THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
| Disproportionate One of the fundamental errors that we commit when we stand in judgment over another person is that we fail to measure the failures of others in proportion to our own. Jesus Christ speaks to this failure in the passage that follows: “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.”Matthew 7:3-5 NIV11 Vivid Jesus Christ communicates this truth brilliantly. He gets right to the point by using this vivid and powerful illustration. When we inflate the failure of another person beyond our own failure, we look as foolish as the person with the plank in his eye. Perspective The problem that Jesus is highlighting here relates to the real problem of judgmentalism. When we see others in their times of failure and struggle, we most often look at their sin and assume that they have acted in this way because they are sinful people. We see the fruit of their lives and we assume that their actions, words, and attitudes are what they are because they are just that messed up inside. E.g., You yelled at me because you are an angry person. But when we look at our own fruit—assuming we ever do evaluate ourselves in this way, what areas of failure and sin that we find, we tend to minimize or deflect onto others. We see our failures as the product of external factors. E.g., I yelled at you because I am under stress from my boss at work. Correction Jesus Christ calls his followers to correct this fundamental attribution error. He challenges us to apply the golden rule in the way in which we see others and evaluate their true nature. We can hear an example of this correction in the corresponding teaching from the Gospel of Luke: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”Luke 6:37-38 NIV11 Mercy Again, Jesus communicates this brilliantly. If we want to be given a heaping measure of grace and mercy from God and from others, then it stands to reason that we should be ready and willing to show this same kind of mercy to others. If we refuse to give mercy, then why should we expect to be given mercy? Do Good In this teaching, Jesus Christ challenges us to seek the good of those around us who are exhibiting signs of struggle and sin. We should not stand at a distance and call them names, but rather get close and seek to be a blessing. This is the point made in the following: “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.”Matthew 7:5 NIV11 Reflection As you go through your day consider the following points of prayer: · Ask the Lord to help you see any “planks” in your life.· Ask the Lord to check your heart and motives as you seek to evaluate others.· Ask the Lord to use you to do good for those who are struggling with outward sin.· Give thanks to God for his immeasurable acts of mercy and grace toward you. In Christ, Ryan Laden |
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