Vol.
XL May 1, 2008 No.
5
Condemning Yourself
by Tom McLemore
There is something
which ought to dawn upon one the longer one lives and the more honest one gets
with oneself. Whatever it is that we
dislike in others, whatever faults we see in others, whatever sins others
commit, whatever character traits we find repulsive in others...if we look
carefully and candidly at ourselves, we will find it to a degree in
ourselves. We may find it to a lesser
degree, but then again, we may find it (much to our amazement) to a greater
degree (or at least to a far greater degree than we would have imagined
earlier)!
“Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you
judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because
you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, ‘We know that God’s
judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you
judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the
judgment of God? Or do you despise the
riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that
God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are
storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous
judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:1-5).
Socrates said, “Know thyself.” Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves....”
(2 Corinthians 13:5). The evidence of
the difficulty of knowing ourselves is contained in the plethora of biblical
warnings not to deceive ourselves. And
what a sobering word this is: “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves
with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by
one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good
sense” (2 Corinthians 10:12)!
Sure, it is embarrassing to have to face ourselves as we
really are. We have years of training,
reinforced by the tendency toward legalism, aided by the propensity toward the
primal sin of pride, to refuse to admit the truth about ourselves. But not until we acknowledge the truth can we
get about the business of overcoming the false in our lives. It may take the help of others before we can
become aware of it. It certainly
requires the word of God (Hebrews 4:12, 13; James 1:24).
Come to think of it, the problem we are considering has
tainted even the way we read the Bible!
Have you ever considered the perspective from which we read the stories
of certain failures among the characters in the Bible? For instance, we read about the children of
“[D]o not boast over the branches. If you do boast,
remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports
you. You will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true.
They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through
faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God
did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you” (Romans
11:18-21).
And what about the disciples. We read about Jesus’ critiques of their
failure to understand, and we think how thickheaded
they were and how we would have been different.
Think again! As though we would
have done even as well! No, what we see
in the wilderness and what we see in the disciples, is
God’s reprimand to us, Christ’s critique of us!
When you read the Bible that way, the effect is altogether different, is
it not? Gone is all that pride, and make
way for humility and gratitude that the merciful God still loves us and saves
us in spite of ourselves.
Now let us turn to our contemporaries. Those family members, our spouses, our fellow
Christians, our neighbors, our children, our in-laws,
our co-workers, the folks we encounter in the course
of the day. Go back over the list of all their faults and failures of which we
so effortlessly take account. Now look
at ourselves.
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be
judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own
eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while
the log is in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye”
(Matthew 7:1-5).
All right, now that we have our attention, what will we
do? Consider being less critical of
others? When you pray, be more open and
forthright about what we have learned about ourselves (God already has seen it
and known it)? Say before the throne of
grace, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm
51:3)? Be more open to the fact that
every last one of us that is saved will be saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8,
9)–yes, even you and I?
Trust in Christ more and in self less? Be more humble? Be more understanding? More patient? More forgiving? If all else fails, just remember, “Let anyone
among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone...” (John 8:7). Watch out, because the one we hit with the
stone may be ourselves.
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