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| A new perspective on the log in my eye |
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There continue to be fights and arguments in churches and Christian homes, THE very places where we might think these things should never occur, but it seems they always will. However, if we (Christians) could realize and admit that we all have blind spots, issues we simply cannot see as well as other people with a different perspective, the church (and our homes) would likely be a whole lot more peaceful! You know how it's always easier to see a problem (and it's solution!) in someone else's life than in your own? That's what I'm talking about!!
I know that I have blind spots, because I've seen people a whole lot smarter than I who say and do some pretty irrational things. That is their log, that special something they are just "weird" about. Everybody sees it but them. Try to address it and they immediately get defensive.
A friend helped me to have a new perspective on Matt 7:3-5. Jesus tells us all to take the log (plank) out of our own eye before pointing out the speck in our brother's eye. Man do we want to point out that speck! Heck, it happens every day here on MyChurch! And yes I've seen it at my church too. And in my buddy's marriage. And in my own home. 7:3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. My friend's take on the above scripture is that a closely related lesson to the one about judging others is that there is likely something in every one of us that we can't see by ourselves, something we desperately need help with. What is it about judging others that's so evil? It's the companion belief that we ourselves are more righteous, we're just fine by ourselves, we're complete in our own strength, superior and self-sufficient. The truth is God designed us with a need to rely on others, first him, then other people. Ever tried moving a log alone?
The subject of Jesus' admonition isn't a hypocrite because he has a log in his eye. He becomes a hypocrite when he doesn't bother to do anything about it!!! He ignores warning signs, instead calling attention to other people's moral issues. Everybody else in the world sees it but him! It's a log, for crying out loud!!
But help is always available to remove the log. It isn't by our own skill or strength. Jesus said HE was sent to proclaim "recovery of sight for the blind (Lk 4:18)", so the answer is to put our trust in him. That is, trusting that he will send someone else to help us with that log! Now don't give me that "I can do it myself" baloney, that is not how it works! We Christians need each other. I need you to help me with that log of mine, and maybe, just maybe, afterwards I will be able to give you a hand with your speck... or perhaps that log!
[originally posted 4/5/07] |
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| Feeling very "loggy" right now...wish I was more speckled:( |
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Sue |
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April 05, 2007 at 1:45am |
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Okay Plank-Eye, I will be right there! |
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too funny. where do you get these cute things? I feel like Fred Flinstone with my :( Help me sista |
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| Very funny Angie! Seems when I am at my "speckiest" is when I am actually at my "loggiest!" And I am surely loggy most of the time, unless I am with a bro or sis in Christ praying for that log. ~mike |
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YES! I even asked someone this week to please remove the plank from her eye -- she was just CONVINCED that I was so wrong, wrong, wrong. I *am* a sinner, I *am* wrong, but Jesus is right. People get so high on their own pride and ego. I think it's probably human nature for people to disagree, that won't change until we are together in Heaven, too busy worshipping God to be on bad behavior. It makes me very sad when Christians get together to go for the throat. The feeding frenzy and all that. Disgusting. |
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Cathy |
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April 05, 2007 at 9:49am |
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| Last time I checked, I had a full sized deck with hot tub included in my eye. |
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I think the moment any one of us starts judging a brother (anyone else), we are in dire risk of acting/becoming hypocritical!! I've continued to wrestle with this since writing this blog over a week ago! People with serious issues continue to come to my attention, and in my humanity I want to jump right in and fix 'em! But this is where I need to trust God, and it's very hard. I must remind myself that I don't see issues in their entirety, I only see a very small part of the whole. So what do I DO?? I love them and I pray for them. Life is really hard sometimes!!! ~mike ps... Cathy, that is either great humility on your part, or serious idolatry! (I'm guessing the former!) |
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Rosie |
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April 16, 2007 at 10:17am |
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| Life is hard but God is great and you are right all we can do is love and pray for them and believe someone is loving us and praying for us. You have a very tender heart and just really don't want to see people hurting but you can't fix em. Some times they have to go through what they are so that God can be glorified throught it all. |
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Wow, good point Rosie! So who am I to interfere with God's process of sanctification in someone else's life. (If I understand what you're saying.) That is an interesting way of thinking about this. Their pain does trouble me, as does the pain they cause others. It's just so hard not to intervene!!!!! (Pastor Dan, help me out here!) |
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Kathy |
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April 16, 2007 at 10:57am |
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Good blog, Mike. It is a gift from God that all His children see things from a little different perspective. Thus, if we would really listen to each other, we would have access to a fuller picture. Instead we want to argue and "win" our point. We seem to need this passage repeated and repeated, because we can't remember it from one day to the next. Our brains are probably filled with logs too! |
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Kathy, I always appreciate your comments! You offer the perfect combination of wisdom and humility! ~mike |
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I read or heard somewhere - that the Church is a like a great big Kindergarden. We have to LEARN to get along and that only comes from getting to know each other, trial and error, learning patience and tolerance with everyone. When I get frustrated with someone - I get a mental image of a little 5 year old getting all uppity and then that's when the hugging steps in a diffuses the rant. Example: I am home with my daughter alone while her father gets the truck worked on. I have told her that I have a little work to do before I take her to this cool new indoor playground for kids that serves great food too. We have to wait a little while before it is open and I have to get ready myself. She is too yonng to realize that in just a little while we are going to have so much fun she won't know what hit her and maybe a little putt putt too later. All she knows is - right now mommy is busy and not playing or talking with her and she can't wait - this is one of our lessons we are learning together being a mommy/daughter team after the final divorce papers (probably before that) are signed. We do everything by ourselves now - so we are doing great!!! |
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Toni |
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April 21, 2007 at 10:04am |
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Thanks Mike for the blog, it just so happens that I went through something lastnight, i wish it was over now, but it's not, like you said i just need to let Jesus help, i can't go through this without him, if you could, just keep us in your prayers, it is an unspoken prayer. Thanks Toni <>< |
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| Toni, you have prayer support, you can bank on it. |
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| Thanks Jack! Thank you DR!! Gentleness is a fruit of the H.S. for sure. The HS convicts me big time of the need to tread lightly when it comes to others' issues of morality, b/c I have tripped over my log often! |
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JJ |
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September 14, 2007 at 12:52am |
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Mike,
I agree with the essence of your point and I think that is, that only Jesus can really help us. But I do think that at times the Holy Spirit convicts us/calls us to help one another.
1 Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
I also thought the following verse was pretty applicable to what you are saying.
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I think the key is to let love guide the help or advice you are providing.
On the other side of what you are saying these verses also make that point as well.
Luke 7:16
They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."
Psalm 54:4
Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
So since we appear to be called to help and we see that it is God that really helps us, I suppose we should realize that the good in us, is the work of God not us.
Another Great Blog!
Cheers and God Bless |
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| This is probably exactly what I needed to read this morning. I simply have to blog on this. |
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Grant |
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September 14, 2007 at 2:44am |
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| I have a HUMUNGOUS log in my eye. But it's gracious people like you who are so helpful in assisting with its removal. Thanks for a wonderfully refreshing perspective on this very familiar passage. |
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Great post Mike! This is definitely a message that everyone else needs to here. Just kidding. I especilly need to here it.
I think that accountability groups or accountability partners are a great preventitive for self-righteousness. It is in tthe context of these relationships that our blind spots can be exposed.
There was a statement made by Mark Twain that humorously illistrates the issue of self-righteouness.
A businessman well known for his ruthlessness once announced to writer Mark Twain, "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the 10 Commandments aloud at the top." "I have a better idea," replied Twain. "You could stay in Boston and keep them." Moody Bible Institute's Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 32 |
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lol! Gotta love Twain. Thanks Pastor Tim.
Grant, your log ain't anywhere near as big as mine -haha! Thanks for your kindness.
And thank you Beverley. I look forward to your writing on this topic. Don't we all need to be reminded often? I am amazed at how often I go on speck-sighting jaunts!
JJ, I agree 150%! One of my points above was that when we humbly recognize there may be some very significant attitudes, habits, etc. (logs) that we simply can't see, reliance on the Lord to send someone who can gently point these things out to us is the best recourse. Does that line up with what you're saying? |
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What's kinda scary to me is that so many people -- well-intentioned though they may be -- so desperately want to avoid being labelled as the "Beam in the eye" person of this analogy, they forget that a "mission-critical" part of being Brothers and Sisters in Christ is the Galatians 6:1 experience -- in context of this, I guess we could call it the "you help me with my beam and I'll help you with yours". I don't think that Jesus is really addressing our desire to help our Brothers and Sisters grow and mature and remove the "dead wood" (lol) that is impeding and clouding their spiritual vision, but rather I think He's addressing our hearts, desiring that they approach each other warmly and welcoming, desiring help just as we want to give help. If I ever approach any one of you on here seeking to "removeth thy specketh", know that it's not at all coming from "I'm right and you're wrong so lemme at that speck!"....it's just me seeking to be a Proverbs 27:17 brother to you, and sincerely desiring that you in turn would be honest enough with me (while still being loving, I hope!) to help me remove my logs and specks as well. Then we both can see good! :D Just my two cents, anyways... |
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Glenn |
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September 14, 2007 at 9:07am |
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Another great blog. I love the fact that we all seem to be on the same page here. I pray God will continue to show us how to help and support those around us both here on MyChurch and in our own communities! We are called to love one another and that includes letting the HS use us to sand the rough edges off of each other.
Sand away HS!
thanks Mike for bringing this subject up.
peace
glenn |
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Jason, your two cents usually amount to a couple dollars and some change (lol), thanks! Yep, accountability is crucial, including one's willingness to hold others accountable in humility. My problem is that I look around and I see a whole lotta specks! So I typically strike up conversations with the intention of getting a better idea of their perspective -- often those specks are just my blurred vision from my logs. But even if there truly is speck (or a log) in someone else's eye to be dealt with, the direct approach often goes all wrong because our focus is on their speck/log and not on them.
So I see your two cents and raise you two more.  |
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| Awsome BLOG Awsome comments. Awsome brothers and sisters. |
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| Thanks Glenn, yes it's awesome when our unity in love is on full display. Thanks Dave!!! And Shannon, thanks for your thoughtful comment! I happen to love when we come together from our different denominations, backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities, and express our differences of opinion with grace. ~mike |
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Kathy |
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September 14, 2007 at 12:34pm |
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I just found this in my eye: 
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Deb |
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September 14, 2007 at 12:53pm |
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| Another good one Mike. Thanks for reminding us of our own planks. |
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Kathy |
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September 14, 2007 at 2:02pm |
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| Hey, MIke, don't be trying to identify what kind of tree is in my eye when you have a little speck in your own! :) |
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Another good blog. I vote that we have a communion/foot washin/log removal service this sunday at church. |
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JJ |
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September 14, 2007 at 4:00pm |
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Mike,
Yea that is pretty much what I was saying, I was also kinda of pointing out that if a person felt led to help, then you shouldn't resist and let the person who needed guidance continue to have a blind spot. Because since it is God that does all good things, it wouldn't be wrong of us to do as the Holy Spirit is wanting us to do.
So if we all have logs in our eyes, who is going to help who first? lol
Obviously it is God!
Were on the same page Mike, I was just looking at it from the other side, the person doing the helping, as opposed to the person who needs the help.
Cheers and God Bless |
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JessIAm |
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September 14, 2007 at 4:13pm |
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I love how Jesus turns our perceptions around. He puts the plank in my eye and the speck in the other guy's eye. Is it just me, or does everyone tend to see it as a plank in the other guy's eye, and a speck in our own? I heard another perspective on this. If you hold a speck out at arms length, it's just a speck. If you hold it close to your eye, it becomes a log. |
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| Never thought of it that way Jess, very interesting. |
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Mike, It could be understood as a Personal Problematic Blindness Condition.
Pride
Self-Righteousness
Self-Deception
and Self-Distruction
I
t is posible to be blined by pride believing that in ones self-righteous attitude that everyone else needs help with sin. Being self-deceived, one cannot and will not address his own sin problem(s). This weill only lead to self- distruction with no real solution to bring such a one to the light that can and will deliver him. It is almost imposible to deliver such a one. |
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Norm |
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September 17, 2007 at 9:30pm |
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| You realize the star police are here and we can't allow you to stay at 1000. That would be a shame. (That and you should have a record of when you crossed that mark). |
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Thank you Norm for that valuable service! lol
Thanks Jack! Isn't it true that virtually anything can become an idol, drawing our hearts away from God? You have just shown that even accountability can serve this evil purpose. Good point. |
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Norm |
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September 17, 2007 at 10:19pm |
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About my only comment there is that there are many things I watch/listen to/read that are meant to point me to a better understanding of my relationship with God. I need friends who are willing to point to the plank in my eye if it's apparent I'm not seeing it.
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| Norm, don't we all. I think Jack's point, if I read it right, was that people can become a slave to "accountability" if it becomes all about pleasing their accountability partners, thus loosing sight of God. I see that as an extreme, one that I've never seen played out. But I suppose it's certainly possible. |
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| great blog as usual Mike keep them coming. You are greatly respected teacher. If you are ever near Edmonton please come and share with my flock |
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JessIAm |
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September 26, 2007 at 5:04pm |
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I've tried accountability, and I'm pursuing recovery (12 step). I prefer 12 step, because the focus in 12 step is submitting to God so He can work on my character defects. This is very successful for me, because I'm healing everything in myself that thought the sin was a good idea to begin with. Two of the rules for 12 step are 1) we can't give advice unless someone asks for it; 2) we are only there to work on ourselves. God will definately use people to heal me, but God does the healing. When I focus on what someone else is telling me to do, I'm not focusing on God. When I was in an accountability group, the groups focus was "trying not to sin." It was a very works based viewpoint, and I actually ended up sinning more. If I say "don't think of a red faced monkey", what's the first thing that comes to mind? I've heard the saying "using the flesh to overcome the flesh." Using the NIV phrase, this would be "using the sinful nature to overcome the sinful nature." This will never work, regardless of the person supplying the sinful nature (me or the accountability partner). Romans 2:3-4 covers the original topic of the blog, and other topics I've read in it: Romans 2:3-4 (Amplified Bible)
3 And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict?
4 Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God's will)? |
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MaKelly |
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September 30, 2007 at 6:34pm |
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Mike so true
I would say now Cynthia take that tree out of your eyes before you start looking to plucking sticks out ogf others or pointing the finger at others you better take a look because there is four fingers point back at you.
SHOULD WE BE CAREFUL ABOUT CRITICIZING OTHERS?
Romans 14:10 . . . Why do you condemn another Christian? . . . Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God.
James 4:11 . . . If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law.
Constructive criticism should always be a welcome and wholesome gift if given in a spirit of love. But we have no right to give depreciating criticism of another, for that is trying to be a judge over that person, and God alone is our judge.
HOW DO WE PREVENT UNJUST CRITICISM AGAINST US?
Romans 14:18 . . . If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God. And other people will approve of you, too.
Matthew 7:1 . . . Stop judging others, and you will not be judged.
We will usually avoid criticism by avoiding words and actions that warrant criticism. But we must recognize that some will criticize us simply because we are followers of God.
HOW DO WE ADMINISTER CRITICISM WHEN WE FEEL IT MUST BE GIVEN?
John 8:7 . . . Let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!
Romans 2:1 . . . When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things.
Before criticizing another, take an inventory of your own sins and shortcomings so that you can approach the person with understanding and humility.
1 Corinthians 13:5 . . . Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.
Constructive criticism is always offered in love, to build up. And criticism is always responded to in love as well.
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