Is it allowable to censure others when they are really to blame?
The Gospel does not allow us to judge even the real vices or faults of our neighbors, unless we are called by some special office to do so, for their correction or amendment: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged… first take the log out of your own eye” (Mat 7:1–5). The Desert Fathers guarded this word with holy fear: when Abba Moses was summoned to a council to judge a brother who had sinned, he came carrying an old basket full of sand, leaking behind him, and said: “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and I come today to judge the errors of another.” Hearing this, they forgave the brother (Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Abba Moses).
When dealing with difficult situations within the Church, Orthodox Christians should be guided by these Scriptural instructions:
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses (Mat 18:15, 18)
Brethren, if another believer is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Gal 6:1)
