Judgment and the Ethic of the Kingdom

In the larger context, Jesus was addressing earthly-mindedness as the defining characteristic of fallen man and the foundational barrier to the kingdom of heaven. Earthly-mindedness refers to the self-referential, self-concerned perspective and mindset of man in his estrangement from God. This condition leaves men incapable of truly sound judgment - in the things they approve and affirm as much as the things they condemn. And so, more than merely an indictment of judgmentalism, Jesus' concern in the present passage is people's need for right judgment - a need that can only be met by a divinely renewed mind. Without this renewal, men are consigned to the self-deluding judgment that will keep them out of the kingdom of heaven, however confident they may be of their place in it.