The Plank in Our Eye
One
The Wooden Beam and the Speck
One of Jesus’ very well-known images is that of the speck and the wooden beam. It’s about the people who worry about the little imperfections in other people, and ignore the huge defects in themselves.
In Matthew 7, Jesus says, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite,* remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
Now what exactly does that mean in practice? Does it mean we’re supposed to compare our sinfulness with our neighbor’s, perform some kind of vice measurement? And if we’re less sinful than our neighbor, we get to correct him but if we’re more sinful than our neighbor, we have to keep our mouths shut? But how on earth are we supposed to conduct that kind of spiritual appraisal?
Two
The Wooden Beam
Jesus doesn’t actually say we have to compare our spiritual state with that of our neighbor. He just says that before we correct our neighbor’s defects, we have to make sure we don’t have a wooden beam in our own eye. So what is the wooden beam?
A wooden beam is a huge piece of wood. For sure, if you have that in your eye, you won’t be able to see anything. And what is the largest spiritual defect, the greatest spiritual blindness? What is the defect that makes it impossible for you to have any spiritual insight, and that certainly makes it impossible for you to help anybody else? Without a doubt, the great sin, the thing that blocks the clarity of your soul like a chunk of two-by-four in your eye would block your vision, that sin, that defect, that blindness, is pride.
Three
The Blindness of Pride
Pride means thinking and acting and talking like you’re better than other people. It’s thinking that you’re special, that God is more pleased with you than He is with others. It’s thinking you’ve got all the insight and the answers, and that you’re life should be held up as a model for other people.
That’s utter blindness. And it makes you worthless as a spiritual guide to others. Because proud people are always self-justifying. A prideful person treats his own defects as virtues and treats whatever virtues other people have and he doesn’t as defects. Which means that the proud person is constantly screwing up his own moral compass, treating defects as virtues and virtues as defects. In which case, needless to say, he’s of no spiritual use to himself, let alone to anyone else.
That’s why pride is the beam in the eye. And if you want to be of any spiritual help to anyone else, you’ve got to get rid of it.
Four
Taking the Beam Out of Your Own Eye
Taking the beam out of your own eye doesn’t mean that you have to be convinced that you’re more virtuous than everybody else before you give your spiritual opinion. Actually, it’s the opposite. Taking out the beam out of your eye means you have to be convinced that you’re not more virtuous than everyone else. Because that’s the ultimate spiritual blindness that will do you the most damage and prevent you from helping anyone else.
So the way you take that huge wooden beam out of your eye is to do two things: First, remember that you are a sinner. And not just any sinner, but a sinner who has been uniquely blessed and graced by God. You don’t know what gifts and opportunities God has given other people – but you do know how many gifts and opportunities from God you’ve squandered. Which means you know you have no right to judge yourself as being better overall than anybody else.
And secondly, remember that other people simply do have virtues you don’t have. Even if it’s somebody who is failing morally in some way – once you get to know somebody, it doesn’t take a lot of time or reflection to realize that that person has certain strengths that you lack. That person has admirable qualities that you should appreciate, and even learn from and aspire to.
When you remember that you’re a sinner and that other people are, in many ways, your superior, then you are taking that huge chuck of wood out of your own eye. Then you are making it possible to receive God’s grace, and maybe even help others get closer to Him as well.
Five
Helping Others
St. Augustine, in reflecting on the image of the speck and the wooden beam, has this to say, “And therefore we must piously and cautiously watch, so that when necessity shall compel us to find fault with or rebuke any one, we may reflect first whether the fault is such as we have never had, or one from which we have now become free; and if we have never had it, let us reflect that we are men, and might have had it; but if we have had it, and are now free from it, let the common infirmity touch the memory … If, however, on reflection, we find ourselves involved in the same fault as he is whom we were preparing to censure, let us not censure nor rebuke; but yet let us mourn deeply over the case, and let us invite him not to obey but to join us in a common effort.
That’s perfect. In other words, if we see someone else doing something wrong, turn it back on yourself and let it be an examination of conscience. If we’ve never struggled with that sin, let’s be grateful, since we know that, weak as we are, we very easily might have succumbed to the same fault. If we used to struggle with that sin, but now we’ve gotten over it, let’s keep the memory of that struggle alive, so we can sympathize with our neighbor. And if we are still struggling with that sin, then let’s be sorry for our sin and the other person’s, and let’s invite the other person to join us in the struggle for freedom.
Because we all have specks in our eyes, we’re all sinners, and as long as none of us is too proud to admit it, we can fight our sins more effectively together than by ourselves.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
The sin that blinds us is pride, so take time this week to find the things you’re proud of that might be blinding you to your own sin.
Instead of feeling superior to others for their sin, use it as a moment of gratitude and empathy.
If you’re struggling with some vice and notice someone else has the same vice, don’t be hypocritical, but instead try to journey together on the path towards virtue.