Because we don’t much like what we would see. You can take your pick of word pictures to describe us. We’ve got our head in the sand. We’ve got logs in our eyes. We suppress the truth, that we are unrighteous, in unrighteousness. However you put it, we are ugly as sin and don’t want to admit it. Because we are as ugly as sin.
One of the chief strategies we use to hide ourselves from ourselves is to be on the hunt for the flaws in others. When I am busy focusing on the failures of others I a. haven’t the time to look for or at my own, b. can see my own as small in comparison c. can keep others’ attention on the failures of others and d. paint myself as a heroic crusader for righteousness.
What ends up happening, of course, is that I end up parading my hypocrisy for all the world to see. Consider what you have read so far. I suspect, if you are at all like me, you started out reading this piece with this question, “Why do they struggle with self-awareness?” You may be wondering why they aren’t self-aware like you and I are. You, if you are like me, are wondering, “Why can’t people be gracious and forgiving and humble like we are?” We have whole swaths of the church, no, we are whole swaths of the church where we grumble about other swaths of the church that just don’t “get grace” like we do. We pat ourselves on the back for not being like those legalists. We go to the temple, beat our breasts and pray, “I thank You Lord that I am not like other men. I berate wicked Pharisees. I remind people daily of their failure to be loving and kind.”
We are all sinners. That, of course, excuses no one’s sin. It does, however, remind us to remember ourselves, to include ourselves in our witch hunts and our condemnations. It keeps us from adopting a posture of moral superiority that simply demonstrates our lack of self-awareness.
“There but for the grace of God go I” carries two different meanings. When we see someone suffering we may speak these words as a reminder that all that we have and enjoy we have and enjoy by His grace. It says, “Only His goodness has kept me from that hardship.” It also, is a perfectly fitting response to seeing the sins of others. The reason I’m not Derek Chauvin isn’t because of a goodness inherent in me. The reason I’m not Osama bin Laden isn’t because of my commendable moral efforts. The difference between me and Hitler is found in God’s goodness to me, not my goodness for Him.
We are always to cry out, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” And when we notice that we are praying this way while others are praying, “I thank you Lord that I’m not like other men” we need to pray again, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” May we always remember that we don’t get grace because we get grace. We get grace because He gives grace to us who don’t get it.