Sounds Good, But Is It The Truth? (9)

 

Continuing with Matthew 7:1 – 6, it seems to me that there are at least two more elements for us to consider (acknowledging that we can, and should, go deeper in Christ in all of these things…but a blog is a blog); how do we live in verses 1 - 5, and what does verse 6 mean? Or we could say that there is one remaining question, how do we live in verses 1 - 6? And that it is has two sub questions, what does verse 6 mean and how do we live in that?

 

Many of us are accustomed to periodic eye checkups; I received my first pair of glasses in elementary school and wearing glasses is second nature to me. Since I have diabetes, I am supposed to have an eye exam every year because diabetes can lead to eye disease and blindness. While Medicare will not pay for an annual eye exam for its general recipients, it will pay for an eye exam for those recipients who have diabetes because it recognizes that untreated diabetic eye disease can lead to serious health complications, which means more expense to the Medicare system. (Forget about the fact that as we all age we are all more susceptible to eye problems and that failing eyesight can lead to a number of problems and injuries!)

 

Just as I should have eye exams to determine any effect of diabetes on my natural vision, I need spiritual eye exams to counteract the effects of sin and this fallen world on my moral, ethical, and spiritual vision – the difference is that I need ongoing eye exams for my heart and mind and soul and spirit, my spiritual vision needs constant cleansing and renewing and correcting – it should really be a way of life in Christ and in community with others in Christ.

 

Whereas, as we age physically our vision tends to deteriorate, as we mature spiritually our vision should become clearer and clearer until that glorious Day when we are in the fulness of the Presence of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, it is good to keep in mind where we have come from in the sense that we are all, hopefully, on pilgrimage; we are all, who know Christ, somewhere on the road to the New Jerusalem. Peter reminds his readers of where they have come from (1 Peter 4:1 – 5), as does Paul (Ephesians 2:1 – 3; 1 Cor. 6:9 – 11). Wherever we are on the road of pilgrimage, we are there by the grace and mercy of God in Christ.

 

Along this line, as we consider how Jesus Christ forgave us, and forgives us; how He loved us, and loves us; we are to love as He loves and forgive as He forgives.

 

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant offering.” (Ephesians 4:32 – 5:2; see also John 13:34 – 35; 15:12 – 14; 1 John 3:16).

 

We are also to live in mutual submission to one another, giving preference to one another (Rom. 12:1 – 13; Eph. 5:15 – 21) in the fear of Christ.

 

While there are many times our impediments to clearer vision are matters of understanding and growing in Christ and His Word, there are other times when they are a matter of sin. In those times especially we need to act toward our brethren “in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).

 

What is the temptation that Paul speaks of? While it may be a temptation to engage in the sin of the person we seek to restore, I think we also have to consider that it can be the temptation to play the role not of healer and restorer, but of judge and executioner. That is, do we seek to help our brother or sister out of love and concern, or out of self-righteousness? There are, I think, two sides to this coin of temptation – let us not partake of the sin, nor let us not play judge and executioner – let us rather, as Christ, lay our lives down for one another.

 

It seems to me that if I am to live within Matthew 7:1 – 6, that I must keep the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ always before me, that my own vision must be of Jesus, His Cross, and of me at the foot of the Cross. That is, I must live in the remembrance and present reality of His forgiveness and mercy and grace in my own life – of my ever-present constant need for His sustaining grace, of an awareness of where Christ has brought me from and where He is drawing me to.

 

I must also live in community with my brethren and in submission to them, allowing them to speak into my life – directly and indirectly; preferring them above myself, seeking their honor and betterment and edification. I must also love them enough to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) as we grow up in Christ together. Now this is messy, it is untidy, and it is hard to find – but we don’t want to give up. Sometimes we may have more company, and sometimes less – but what else can we do? We need one another to know Jesus Christ – let us not be so foolish as to think otherwise.

 

To live in Matthew 7:1 – 6 is to live in the shadow of a beam in my own eye, to realize that in an instant a beam may materialize without my knowing it, and that I may even be so foolish as to use a beam in my own eye as a measuring stick for others – that is particularly dangerous.

 

To live in Matthew 7:1 – 6 is to realize that I have, all too sadly, played the role of judge and executioner more than once; and yet it is to also determine that I shall not allow my sin to be a barrier to faithful obedience to Jesus’ command to help my brother see Him a bit clearer today than yesterday. Jesus has forgiven me and cleansed me of my sin, and I want Him to redemptively use my past foolishness and stupidity to help me grow and better understand His ways so that I might be a blessing to others today. Also, when others play the role of judge and executioner toward me, may I remember my own past ugliness and forgive them, just as Jesus Christ forgave (and forgives!) me.

 

We still want to consider Matthew 7:6; the Lord willing we’ll pick that up in the next post.