Dec 8 - Matthew 7:4-5

Jesus said,

Or how can you say to your neighbor,

'Let me take the speck out of your eye,'

while the log is in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the

log out of your own eye, and then

you will see clearly to take the

speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Matthew 7:4-5

The context of this passage is judging others. People love to use Matthew 7:1 as a weapon to silence moral debate -- "The Bible says, 'do not judge.'"

As we showed a few days ago, that's not what this passage really says or means. We are, indeed, called to discern right from wrong. 

In fact, today's passage actually tells us to "take the speck out of your neighbor's eye"!

Yes, of course, there are powerful caveats in these words from Jesus ...

 

·         We dare not be hypocritical. 

·         We must instead be loving, gracious, and forgiving rather than harsh and judgmental. 

·         In any discussion on behavior, we must attend first to our own sins -- which are plenty -- rather than pointing accusing fingers at others.

Most of history has been lived in legalistic culture -- sadly, often, a legalistic religious culture. Therefore, Jesus' call for compassion and forgiveness to trump judgment and condemnation have made this one of most quoted and most loved passages in history!

But most of us don't live today in a legalistic culture. We live in a politically correct culture. We've been cowed into not calling right "right" or wrong "wrong." "Judging" and "intolerance" (which should more accurately be called "discerning") have been labeled the worst of sins. 

And yet, Jesus says "take the speck out of your neighbor's eye."

Now, that's not a license to be rude! And Jesus demands that you not be hypocritical -- indeed, he reminds us that hypocrisy is a worse sin than almost every other sin. Nevertheless, we are called to stand up for truth and proclaim what is right. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to

be a logger (in his own eye)

and a duster (removing the specks

from a musty, dusty world)