TODAY IN THE WORD
Over twenty years ago, Os Guinness asked, “How do we speak to an age made spiritually deaf by its skepticism and morally color-blind by its relativism? . . . One contribution must surely come from a wide rediscovery of the prophetic fool making of the divine subversive.” Jesus embodied this divine subversive more fully than anyone, as He shocked His audience into seeing the true reality.

Today’s passage is one example of Jesus’ use of exaggeration and humor to make a point about the way we should interact with each other. The context of these verses is the Sermon on the Mount, which includes the Lord’s Prayer in the previous chapter. Jesus had already instructed His followers to link the divine forgiveness they receive from God with their own extension of forgiveness to others (see Matt. 6:12). Here He addressed the foolishness of passing judgment on others without acknowledging the truth about ourselves.

This text is frequently misapplied as an excuse not to make any value claims or to assess the actions of others. Given the whole counsel of Scripture, this interpretation doesn’t make sense (see Prov. 1:31; Isa. 3:10), and a few verses later Jesus described the process for evaluating people’s claims of truth and the rightness of their actions (vv. 15-23). Instead, Jesus was challenging the human tendency to find fault with others without examining our own lives before God.

The image is purposely exaggerated and quite funny. Here is someone worried about the tiny speck of dust—something practically invisible!—in a brother’s eye, all the time ignoring the massive plank—like a telephone pole!—blocking his own vision.

Jesus’ words remind us that we need to acknowledge and address our own shortcomings, both their existence and magnitude, before we can turn to point out the flaws of others. This doesn’t excuse tolerating the presence of even sawdust or small failings in our lives. Rather, it emphasizes that it is foolish to try to correct others when our sin looms large and we persistently ignore it.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Do you have a telephone pole stuck in your eye, clogging your vision? Do you find it easier to criticize people around you rather than hear the conviction of the Holy Spirit? In order for God to use us to help others deal with their sawdust, we must first be willing to let go of our planks. If the Lord is convicting you of some blind spots in your life or of some tendencies that you’re reluctant to release, give those things to God. Ask Him to prepare you to encourage, not criticize, others on their Christian journey.

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