“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2 [New International Version]).
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this” (1 Corinthians 5:1-3 [New International Version]).
One of the most common criticisms of the church these days is that it has become “too judgmental.”  Dr. Jana Riess, a prolific writer in the area of Mormonism, writes that with respect to women who leave the Mormon church (which Mormons call a ‘ward’), 32.2 percent might have stayed “if ward members had been more loving and less judgmental” (https://religionnews.com/2018/02/05/how-to-create-ex-mormons/).  Other surveys have made similar findings when it comes to the effect of Christians judging others has on those who have left the church, or those who are not yet followers of the Risen Lord.
In response to this, many Christians have appealed to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 quoted above in an effort to denounce all forms of judgment and judging by Christians.  But while that is an understandable pivot in today’s cultural context, it ignores the fact that the New Testament also contains the words of Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 5, and it is clear from other parts of Scripture that judgment is required of Christians.
Nor can we assume that “judging” means one thing in Matthew and something else in Paul.  The same Greek word (one a verb, the other a noun) is used in both places, so the onus would be on the interpreter to show that the same word is carrying separate meanings.  That’s always possible – I can run my mouth, run a race, and score a run in a softball game, and each time the word ‘run’ means something different – but few interpreters think that is happening here.
So what are we to make of this seeming conflict between Jesus and Paul?  I’d like to make 3 separate suggestions.
First, when it comes to differences of opinion, personal philosophies, or things mostly of the mind, follow Jesus.  Why?  Because as new data, new evidence, and new facts come into play, older views which might have been adequate in the past can be, and often must be, replaced.  At one time the solar system was viewed geocentrically, and Scripture was interpreted as teaching it.     In fact, we know that the language that “the sun rises and the sun sets” (Ecclesiastes 1:5) is not literally true only because we know through scientific advancement that the earth revolves around the sun.
In my last column, I recorded my strong opinion that the separation of children from their parents at the border was so immoral and so contrary to Scripture’s teaching on the treatment of immigrants that I could not understand how Christians could support it.  I continue to believe that.  But what I need to affirm now is that I will not second-guess or dispute someone’s Christian identity simply because they disagree with my theological / ethical position.    Differences of opinion on these and most every other theological or ethical questions are secondary to the primary Christian confession that Jesus is Lord and the primary Christian belief that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10).
Second, when it comes to behavior, follow Paul.  I say this with fear and trembling because someone might mis-read me as advocating that we use Scripture as a hammer of holiness against those whose behaviors we find troublesome.
Nonetheless, there is a clear sense in Scripture that certain behaviors are not to be tolerated within the community of faith.  Paul’s example is an incestuous relationship between “a man sleeping with his father’s wife.”  I trust that no one would seek to excuse or normalize that behavior.  Embezzlement, sexual assault, financial fraud – these are all behaviors that are judge-able, because there is very little disagreement that they are wrong.  They also represent behaviors that are both repeatable (hence they pose a future threat) and stoppable (hence one can decide not to embezzle, not to sexually assault, and not to commit fraud).
But when it comes to who someone unchangeably is, then follow Jesus.  I’m a divorced man.  I can never not be a divorced man.  If you are going to judge me for being a divorced man, then I stand condemned by your judgment because I can’t change my past and be magically “undivorced.”  You may as well judge me for being Asian, not white; right-handed, not left-handed; and brown-eyed, not blue-eyed.  Being judged for who I unchangeably am leaves no room for growth, no room for change, and most of all, no room for grace.
But we ‘know’ this intuitively already.  Why else would some Christians push so hard for the acceptance of a highly controversial and well outside the mainstream “gay conversion therapy” (which would mean that homosexuality isn’t who someone unchangeably is and can thus be legitimately judged as behavior to be changed)?
Seen in this way, Scripture’s conflicting language about judgment (do we, or don’t we) can be applied to different areas of our lives and our journeys.
Still, I am reminded that the same Paul who judged the incestuous couple and who charged the Corinthians to “Expel the wicked person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:13) also exhorted the Romans, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?… Why do you judge your brother or sister?…  Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another” (Romans 14:4, 10, 13).
It seems, then, that in the end, 1 Corinthians 5 will represent the rare exception, and not the knee-jerk reaction, for those of us who seek to live a vibrant faith for the 21st century.

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