Westside Church of Christ

The critics were in attack mode throughout the life of Jesus, and they reached their most vocal whenever He associated with those from the wrong side of the tracks. They were sinners. The “righteous” leveled charges against the only One who truly was innocent. The sinless embraced the sinful, and the covenant people of God were scandalized.

The scene is set at a tax collector’s house (Luke 5:29-32). That Jesus was even there raised eyebrows, and once the guests began to show up the religious aristocrats brought out their sharp verbal knives. How could this man share a table with such repugnant people? They never would. The grumbling rippled through the crowd and drew an explanation from the Lord. These are the very ones He came for. The sick needed the Great Physician and His call for healing repentance. The critics were the vision impaired.

Jesus warned about that, too, as He taught about setting ourselves up as judges (Matthew 7:1-5). It seems to be common among the self-righteous. Everybody has their share of faults, and they are often painfully visible. Hypocrites take a sledge hammer to a splinter in someone else’s eye while lumbering through life with a log in their own. The lesson is obvious. Saw your own logs. The sin we notice in another person is likely to be in abundance in ourselves. We’ll be better able to help them with their issue when we deal with our own.

Humans use all kinds of faulty standards in assessing others. Gender, race, nationality and political persuasion are just a few of the issues that have been wedges between believers. The conflict between Jews and Gentiles disrupted unity in the early church. Those who viewed themselves as “mature” Christians often looked down on those whom they viewed as immature. Similar distorted opinions continue today. Solomon was right when he said that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

The day is coming in which we will each give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). That places the spotlight of judgment in our hands to shine not on others but on ourselves. I am responsible for me. That is a sobering thought. We will each appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and He will have the final say (2 Corinthians 5:10). It is an appointment that we will all keep (Hebrews 9:27). There will be no exemptions.

It is much easier to criticize than it is to self-correct. The word of God slices us open so that we can see what is truly inside of us (Hebrews 4:12-13). That view is often uncomfortable, maybe even painful, but ultimately beneficial. There is malignant sin inside all of us that must be removed. He forgives, but we must cut it out.

Call to Praise: Jeremiah 17:5-8

His word on it: Proverbs 3:5

Sermon: “Trust the Lord”