Recently, I listened to a Christian singer being interviewed on national television. The singer was on “pause” from the Christian band of which he was a member. The band gave the reason that the singer’s behavior did not align with biblical values, and this was not the first time he had an issue of this nature.

It appears that in the latest incident, the singer posted a video on social media showing him dancing in a vulgar manner with friends, to a vulgar song that included filthy lyrics. After he was confronted, he immediately took the video down. He wrote an apology about his behavior but removed the apologetic post quickly. He additionally posted “sexy” pictures and said he was proud of his body.

The interviewer asked the singer, “What was the big deal? You are only human? Is there anything wrong with being human?”  His response was, “Right! I’m like, don’t be judging me. I’m a cool guy.”  The audience gave thunderous applause, and the singer laughed heartily.

The most misused scripture these days seems to be from Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Oh how it is taken out of context and misinterpreted! “Well, the deacon cheated on his wife, but who am I to judge? The pastor was caught drunk and in a compromising position with another person, but who am I to judge?“

We often use this verse as a trump card. “Don’t judge me for my mistakes… otherwise Jesus will judge you.” This verse often becomes a justification of wrong actions. If “judge not lest ye be judged” means that Christians are to never offer any moral assessment, to never call out bad or good, then we are in trouble. Jesus contradicts that way of thinking many times, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, which is the context of these words of Jesus. In fact, we are told in other scriptures that “we will know them by their fruits.”

Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independent proverbial sayings—we will discover that some of our most familiar passages say something slightly different from what we have always assumed. That is certainly the case in Matthew seven.

Matthew seven does not teach against judgment; it teaches against hypocritical judgment. Pulling the words “judge not” out of context distorts the meaning and contradicts the rest of scripture. Jesus’s statement to “judge not lest you be judged” zeroed in on the problem of spiritual hypocrisy, especially among the Pharisees. They went around looking for every flaw in someone else, yet they overlooked or justified their own flaws. It was spiritual pride and hypocrisy. Jesus compared these offenses to giant logs that blind us to our own faults while we laser in on shortcomings in others. If we are going to judge the actions of another, expect to be judged by the same measuring stick.

Let me illustrate this using the true story of a famous evangelist. My purpose is not to slam the evangelist, but to show how easy it is to see in others what we will not deal with in ourselves. The evangelist was constantly digging for dirt on a well-known pastor. Finally, it was discovered that the pastor was indeed involved in an extra-marital affair. The well-known evangelist began to broadcast it publicly, which resulted in the pastor stepping away from his church and his ministry. Just a few months later, the same evangelist was caught with a prostitute. It seems the pastor also was watching the moves of the evangelist and had pictures of the evangelist showing his moral failure.

This fits the context of Matthew 7:1-5, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

The evangelist was judging the pastor, but not judging himself.

Jesus was not prohibiting judging each other, but that it been done fairly and with a right heart. God will measure unto us according to the same measure we use for others. This is a powerful motivation for us to be generous with love, forgiveness, and goodness to others. If we want more of those things from God, we should give more of them to others. Examine yourself before examining another. Deal with your stuff before you deal with another’s stuff.

Therefore, this verse is not a tool to ignore sinful lifestyles that do not line up with the Word of God. In fact, Jesus does not say that we should not judge the speck in the eye of another, but that we must first judge the plank in our own eye.

I would have to write an epistle to cover it all, but I cannot do that in this blog. However, the Apostle Paul wrote many epistles to the New Testament Church covering what is and is not appropriate behavior for a Christian. Go read those. I also recommend reading the entire Sermon on the Mount in context.

Context matters.