Get the beam out!

Something To Think About, Seeing Clearly:

If you were sitting on a hillside listening--in the same time and place--to Jesus Christ, God the Son, preach a sermon, would you dare laugh? I think it would be hard to suppress a chuckle when Jesus using masterful hyperbole and ruthless ridicule of some of the religious leaders of His day said:   “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3–4)     The scene is ludicrous.  Yet, ridiculous as it is, the cartoon is played out in real life every day.   "Guilty as charged."  says the STTA guy. Let's think about this lumber in the eye for a moment.  In the context of Jesus Sermon on the Mount, He identifies the species of fence post this way:   In Matthew 7:1 He introduces His point with these often misquoted, and more often misunderstood words.  "Judge not."  Those who cherry pick these words to use as a shield against any criticism neglect to note that Jesus goes on, in the same breath to condemn this 2x4 in the optical syndrome.  If one is to apply what Jesus says in the rest of the chapter he must exercise judgment.  Jesus does not say to ignore the speck in a brother's eye.  Clearly one reason we ought to rid ourselves of excess lumber is so our sight will be clear enough to actually help our brother who really does need to be rid of the splinter in his own eye.  (v.5)  If we are not to put holy things in the dog's dish or throw our pearls into the hog pen we must first recognize the sacred, properly identify the precious, and make a roster of dogs and hogs.  (v. 6) Those are highly judgmental activities.  I'll let you peruse the rest of the chapter.  You'll find a number of commands and exhortations that require the exercise of judgment.  Even the"Golden Rule," v. 12, requires one to decide, based on how one concludes he would want to be treated--surely in the context of the words of Christ this cannot be "if it feels good do it"--and then treat the other person that way.  What if they have a warped view of what is good and want to be treated differently?  The application of this very charitable principle can be highly judgmental. While Jesus is not giving a blanket condemnation of all judgment, He does come down hard on hypocritical judgment.  When I judge another based on a standard that I will not accept for myself I am on the wrong side of Christ's standard.  Like the Pharisees we have gotten good at this.  You can get some idea of how the Pharisees did this, by reading Matthew 23.  The Apostle Paul condemns a version of this in 2 Corinthians 10:12.  We get very good at hiding our worst faults, and shining a light on what we perceive as the faults of others.  We do the reverse about virtues.  We find ways to explain away our sin--it's different, there are extenuating circumstances, etc. etc.--while we allow no cover for others. The result is we end up attempting the delicate procedure of removing splinters from eyes, with our vision grotesquely blocked with enough wood to build a porch.   It's STTA.