When we judge it should only be of those that claim to be a Christian!
“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
I Peter 4:17 NKJV
What are the fruits that we should judge?
“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:16-20 NKJV
This whole chapter taps into what I think is the greatest in site into how we should judge, who we should judge (this includes ourselves) what we should judge, and the conditions for when judgement is appropriate (fixing ourselves first then others). The one thing is it doesn't address in detail what the fruits are?
What fruits are we to judge?
The most famous and most used would be the fruit of the spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
Only often to leave out the former Verses of the fruit of the flesh
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
How about the fruits of our attitudes?
““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”
Matthew 5:3-11 NIV
How about The fruits of correction?
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Matthew 3:8 NIV
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
John 15:2-3 NIV
““If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”
Matthew 18:15 NIV
How about the fruit of producing disciples?
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
Matthew 28:19 NIV
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:4-5, 8 NIV
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV
“To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1 Timothy 1:2 NIV
How about The fruit of self examination
““Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5 NIV
This is my take on the subject of "Don't judge me" or "I don't judge" from a New testament perspective.
The purpose for the question :)
Part of the exercise of my original question "don't judge me" or "I don't judge" was intended to see who would reply with opinions and no scripture, and who would reply with partial scripture and opinions :) This reflects where the church is going there were more opinions then there were scriptures and opinions :) all the answers that were given were great, but I think we as the church lack in substance & depth in our opinions by not taking the word of God as a whole versus taking parts and bits of it and making our opinions and assumptions from the word (as a whole) vs parts of the word. This is not meant to hurt anyone this is to show us that we often value our opinions more then we do the word as a whole this is why we need more of His word and less of our own opinions and base our opinions off of the whole bible vs parts of the Bible. This is also why the church has allowed the worlds opinions and thoughts to come into the church without being challenged. We except the worlds values more often then excepting God's all because of political correctness.