Luke 6:41-42
"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, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
NIV
Because Christianity is a way of life that is learned from Christian models, Christ calls on us to engage in self-examination, We have no right to criticize or instruct another about how to live until we are sure that our own lives are in harmony with Christ. If we are blind to God's way of living, and attempt to lead others, both we and they will "fall into a pit" As it says in the previous verse;
Luke 6:39
Then Jesus gave the following illustration: "What good is it for one blind person to lead another? The first one will fall into a ditch and pull the other down also.
Jesus explained that a person is not able to hide his attitude toward righteousness. It is obvious that if a person is blind he will lead another into a pit He will not be able to hide the fact that he is not righteous for he will lead others astray. Jesus also noted that a person becomes like the one whom he emulates.
Therefore His disciples should emulate Him. One must rid himself of a sin before he can help his brother with that sin. And often one's own sin is greater than the one he criticizes in someone else - a plank compared with a speck of sawdust. The point is that one cannot help someone else become righteous if he is not righteous himself. To seek to do so is to be a hypocrite.
Hypocrisy tears a church apart from the inside out. Very quietly it creeps in unnoticed and begins to rip out the heart of the congregation.
Before you ever begin to give spiritual help in any area, make sure that you yourself aren't still struggling with that same issue yourself. Imagine the embarrassment if the Lord should decide to expose your hypocrisy.
No comments:
Post a Comment