Luke 6:41 (NIV)

“Why do you notice the little piece of dust that is in your brother’s eye, but you don’t see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye?”

This scripture verse is one of the most studied and preached in all Christian churches. It drives home the lesson of hypocrisy. And yet, so many of us don’t even think about it in the moments when it is so very appropriate. There are times when we don’t want to look into the mirror. It is human nature that encourages us to feel superior when we are admonishing others, and we don’t want to admit there are chinks in our armor and maybe bats in our belief system.

When we are looking at that speck in someone else’s eye, we want to feel confident that we are superior in our morals and our understanding of spiritual matters. Which is really quite strange considering that many of the faults that we find in others are merely based on our own personal preferences rather than spiritual insight.

Why do we feel the need to propagate our own values in others without ever examining where our values come from? We don’t even realize that there is a chunk of wood in our eyes because it has become our default state. We say, “I am right because this is what I believe, what I have been taught, what I have discerned. Therefore, you need to be like me because mine in the ultimate truth.” There is no mention of God or a higher power in that statement. It is a “the buck stops here” declaration even though we are not the creators of the universe and we never died for the sins of others. Our sacrifices to engage with truth are so minute when faced with the reality of God in the form of Jesus. What makes us believe that God needs our help to judge people?

God has chosen us to lift people, to help there, to feed them, to take care of their needs. We can’t do that if we are trying to see the specs of dust in their eyes while looking through the board in our own eyes.

We are all in the same boat. We are all sinners. We have all been found wanting. And we are all eligible to be recipients of the grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is Christ that brings redemption, not the gavel that we so desire to appropriate and use to satisfy our own feelings of moral superiority. How wonderful it is that God is a God of grace and mercy, providing us with love and truth. I pray we all realize that God is a much more compassionate judge than we are.