If you’ve ever felt judged by Christians, you’re not alone.

To be honest, many churches are rightly seen as harsh, critical, and obsessed with rules. They’re quick to point out sin but slow to offer grace. It can feel like faith is a competition to impress each other (and God) by keeping a list of rules.

But here’s the thing: This isn’t how Jesus intended it to be.

Why can Christians be so Judgmental?

There’s a huge difference between how Jesus judged and how many religious people do today.

Jesus stood for truth, but He led with love, mercy, and the goal of helping people.

Religious judgmentalism, though? It’s another beast entirely.

It tends to be fueled by:

1. Upholding Man-Made Standards, Not God’s

Some Christians act like God’s personal morality task force, creating extra rules that God never commanded.

Jesus dealt with this issue, too.

The religious elite of His day (the Pharisees) were obsessed with rules (many of which they made up), and they judged anyone who didn’t follow them.

But Jesus called them out, saying:

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” (Mark 7:8)

They weren’t enforcing God’s law; they were enforcing their own and treating it like God’s truth.

And that’s exactly what happens today.

• If you have piercings, colored hair, or tattoos… some Christians will act like you’re the spawn of Satan.
• If you disagree on how to interpret scripture… you’re name-called and treated like trash instead of having respectful conversations.
• If you struggle with sin… instead of a helping hand, you receive some of the most vile judgmental attacks imaginable.

Unrighteous judgment looks like calling people to standards that God never set and placing heavy burdens upon them that He never ordained, all from a place of hypocrisy.

Yes, there are universal moral laws God wants us to follow. But many things Christians uphold aren’t things God even cares about at all.

Jesus also said this about religious elites:

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4)

Sadly, many church leaders reflect this same prideful, self-righteous attitude today; they act superior, line their pockets rather than serve, and shame rather than love.

📢 My message to them: Fear God and repent before He judges you for abusing His people.

2. Looking Down on Others

Many Christians carry an attitude of superiority, looking down on others instead of loving them.

Jesus told a story about this, but let me put it in modern terms:

“The religious person prayed, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people…

But the gay man stood at a distance, not even looking up to heaven. He said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” (Luke 18:11-14, characters edited for modern understanding)

And Jesus made it clear that the humble man crying out for mercy, not the religious person, was the one who God forgave.

This is the heart of judgmentalism:

• Thinking you’re better than other people.
• Condemning others while ignoring your own sin.
• Focusing on keeping up an image instead of purifying your heart.

And the Holy Spirit made something very clear to me by saying:

“I hate the ‘less than’ attitude.”

Many in the church have treated the LGBTQ+ community as public enemy #1. They’re attacked, shunned, and vilified instead of being met with compassion, kindness, and truth spoken in love.

To be clear: I’m not saying Christians should ignore God’s commands.

I am saying that if you don’t uphold them with love, mercy, and humility… you aren’t upholding them rightly.

📢 Hear me, church: Jesus is grieved because many people He loves have been shunned and turned away from His loving arms due to our negligence and pride. Fear God and repent.

Jesus didn’t just uphold the Father’s law; He upheld it with grace.

So much so that He was known as a “friend of sinners.” And yet, He never sinned with them.

It makes me wonder… how amazing must He have been to be around?
Christians, we need to be the same way.

3. Judging Without the Holy Spirit

A lot of Christians judge without even asking God what He thinks.

There have been moments when I’ve noticed something wrong in someone’s life, and I’ve asked God what to say. And sometimes, He responds with:

“Not right now. That’s not what I’m dealing with in their life at this moment.”

Sometimes, what we think needs to be said isn’t what God is saying in the moment.

Jesus Himself said:

“For I have never spoken on My own initiative or authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment regarding what to say and what to speak.” (John 12:49)

If Jesus only spoke what the Father led Him to say, how much more should we?

True judgment isn’t based on:

• Religious traditions
• Personal opinions
• Surface-level things

It’s based on God’s truth and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to be so in tune with God that our judgments are subject to His leading.

The Root of Judgmentalism: Pride

The Holy Spirit revealed this powerful truth to me:

“Pride blinds you to others’ humanity and/or your own humanity.”

Pride distorts how we see ourselves, others, and God. It manifests in many different ways and normally comes out in two extremes: arrogance or insecurity.

Judgmentalism comes from an ugly form of arrogant pride, which tends to come from seeing God wrongly, usually as a cosmic drill sergeant, and then, from that place, they see others wrongly.

Then they look down on people who aren’t doing “as good as them.”

The Fear of God is the cure to pride in all its forms.

“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13b)

To be clear: Fearing God doesn’t mean to be afraid of Him. It means to have deep reverence, admiration, and awe for who He is. It leaves us completely undone in His beautiful and loving, manifest presence.

Instead of scaring us away, the fear of God draws us closer to Him.

The fear of God destroys judgmentalism because before God, we’re all broken and equal.

Looking down on others has no place in His presence.

Final Thoughts

To wrap up this blog, I want to share one last thing that the Holy Spirit told me:

“Righteous judgment must be motivated by love, to help another.”

Not all judging is evil. There’s good judgment, led by the Holy Spirit, with a heart to help others.

It’s time for the church to truly know Jesus and start using holy judgment to bring people into freedom. We need to:

• Ask God for discernment before judging anyone.
• Let go of self-righteous attitudes.
• Stop creating extra rules that God never commanded.
• Correct with love, not arrogance.
• Point people to Jesus, not just morality.

Judgment that isn’t rooted in humility and love is not from God.

In case you’d like to understand it, here’s a video that explains the fear of God:

Ps. If you’re looking to build a real relationship with Jesus, we have resources to help you.