I have studied the Sermon on the Mount from many vantage points over the years. It provides masterful insights from the Master teacher of the ages. I frequently return to a passage in Jesus’ sermon to wonder over my own inner self.
Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye?
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 7:3-5).
I think I am able to see personal insecurities that lead people to play a part or wear a mask.
When politicians shift their opinions, interests, and way of speaking depending on their audience, I have an internal detector that sounds an alarm.
How many people, when asked how they are, answer “I’m great!”? As they say in the books, “their smile didn’t reach their eyes,” and we know something is not right.
What about the people who stand on others—whether on social media or behind their backs—to make themselves feel tall? A wise marketing professor told his class, “If they are talking trash about someone to you, they will be talking about you when you are gone.”
We all know the tough guy or girl who projects strength, but insightful people wonder if their bravado is nothing but a cover-up for self-fear and loathing.
Are you possibly like me and can quickly find the speck in our neighbor’s eye but can’t find the log in our own if our life depends on it?
Jesus calls these people—and especially people like me—hypocrites. A hypocrite is an actor. At times, we play different parts so often that we can’t recognize who we are.
Jesus invites us to take the log out of our eye. Two lines from a movie I saw many years ago remain in my memory. A woman turned to her love interest and said, “Tell me who you really are.”
He replied, “I can’t tell you who I am, because if you didn’t like me, that’s all I have.”
Whether we can see the speck in our neighbor’s eye or fail to see the log in our own, we all can relate to the man’s statement. We play a role to please our inner self, because if we don’t like ourselves, that’s all we have.
God’s Good News
Whether we find specks of dust in our neighbor’s eye or try to avoid the log in our own, God’s word for us is to “shake yourself from the dust and rise up.”
Shake yourself from the dust; rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter Zion! (Isaiah 52:2)
In the same way that God’s people suffered from oppressive powers, we may suffer from self-talk that haunts us with a sense of unworthiness.
God is not some self-help guru. He is the Creator of the Universe and the God who loves you more than you love yourself. When He says, “rise up from the dust of your life,” we need to take His words to heart.
The good news is that God knows all about us, yet loves us and redeems us.
For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money (Isaiah 52:3).
Suppose you have this conversation with God. He says, “Tell me who you are.”
You reply, “I’m not sure I know who I am. I’m afraid if I discovered who I am and told it to you, you wouldn’t like me—and that’s all I’ve got.”
I think I can hear God saying, “I’m glad you finally realized the truth about your condition. You don’t have to pretend anymore. I love you as you are. I have redeemed you through love and the gift of my Son. Rise up and let me tell you who you really are.”
You say, “God, is that really you? Do you actually love me?”
He says, “Yes, my child”—or in the words of Isaiah: “Therefore my people shall know my name; on that day they shall know that it is I who speak—it is I!” (Isaiah 52:6).
Reflections
I don’t know if I will ever see clearly the log in my eye this side of heaven, but it doesn’t really matter. God loves me—and you—more than we will ever know.
If God can love us, we can begin to think well of ourselves. We can try to take down the mask and quit playing the part, knowing our Lord has redeemed us in His love.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 