EDUCATION - THE LORD'S CONCERN
Integrity
( April 98)
Reference: Luke 6:37-49
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Too often, unchurched people label churchgoers as hypocrites, and they are right. The church has only two kinds of people: hypocrites and forgiven hypocrites. The teaching of Jesus about judging should not discourage us from having high standards; rather, it should prompt us to see the failures of others as reminders to examine ourselves.
Having a plank in my eye obviously disqualifies me from extracting a speck from another person's eye. The ultimate irony is that after I have extracted my own plank, it is likely that the speck in the other's eye will no longer be visible to me. What I thought was his speck may have been my plank all along.
A teacher who was tired of using chalkboard and eraser in the classroom decided to go high tech one day and use an overhead projector. Captivated by his own lesson and wanting to change a word, he picked up the eraser and began wiping the wall. When the students laughed, he sensed his foolish act, went to the projector, and made the erasure on the transparency. The word was no longer oil the wall! How often are we critical of the wall when in reality we are projecting the very thing that needs to be changed!
We may not all be managers in the business world, but the principle of building up people rather than tearing them down by judgmentalism is certainly a Christ-like virtue. It also reflects the kingdom quality of integrity.
To say it another way: "Rather than focusing on the failures and inadequacies of others, disciples of Christ periodically engage in healthy self-evaluation to assess their own spiritual status.
I love you guys, Bro. Doug
