Therefore, a man humble in his way of thinking sees the great beam that is in his own eyes, that is, his own great sins. He will first of all take care to heal his own sickness.
He will not wish to see the small splinter in his brother's eye, that is, the lesser sins. Even if he sees them, he will rather keep silence, weeping only over his own infirmities.
But if someone says that he has a virtuous and blameless life, and therefore has an excuse for judging others, the first thing such a man must hear is this. He has reached the extreme of pride.
He thinks he has ascended to the height of the virtues, and therefore judges his brother with a grave manner of mind. Yet the Lord says: "When you have done all that was commanded you, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were bound to do'" (Lk 17:10).
The man who considers himself an unprofitable servant will never pry into or condemn the sins of his fellow servant.
Do you see that Saint James here draws a conclusion? He says: you who judge your brother judge the law of God, which commands you to love your brother as yourself.
If you judge the law of God, then you are no longer a doer of the law, but a judge. That is, you are no longer under the commandment to keep the law, but act as one who judges it.
For the law commands you to love your brother as yourself. But by hating him, you not only fail to love him as yourself, but accuse and judge him.
From this it is clear that you are no longer keeping the law, but judging the law and accusing it of having irrationally commanded the commandment of love.
If you judge the law, it is clear that together with it you judge God the Lawgiver, as though He had not established the law well and profitably.
Do you see, Christian, to what extreme degree of evil you come by judging your brother? By judging your brother, you judge the commandments of the law. By judging the commandments of the law, you judge the law itself.
By judging the law, you judge the Lawgiver Himself. If you judge the Lawgiver, it is clear that you make yourself equal to or higher than the Lawgiver.
For according to natural understanding, the one who judges is above the one judged. Thus you who judge another are one of those who oppose God, and another apostate morning star, striving to be above the Lawgiver.
It did not seem right to us, under a fair pretext, to pass over in silence the gift of discernment with which the excellent interpreter Mitrophanes of Smyrna interprets the Catholic Epistles.
He says the following. Although divine James writes here that we should not judge our brothers, and still more those of the same faith, the Lord also shows this when He says: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye?" (Mt 7:3).
Paul likewise says: "Why do you judge your brother?" (Rom 14:10). In general, the Apostle Paul says that we should not judge even unbelievers: "For what have I to do with judging those outside? Do you not judge those inside? But God judges those outside" (1 Cor 5:12).
Yet the Lord also said: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (Jn 7:24). And the Apostle delivered to judgment the Christian in Corinth who was sinning with his stepmother.
Therefore divine Mitrophanes says that one must reprove, and even judge, with zeal and boldness, both unbelievers and heretics, and also believers and Orthodox Christians.
Unbelievers and heretics must be judged and reproved for unbelief and heresy, if such need arises. But one must not judge their evil deeds that follow from heresy and unbelief.
Nor should one shrink from communion and conversation with them. If we did not wish to have any contact with them, we would have to leave the world, which is full of unbelievers and heretics.
Paul said: "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with fornicators; not at all meaning the fornicators of this world," that is, unbelievers, "since then you would need to go out of the world" (1 Cor 5:9-10).
By these words the Apostle shows that the evil deeds of unbelievers and heretics must not be put on display. One must struggle only against unbelief and heresy.
Let us regard them as enemies because of their doctrines, but beloved because we have one common God and Father. So Paul wrote about the Hebrews: "As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but as regards election, they are beloved for your sake" (Rom 11:28).
It is also fitting to judge our brothers of the same faith. But which ones? Those who sin openly and shamelessly, to the common scandal of men, and show others an evil example of sin.
They sin with sins forbidden by the law of God. Such men must be reproved, and we must not associate with them, as Paul commands us.
He says: "If anyone called a brother is a fornicator, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a robber, do not even eat with such a one" (1 Cor 5:11).
Again, concerning the idle, who do no work but live disorderly, he writes: "If anyone does not obey our word in this letter, mark that man and do not associate with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thess 3:14-15).
Again: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" (Eph 5:11). It is impossible to break communion or expose unfruitful works unless one first judges those who do such things.
But those who sin with slight and pardonable sins through negligence, or do what the law of God does not forbid and what lies within their own power to do or not to do, must not be judged or reproved.
For example, it was within Paul's power to receive sustenance from the gospel or not. Likewise, if people do things forbidden by the law but do them not openly, and there is only suspicion, such people, I say, must neither be judged nor reproved.
This is enough concerning those who may be reproved. Let us say what kind of people those who judge others must be.
They are those who preside over the people: patriarchs, bishops, priests, spiritual fathers, teachers, civil judges, parents, and all who have authority. These above all must judge those who sin.
At first they should admonish and counsel them once or twice, together with a few others. After this, if they see them disobedient and uncorrected, they must reprove them openly and impose a punishment.
This may be by exclusion from the Mysteries, deprivation of conversation with the other brethren, or an external punishment.
Ordinary Christians and people of common rank should only counsel those who sin privately, with brotherly love and humility. They should not do this in a spirit of revenge, as if to cut them off from sin, nor should they reprove and condemn.
THEOSIS