Thesis 26 We must seek out the logs in our own eyes more than the specks in others.
It is a perennial temptation. We tend to judge the relative importance of a given sin in proportion to the likelihood that we are tempted by it. Most of us, for instance, find armed robbery, adultery and arson to be seriously bad stuff. Slander, gossip and envy, on the other hand, we think of as small potatoes. We do much the same thing corporately. That is, we think the gutless preaching at the local mega-church is a great evil, while the heartless orthodoxy we practice is a peccadillo.
There are relative demerits to sin. Jesus, we remember, condemned the Pharisees for neglecting the weightier matters of the law (). On the other hand, the better scale may well be more personal. When Jesus calls us to remove the log in our own eye before removing the speck in our brother’s eye, He may be suggesting that more important than the importance of the sin is its closeness to us. Even if our sins are “smaller” than those of our brother, because they are ours, we need to focus on them.
Consider the Reformed wing of the evangelical church. There are any number of descriptives that come to mind when we think of the Reformed church. The Reformed are the persnickety crowd, taking great care always to dot theological I’s and crossing theological T’s. This wing is also known for being fairly cold, sometimes called, “The Frozen Chosen.” It is, of course, a good thing to be theologically careful. It is one thing to be sloppy when thinking through the content of a Dr. Seuss book. It is altogether another to be sloppy with the Word of God. But if we were careful with the Word of God, we would know that theological precision not only does not excuse a cold heart, but makes it all the more a matter of judgment. We would know that obedience in one area does not atone for sin in another.
In the Apostle Paul gives us a list of peculiar strengths a person, or group of people might have. We could be strong in knowledge and wisdom. We could be gifted orators. We might be selfless in our giving. And if we have not love, it’s all junk. We do not fix the problem by getting more knowledge and wisdom. Increasing our oratorical gifts won’t solve the problem. Giving even more won’t solve the problem. We do not fix our weaknesses by trying to highlight our strengths. We certainly don’t fix our weaknesses by complaining about the weaknesses of others.
If we were wise, and seeking faithful Reformation of our own wing of the church, we would wonder what Luther might nail to our own door. We would give thanks for our strengths, but seek faithfully to find the logs in our own eyes. We would have faith in the sovereignty of God, that He will see to the specks in the eyes of our brothers.