The beams in our eyes
“Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood from your eye and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye”. - Matthew 7:1-6
This passage has been drilling at my own heart and has been in my thoughts for some time. In the past few months, God has been kind to draw me further in to deep and meaningful relationships with my family and better yet with brothers and sisters in the faith. I have come to find that the further in towards fellowship and relationships the Lord draws me, the closer I am to others and the closer others are to me. I have come to experience, witness and learn more than one would in superficial fellowship and relationships.
We experience, witness and learn more of the lovely stuff and the not so lovely things about each other. It is such a wonderful space to encourage in each other the qualities and way of life that makes us more like Christ. It is also a great opportunity to call out and discourage that which is a hinderance and that which endangers us of our fruitfulness in the Christian walk. What a better place for this to work in the context of relationship and community.
I came across a quote from one of Dr Henry Cloud’s book titled Boundaries, “As iron sharpens iron, we need confrontation and truth from others to grow”. He goes on to say, “No one likes to hear negative things about him or herself. But in the long run it may be good for us. The Bible says that if we are wise we are to learn from it. Admonition from a friend, while it can hurt, can also help”.
I myself have had the benefit of encouragements and admonitions from brothers, sisters and loved ones. I have greatly benefited, grown and have been made aware of the fruits of the Spirit and the thorns of sin that exist within me. I would be heading in the path of destruction if it were not for my community speaking the truths that I needed to hear. The encouragements as well as the hard truths from my community have me walking further away from the lies of sin and the enemy and closer to the truth and reality in Jesus Christ. All this knowing my deep need for him in my inward struggles that I continue to experience.
The passage above (Matt 7:1-6), I believe backs up that as saints we are called to be judgemental. However, more so in a discerning manner - able to tell with godly wisdom and with the Spirit’s help right from wrong in our heart as well as in others. The Lord has given us a particular measure to use - the measure of grace that the Lord has undeservedly granted us in Christ and the measure of love that the lord has modelled for us in Jesus (1 Cor 13:4-8, Rom 5:6-11, 1 John 4:7-13).
In my experience, I have come to find how hard it is to do the latter than the former: calling out sin in others, as Matthew puts it as: “take the splinter out of your brother’s eye”. I have found with myself how easy it is to discern and call out wrong in others. It usually comes from a place of self-righteousness and a lack of grace. However in the same breath, I find it uncomfortable to call out sin out of fear, the fear of being incorrect and the belief that I just seeing things. Other times it may be the hope that it is a passing incident - it will not happen again. At most as a struggling people pleaser, it is the fear of losing face and favour from the people around me. Added to that, because calling out sin or wrong results in unhelpful responses, there is the fear of loss of fellowship as they take offence or struggle to admit wrong. Deep down lies the need to save face and to not be the bad guy and stir things up for everyone in the community. Maybe you can relate or maybe you don’t. From my experiences and observations as a community we are quick to encourage but slow to admonish and speak hard truths especially when it is most needed and critical. I see this in myself too. Lord, please help me. Lord please help us, especially when your means of grace and growth to Christlikeness come also come from the fellowship of believers.
Overtime, I have come to realise that I myself am no different from my fellow brother or sister, whose wrong I see so clearly. In most cases I find that when I note the wrong in others, there is at the same time the awareness of my own wrongs and shortfalls, whether similar or different. I find this to be a mercy form the Lord as he calls us hypocrites if we do not first attend to our own sin issues before we attend to our brother’s sins (Matt 7:1-6). We need just the same mercy that the Lord grants us in Christ. Before the Lord, we always fall short. We are under the Lord, and we need his grace, his forgiveness and restoration with him and people. We need to see that other people are also in need of the same thing. Therefore we are to act accordingly with ourselves and with one another. We are to use the measure of grace and love displayed through and by Jesus Christ. In other words, when we encourage or admonish others it must stem from the measure of grace and love. Even when we attend to self-reflect on our own hearts, to use the same measure.
How quick are you to pause - take time to suss out what is going on in your own heart, especially with regards your sin issues (the beam) in your heart (eye) that need dealing with (taking out) so that you can see clearly and go about things without the beam (issues) clouding your judgement andhurting you and other people? The Lord calls us to a life of integrity, honour and truth with ourselves and with others. Despite our struggles and propensity to fail because sin, weak wills and fleshly desires that we need to bring to the Lord in confession and prayer, we have blindspots that need for our brothers to point out and to restore us. As the bid to holiness and godliness stands for our brothers so does the bid to holiness and godliness stands for us too.
We can take comfort that we can confidently approach him who was tempted in every way, yet knew no sin. He sympathises with us. We can so encourage the people around us to do so too. Plus, we can boldly and courageously stand firm on the grace and love displayed on the cross and in the resurrection call out and bring to notice our own and our brother’s shortfalls to enable each other to keep walking in the faith (1 Tim 4:6, Jude 23, Titus 2:15). May we not be ashamed to come to terms with our own sins and evil that still grieve and trouble in us. We can take them to the Lord, in convicting faith and repentance. Remember the assurance of the Lord’s grace, the freedom from sin’s clutches that come from confessing our sin to the Lord and to our brothers and sisters. Remember the Lord’s patience but also his wrath that seeks to bring justice for all wickedness and rebellion. Let’s keep aware of the darkness that exists and lingers in and around us and keep walking it in the light of the truth and in the Lord’s word and presence and in the fellowship of the saints.
“Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.”
- Psalm 139: 23-24
