive-both to the judger and the judged.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has recently given us perhaps the best explanation of this concept of righteous judgment.  He said:

As a student of the scriptures and as a former judge, I have had a special interest in the many scriptures that refer to judging.  The best known of these is “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (3 Nephi 14:1; Matt. 7:1)

I have been puzzled that some scriptures command us not to judge and others instruct us that we should judge and even tell us how to do it.  But as I have studied these passages I have become convinced that these seemingly contradictory directions are consistent when we view them with the perspective of eternity. . . .

The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging:  final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles.

Since mortals cannot suppose they the will be acting as final judges at that future, sacred time, why did the Savior command that we not judge final judgments?  I believe this commandment was given because we presume to make final judgments whenever we proclaim that any particular person is going to hell (or heaven) for a particular act or as of a particular time.  When we do this-and there is great temptation to do so-we hurt ourselves and the person we pretend to judge. [1]

Unrighteous Judgment

I once received a paper from a student in one of my religion classes at BYU that sadly illustrated the destructive nature of unrighteous judgment.  In analyzing the revelation regarding the three degrees of glory, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 76, this young woman boldly declared that her father would inherit only the terrestrial kingdom.  For the next several pages, she recounted all the ways that her father had “rejected” the gospel.  I could sense a deep feeling of hurt on her part, but there was something more-something more spiritually dangerous.  There was an underlying tone of anger and bitterness directed at her father for not joining the Church.  It was clear that she had “written him off”-condemned him to terrestrial glory and “not one bit more!”  I was so bothered by her judgmental sentiments that I wrote a few observations on her paper.  I passed back the papers, and it couldn’t have been much more than a nanosecond after she read my comments that she was in my office to “defend” herself.  Once again she enumerated for me all the ways that her father had “rejected” the gospel and, as she said, “blown his chance.”

I listened politely.  When I tried to explain to her that perhaps she didn’t have all the information at her disposal that the Lord would use in making a perfect judgment.  She would have none of that!  “He is going to the terrestrial kingdom, for it is right here in the scriptures,” she firmly declared.  The more I tried to dissuade her from passing such a final judgment, the more upset she became.  I began to sense in a small way the hurt her father must feel by her judgment of him.  I could almost see him “digging in his heels” against her constant judgment and criticism.  He would “show her” by not allowing the Spirit to touch his heart.  Undoubtedly, there must have been a terrible strain in their relationship-caused not so much by the Church or gospel teachings, but rather by a daughter’s unrighteous judgment and a father’s stubborn reaction to it.  Each was hurting the other, but both were hurting themselves.  Perhaps the daughter’s appraisal of her father’s spiritual condition will be borne out on the great Judgment Day.  In the meantime, however, her unrighteous condemnation chased away any place for mercy, patience, and familial love and cooperation.

Fortunately, I have not run into many people that demonstrate such extreme and unrighteous judgment of others.  I have, however, observed other forms of unrighteous judgment that also has damaging spiritual side-effects.  Three forms of unrighteous judgment seem especially common in our society.  As a result, the Savior’s illustrations and prescriptive teachings are just as relevant to us today as they were for those disciples who long ago sat at his feet upon the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Judging by Appearances

The first form of unrighteous judgment that we commonly see today is judging by appearances or traditions of men.

In John chapter 7 verse 24 the Savior declared, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.  Judging by appearance includes much more than just observing how a person may dress.  It involves making unrighteous judgments-spiritual value statements-based on how things appear to us outwardly, not on how things, as the scriptures say, “really are” (see Jacob 4:11).  The Joseph Smith Translation of this passage adds another important dimension.  It states:  “Judge not according to your traditions” (JST John 7:24).  Many of the Jews in Jesus’ day ascribed as much (and often more) authority to the practices and rituals passed down by the traditions of the Rabbis as they did the commandments and teachings of the Holy Scriptures.

The Master rebuked them for the unrighteous they made based on traditions that were NOT divine criteria for righteousness.  For example, we read in Mark chapter 7 where Jesus and his disciples were condemned by some of the Pharisees for eating bread without washing their hands.  Now, to the Pharisees, this wasn’t just a matter of good manners or personal hygiene.  According to tradition, it was a spiritual transgression tantamount to a capital offense.  Let me share with you some of the feelings of the ancient Rabbis concerning the “sin” of not washing your hands.  These many examples come from the book The Life and Words of Christ by Cunningham Geikie and are quoted extensively by Elder Bruce R. McConkie in The Mortal Messiah series.

“He who neglects hand washing,” says the book of Sohar, “deserves to be punished here and hereafter.  He is to be destroyed out of the world, for in hand-washing is contained the secret of the Ten Commandments.”

Here is another:

“He who eats bread without hand-washing is as if he went into a harlot.”

Later the Talmud enumerated twenty-six rules for this rite in the morning alone and declared that it is “better to go four miles to water than to incur guilt by neglecting hand-washing.  He who does not wash his hands after eating, is as bad as a murderer.” [2]

It is easy for us to look back at such traditions with smug curiosity and shake our heads about how silly they seem today.  It is easy for us to see how ludicrous it is to spiritually equate failure to wash one’s hand with adultery or murder-to spiritually condemn someone because of a cultural expectation.  The problem is, however, that we often do much the same thing today.  We make unrighteous judgments based on culture and tradition-but only with different traditions and different cultural expectations.

If we are not careful we may place the cultural gospel-what might be called “The Gospel According to Popular Interpretation”-ahead of the real gospel.  Sometimes we may place higher expectations on others and on ourselves because of our traditions, expectations, or faulty preconceptions of what the Lord desires of his disciples.  For example, is a Relief Society teacher less spiritual or less acceptable to the Lord if she doesn’t have a pretty tablecloth and centerpiece as she gives her lesson?  Of course not!  Yet, we sometimes unwittingly cause others to feel that way because of our unrighteous judgments.  We occasionally look down our noses at those who may not do things exactly the way we do them or expect others to do them.  Judging or condemning others on these grounds is as ludicrous (and hypocritical) as calling a person the vilest of sinners for not washing his hands before a meal.

A few years ago a recent convert to the Church shared with me an amusing observation concerning appearances and traditions.  She said that after she was baptized she didn’t really feel accepted as a part of the sisters in the ward until she wore a denim jumper to Church, just like all the other sisters.  In fact, she told me that she had actually thought it was a Relief Society requirement to dress a certain way and have a particular hairstyle.  She said she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to go to the temple if she wasn’t exactly like all the other sisters in the ward.  Whether it was perceived or real I can’t say; nevertheless, she felt judged by others if she didn’t conform in appearance with others or abide by traditions or some arbitrary cultural expectation.  President Brigham Young observed among the Saints in his day a similar tendency to criticize and condemn others because of outward appearances or cultural traditions.  I really like his statement.

How I regret the ignorance of this people-how it floods my heart with sorrow to see so many Elders of Israel who wish everybody to come to their standard and be measured by their measure.  Every man must be just so long, to fit their iron bedstead, or be cut off to the right length: if too short, he must be stretched, to fill the requirement.

If they see an erring brother or sister, whose course does not comport with their particular idea of things, they conclude at once that he or she cannot be a Saint, and withdraw their fellowship, concluding that, if they are in the path of truth, others must have precisely their weight and dimensions. [3]

Judging with Limited Knowledge

That leads to the second form of unrighteous judgment that we commonly see around us-Judging with limited knowledge.

How would you feel if you were to be judged by the Lord-judged in the truest sense of the word-condemned or sentenced to an eternal fate-based on one small snippet of your life’s story?  That snippet might focus totally on one of your “bad days” and include nothing from any of your very many “good days.”    How would you view a God who would condemn you without knowing all the facts-without a full picture of your life-without taking into account what is really going on in your mind and your heart?  For us to be condemned without the “full picture” would strip God of perfect justice and eliminate all mercy and make him into a cruel and capricious tyrant.  And, is that not what we become when we condemn and criticize others without knowing all the facts or having the full “picture” before us?  Often we think we know, when in reality we see only a snippet-if that much!  Several years ago, my friend and BYU colleague Art Basset shared an interesting story in the Ensign that illustrates this principle:

[While teaching an institute class], I was troubled when one person whispered to another all through the opening prayer.  The guilty parties were not hard to spot because they continued whispering all through class.  I kept glaring at them, hoping they would get the hint, but they didn’t seem to notice.  Several times during the hour, I was tempted to ask them to take their conversation outside if they felt it was so urgent-but fortunately something kept me from giving vent to my feelings.

After the class, one of them came to me and apologized that she hadn’t explained to me before class that her friend was deaf.  The friend could read lips, but since I was discussing-as I often do-with my back to the class, writing on the chalkboard and talking over my shoulder, my student had been “translating” for her friend, telling her what I was saying.  To this day I am thankful that both of us were spared the embarrassment that might have occurred had I given vent to a judgment made without knowing all the facts. [4]

One of my favorite hymns is “Lord, I Would Follow Thee.”  This verse speaks beautifully to this principle.

The phrase, “In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see,” helps me recognize the spiritual shortsightedness of judging-condemning, criticizing, and often gossiping about-someone when I neither know all the facts nor perceive the heart and intents of another.  We seldom, if ever, know all the circumstances surrounding a person’s life and the way he or she has chosen or is forced to live it.  Perhaps the intents of the heart which we on the outside cannot see are much nobler than the behavior we do see.  It might be that the person is doing the best he or she can.  Or it may simply be a matter of differences in spiritual progression among God’s children.  Elder H. Burke Peterson of the Seventy once taught:  “If you are prone to criticize or judge, remember, we never see the target a man aims at in life.  We only see what he hits.” [6]

Clearly, it is unrighteous judgment when we condemn or criticize another without knowing all the facts, including the desires and intents of the heart (which only God can know).  On the other hand, to “judge righteous judgment” as the Savior has commanded is to give the person every benefit of the doubt, to not excuse what he or she does if it is truly wrong or unrighteous, but to try to understand it.  We must endeavor to do the best we can to “look upon the heart” in judging others (see 1 Samuel 16:7).  Elder Dallin H. Oaks demonstrated the importance of this principle in referring to the judgments we pass on one another and the labels that we often attach to our brothers and sisters in the Church.  He said:

We tend to think of members in categories according to “activity”:  active, less active, inactive, and so on.  These categories are defined according to observable action, notably attendance at Church meetings.  They take little or no account (positive or negative) of the things of the heart.  This is a misleading omission.

A person may love God with all his or her heart, might, mind, and strength, and still be in a circumstance in which it is impossible or extremely difficult to do the actions that are customarily judged to constitute “activity.” . . . .

Even where a person is “less active” because of carelessness or indifference, it is well to remember that the contrast between this member and some apparently active members may be quite different than meets the eye.  Consider the contrast between deficiencies in actions and deficiencies in motives and attitudes.  Who is more acceptable to God, a man who is indifferent to God and his fellowmen but attends church regularly to promote his business interests, or a man who loves God and his fellowmen but rarely attends meetings?  Both of these men are missing blessings and growth.  But which is in a better position to bring himself in total harmony with God?  Attendance patterns can be altered in an instant.  A new resolve, proven by subsequent conduct, can repair inaction.  But a defect of the heart is much more serious and requires far more time and effort to repair.” [7]

Judging with Unrealistic Expectations

The third form of “unrighteous judgment” that we all too often see around us is- Judging with unrealistic or unfair expectations.

Several years ago, in a Priesthood session of General Conference, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared a dream that he had had many years earlier.  He had just disciplined his son, sent him to bed without the customary bedtime story and prayers.  “I told him how disappointed I was, and how much more I thought I could have expected of him” Elder Holland said.  He then recounted the troubling dream that came to him in the night.  Listen to Elder Holland’s own words:

I dreamed Matt and I were packing two cars for a move.  For some reason his mother and baby sister were not present.  As we finished I turned to him and said, “Okay, Matt, you drive one car and I’ll drive the other.”

This five-year-old very obediently crawled up on the seat and tried to grasp the massive steering wheel.  I walked over to the other car and started the motor.  As I began to pull away, I looked to see how my son was doing.  He was trying-oh, how he was trying.  He tried to reach the pedals, but he couldn’t.  He was also turning knobs and pushing buttons, trying to start the motor.  He could scarcely be seen over the dashboard, but there staring out at me were those same immense, tear-filled, beautiful brown eyes.  As I pulled away, he cried out, “Daddy, don’t leave me.  I don’t know how to do it.  I am too little.”  And I drove away.

A short time later, driving down that desert road in my dream, I suddenly realized in one stark, horrifying moment what I had done.  I slammed my car to a stop, threw open the door, and started to run as fast as I could.  I left car, keys, belongings, and all-and I ran.  The pavement was so hot it burned my feet, and tears blinded my straining effort to see this child somewhere on the horizon.  I kept running, praying, pleading to be forgiven and to find my boy safe and secure.

As I rounded a curve nearly ready to drop from physical and emotional exhaustion, I saw the unfamiliar car I had left Matt to drive.  It was pulled carefully off to the side of the road, and he was laughing and playing nearby.  An older man was with him, playing and responding to his games.  Matt saw me and cried out something like, “Hi, Dad.  We’re having fun.”  Obviously he had already forgiven and forgotten my terrible transgression against him.

But I dreaded the older man’s gaze, which followed my every move.  I tried to say, “Thank you,” but his eyes were filled with sorrow and disappointment.  I muttered an awkward apology and the stranger said simply, ” You should not have left him alone to do this difficult thing.  It would not have been asked of you.”

With that, the dream ended and I shot upright in bed.  My pillow was now stained, whether with perspiration or tears I do not know. [8]

It is that last phrase spoken by the old man in Elder Holland’s dream-“it would not have been asked of you”-that illustrates the spiritual pitfall of judging others by unfair or unrealistic expectations.  Sometimes we expect five-year olds to act like fifty-year olds and mortals to act like gods.  Generally, however, we tend to be more merciful, patient, and understanding with others than we are with ourselves.  It is all too common for some of us to be really good at avoiding unrighteous judgment of others, yet condemn ourselves because our inability to attain some unrealistic or unfair expectation. Often we expect and ask of ourselves that which we would not ask of others.  Have you ever noticed that to a perfectionist-no matter what he or she does or is-it is never good enough. That is one of Satan’s most insidious ploys. “Self-contempt is of Satan,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell declared.  He then gave some wise counsel concerning how we can avoid unrighteous judgment of self.

We can distinguish more clearly between divine discontent and the devil’s dissonance, between dissatisfaction with self and disdain for self.  We need the first and must shun the second, for when conscience calls us from the next ridge, it is not solely to scold, but also to beckon.

We can contemplate how far we have already come in the climb along the pathway to perfection; it is usually much further than we acknowledge, and such reflections restore resolve. . .

Elder Maxwell then continues:

We can make quiet but more honest inventories of our strengths.  Most of us are dishonest bookkeepers and need confirming “outside auditors.”  He who in the first estate was thrust down delights in having us put ourselves down.  Self-contempt is of Satan; there is none of it in heaven.  We should, of course, learn from our mistakes, but without forever viewing the instant replay lest these become the game of life itself. . . .

We can know that when we have truly given what we have, it is like paying a full tithe; it is, in that respect all that was asked. . . .

Finally we can accept this stunning, irrevocable truth:  Our Lord can lift us from deep despair and cradle us midst any care. . . .

This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us if we remember that there are no instant Christians. [9]

Personal Application

So now what?  What does all this mean to us?  What personal application is there to be made for each of us personally?  What can we do to avoid these and all other forms of “unrighteous judgments”?  How can we be more like the Master in judging righteously and extending mercy to ourselves, as well as, others?  The answers to these questions can be found in an event in the lives of the Savior and the apostles shortly before his death and resurrection.

At the Last Supper, after Jesus had washed the feet of the apostles, he announced, “Ye are clean, but not all” (John 13:10).  John then added this commentary:  “For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean” (John 13:11).  The Gospel of Mark more explicitly states:  “And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me” (Mark 14:18).  I have often wondered what was going through the hearts and minds of the disciples when they heard this shocking announcement.  They probably could have immediately pointed their fingers at Judas.  I can almost hear the whispers in that upper room.  “Of course it is Judas!  You know how strange he has been acting.”  Perhaps others could have said, “Judas is surely the betrayer.  He has had a chip on his shoulder ever since the Master taught in Capernaum (see John 6:59-71).  There could have been smug nods among them as they confidently identified Judas as the one and glared scornfully at him.  Perhaps they could have justifiably condemned Judas and cast him out their midst.  Yet, there was none of that.  The scriptural account gives us a glimpse of true discipleship and the fruits of “righteous judgment.”  Mark records:  “And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him, one by one, Is it I?” (Mark 14:19)

There is a powerful lesson in that simple story.  Although only three words, the phrase, “Is it I?” speaks volumes about true discipleship-about a humble follower of the Master who seeks to put off the natural man and its tendency to judge, condemn, and criticize others.  The natural man deflects counsel and correction toward others whereas the true disciple reflects on self and asks “Is it I?”  Even modern-day apostles ask themselves that question.  President Boyd K. Packer observed

We who have been called to lead the Church are ordinary men and women with ordinary capacities struggling to administer a Church which grows at such as pace as to astound even those who watch it closely.  Some are disposed to find fault with us; surely that is easy for them to do.  But they do not examine us more searchingly than we examine ourselves. [10]

Whatever our station in life, we all need to frequently ask, “Lord, is it I?”  This kind of introspection will, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “yield bold insights.” [11]   One of the bold insights that will come with self-examination is a stark realization of the truth of the Apostle Paul’s words as recorded in Romans chapter 3 verse 23-“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Boy, that is for sure! We all have our share of sins.  We all have need to repent.  We all need the mercy of Jesus Christ.  When we recognize this, it makes it difficult to condemn others.

When we are tempted to judge another-to judge unrighteously by appearance or traditions, without knowing all the facts, or with an unrealistic or unfair expectation-it would be well to ask ourselves some questions like these:

? Do I know the facts?  Do I really know all the circumstances?  Do I know what the person was thinking and feeling?  Do I know his heart?

? Am I guiltless?  Am I casting stones that could also be directed at me?  How am I doing at overcoming my own weaknesses?

? Would I be considerably better or act dramatically different if I faced the same temptations and challenges or experienced the same circumstances?

 And perhaps most important-we should ask:

? How do I want others to judge me?  How do I want the Lord to judge me?

In warning against passing unrighteous judgment on others, the Savior taught a principle that I like to call “The Doctrine of Reciprocity.”  In modern-day vernacular it would say, “What goes around comes around!”

Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  (JST Matt. 7:1-2) 

It is sobering to think that I will be judged in like manner to the way that I have judged others.  If I want to have the Lord judge me not only with perfect justice, but also infinite mercy, they I must seek to do the same in my judgments of others.  In fact, the more I apply the “Is it I?” principle to myself, the less room there will be in my heart for judging others.

In Second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5, the Apostle Paul admonished:  “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.”  The more I focus on overcoming my own shortcomings, the less room in my peripheral vision I will have to criticize and condemn my fellowmen.  As we strive to become true disciples of the Perfect Judge, we can learn to “judge righteous judgment” as he has commanded, if we will narrow our view-looking inward instead of outward.  The Prophet Joseph Smith exemplified and taught this principle.  He declared: 

Search your hearts and see if you are like God.  I have searched mine, and I feel to repent of all my sins. [12] 

May we search our own hearts and honestly evaluate our progress on the pathway of true discipleship.  May we more earnestly seek to be more like the Savior-more merciful, understanding, patient, forgiving and kind.  May we seek to eliminate all forms of unrighteous judgment from our lives, so that we can enjoy the Spirit of the Lord in greater abundance.  May we partake of the Atonement of Jesus Christ which enables us to overcome the natural man and become true disciples of the Master.