You shall discern between the righteous and the wicked. Isn't that judgmental?

Malachi 3:18(NKJV)

18    Then you shall again discern     Between the righteous and the wicked,     Between one who serves God      And one who does not serve Him.

One of the most misunderstood quotes in the Bible is "Thou shall not judge".  You hear people use this all the time to try and excuse bad or evil behavior.  But is that what it really means?

Well as I've written many times, the Bible is a book of balance.  Sometimes we have to search for the true meaning of things.  God doesn't always spell things out for us.  Sometimes we have to read between the lines so to speak.  God even warned us that it would be this way.

Exodus 34:27(NKJV)

27Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

The verse above from Malachi tells us to discern between the righteous and the wicked.  Well what exactly does discern mean?

dis·cern

[dih-surn, -zurn] Show IPA

verb (used with object)

1. to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend: They discerned a sail on the horizon.
2. to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate: He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.

verb (used without object)

3. to distinguish or discriminate.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discern?s=t>

If we are to discern between the righteous and the wicked, doesn't that require us to make a judgment?  Of course it does. 

Let's look at another verse.

John 7:21-24(NKJV)

21Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 

22Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 

23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 

24Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

In other places Jesus talks about good fruit verses bad fruit.  Again, doesn't that require a judgment?  Of course it does.

So the next time someone tries to intimidate you by telling you not to judge them, ask them to explain what  these two verses mean and sit back and enjoy the show!