Speck Vs Plank

by Glynis M Belec 

It bothers me immensely when Christians judge other Christians in a mean-spirited way. Actually, it bothers me when anybody judges anybody negatively, because it isn’t in the ‘be nice to other humans’ job description. In Matthew 7:1-5 we read this:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

            Excellent direction for those times when we think we are right and someone else isn’t.         

     Someone with a beam in her eye cannot see things clearly. She has little discernment. As much as is possible, and in all humility, we need to leave judging to God alone. Although I do believe this scripture verse does say – it is okay to judge – once you’ve removed the log from your own eye!

I believe we have a moral responsibility to judge ethical behavior of others—but only if we are humbly aware that we are not always right and sometimes we can be dead wrong. And the key to proper judgement is to do it quietly and in love.

Look what it says in Romans 3:23:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard (NLT)

Our ability to judge is limited because we are sinful people. And we might want to remember

 hat one day, this will happen— 2 Corinthians 5:10:

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body who will ourselves, one day, come under judgment.

I am thinking that it’s not so much the act of judging that is the issue, but from what I understand, it’s the attitude with which we do it that matters.

It’s okay to be discerning about someone’s character or teaching that seems askew according to God’s word. But when we address this we are not to do it with ruthless Bible-thumping, harsh words and threatening insults.

It’s okay to speak to a fellow Christian about something you believe is sinful according to what is taught in the Bible, remembering that interpretation is at play. Speaking in love, in private is the correct way to approach a person—not speaking about him publicly or behind his back, spreading gossip because you think others should ‘hear this, too!’

Check out Matthew 18:15:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.)

If I am jealous of someone and I criticize him, then I am not building him up. I am attempting to tear him down. Not nice.

If I think I know the whole story (facts, motives) but I jump to conclusions, then I judge wrongly – I am merely going on hearsay and opinion. Not right.

If I make up my own rules because I think I interpreted God correctly, mainly because I want things a certain way—as in distorting the truth to suit—then I need to look out. Bad move.

If I am not a nice person to be around and I consistently point out everyone else’s shortcomings but don’t bother looking at myself, then I have a whopping great log in my eye blocking my vision; which makes me arrogant, judgmental. Time to look within.

     If I share confidential information with the wrong intent (humiliation verse humility) then I am messing up big time, because I have no right to make someone look bad.

     If I am being self-righteous and critical over something that might mean one thing to me and something else to someone else, then I deserve to get pinched by God.

     And I think, most importantly, if I think I have the right to say that someone is going to hell (pronouncing eternal damnation) then who do I think I am? Look out for the thunder!

     It’s not my job to usurp God as Judge.

     I know the best thing I can do to resolve conflicts, or to stop judging is to submit to God by showing love and living the Fruits of the Spirits as best as I can (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.)

     Loving words don’t tear down. People can choose to react how they wish, but as a Christian I should speak loving and kind words even though I might be considered judging. I try to use kind words even if I am judging a contest or teaching children about right choices or working with writers to help them improve their work.

     If I am harsh and heavy handed with my words, beating others over the head with the Bible, then I am working on making myself look like I know it all and ultimately, I am loving myself more than I love others. Our words and deeds need to reflect God, not my own stubborn pride, thinking I have all the answers.

     Know what happens when I imply I am the one with all the answers? People get defensive and arguments ensue or they run away, not wanting anything to do with all that Christian hypocritical nonsense. Not a very good witness for the Kingdom.

     Resolving conflicts involves an operation—removal of the plank, and then healing—demonstration of God’s unconditional, non-judgmental love.

     I’ve got my surgery booked. How about you?

        Glynis lives, loves, laughs and does an awful lot of reading, writing, publishing and praying in her home office. 

        How thrilled Glynis is to be part of GOOD GRIEF PEOPLE (Angel Hope Publishing) - an anthology filled with stories that help readers recognize, honour and celebrate  the individuality of grief.                     www.glynisbelec.com 

Jumping to Conclusions

Loud male voices bounced along the corridor, increasing in volume as the men drew near to our room. Raucous laughter, loose language, and the clearly distinguished ‘F-bomb’ didn’t make for a thrilling prospect for my getting back off to sleep. “Oh Lord, I hope they’re not boarded in the room next to us,” I groaned in silence. It was about 2:15 AM, and occurred a few weeks ago.

 

We’d experienced disturbances in hotels and motels before. Inebriated revellers are perhaps to be pitied, rather than condemned—yet shouldn’t be excused either, I suppose. That night, my wife and two grandkids slept on, while I lay awake. The noise diminished and then cut to a low level once their room door closed behind them. I offered up a silent prayer for those men and their families.

 

Now wide awake, I was a long time in getting back off to sleep and drifted into reflection. Many years ago, after a conference meeting had ended, several pastor friends and I enjoyed a time of fellowship over a light meal.

 

None of us had consumed alcohol, and yet I recall, to my embarrassment, that upon our return to our hotel after midnight, we failed to exercise consideration for other hotel guests. Our loud talk and laughter echoed along the hallways, as we made our way back to our rooms. How many people did we rudely awaken, I wonder?

 

Back to our recent hotel stay. Continental breakfast was supposed to be available from 6:30 AM, at the area near the front desk. Morning came and we went down at about 7:30. Nothing was set out ready—not even coffee. We learned that the night-desk person had fallen asleep.

 

While he slept, someone pitched the front desk computer monitor onto the floor, the damage incapacitating the computer system. The monitor and its cable dragged other components down with them and broke cables and connections, incapacitating the system.

 

The worker who’d dozed on the job was worried about losing his employment, while a computer technician scrambled to get things up and running for business again. Meantime, a growing bevy of guests, ready to head out for the day, anxiously awaited the arrival of food, several showing by their body language they were chomping at the bit.

 

May and I raised concerns about our personal information; however the clerk assured us that no guest information was taken or lost. Eventually, breakfast was available by 8:30 AM.

 

Who was responsible for this act of vandalism? Suspicions were voiced that it was an inside job.  I didn’t like my own tendency to wonder whether a member of the late-night rowdies group was responsible; that would be to jump to a conclusion without proof, and constitute prejudice.

 

Isn’t that a human trait, though? We put two and two together and make five; but who hasn’t fallen into that mode, occasionally?

 

What points to raise our gaze do we see in this story? Simply: Beware of jumping to conclusions. Did I know for sure that those guys were drunk? The situation reminded me that I’d been party to loud, inconsiderate behaviour towards others, even when alcohol consumption couldn’t be blamed.

 

Another point is that, regardless of who bore responsibility for the rash act of vandalism, hasty, irresponsible actions can negatively affect a great many people and bring stress into their lives.

 

Jumping to conclusions. Hmm, that’s my story of a lesson not quite yet learned. Have you encountered a recent incident that impressed a similar lesson on you?

 

Here are a couple of cautionary verses:

 

“Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves” (Matthew 7:1-2 Ampl.).

 

“Don't be nitpickers; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right” (John 7:24 Mssg).

 

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Raise Your Gaze  Family and Faith Matters

Peter’s new book, “Raise Your Gaze . . . Musings of a Grateful Heart,” is due for release in Fall, 2014.

 
Peter A. Black is a freelance writer in Southwestern Ontario, and is author of “Parables from the Pond” – a children's / family book (mildly educational, inspirational in orientation, character reinforcing). Finalist – Word Alive Press. ISBN: 1897373-21-X. The book has found a place in various settings with a readership ranging from kids to senior adults.

His inspirational column, P-Pep! appears weekly in The Guide-Advocate (of Southwestern Ontario). His articles have appeared in 50 Plus Contact and testimony, and several newspapers in Ontario.

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And The Winner Is...

Okay, I gotta admit right off the bat – I stole the title of this blog post. Chip McGregor http://www.macgregorliteracy.com/ has a weekly blog that I subscribe to via email, and this title made a very eye-catching subject line in my inbox last week. It was actually for his annual “Bad Poetry Contest,” which is always a lot of fun.

Chip’s email preceded an email announcement of the winners of the Novice Writing Contest http://www.thewordguild.com/ and that was shortly followed by the announcement of the shortlist of winners for the Canadian Christian Writing Awards http://www.canadianchristianwritingawards.com/ .

So what do you think about contests?
And how do you feel in general about winning and losing?
Do you think competition is a good thing – a Christian thing?

I’ve been on both sides of the contest arena – both as a judge and as a contestant. And I honestly don’t know which one is more difficult – or more rewarding.

It’s a very difficult thing to make a decision that you know will affect someone’s future in a profound way. As so many judges say, I too often lament, “They are all winners. All of them deserve a prize.” And I want to say to all the writers: “Don’t give up! Keep on writing!”

I’ve also won awards in previous years and been shortlisted several times. And I wonder why some of my books and articles are chosen over others. And how does this affect my life as a writer – as a follower of Christ?

Simply put, it doesn’t.

Winning or losing on this earthly stage is “small potatoes” compared to winning or losing on the heavenly stage. And what keeps me going day by day and minute by minute as an author is not whether I’ve won or lost an award or had a book proposal accepted or rejected. It can’t be – or I’d go crazy! Because the life of an author, perhaps more than any other vocation, is a constant mix of rejections and acclamations.

For those of you who didn’t win the Novice Writing Contest and who were not shortlisted for the Canadian Writing Awards, I want to tell you to “hang in there” – to not give up. And to tell you that it never really does get easier. There will always be rejections of one sort or another mixed in amongst the acclamations. And as an author, you just really have to “go with the flow.” And keep remembering why you chose to pick up a pen in the first place.

You have a story. It is a story that only you can tell. No other author, no matter how famous, can do the job that you are being asked to do. Tell your story. Listen to those around you who offer advice. Pay attention to the judges, the editors and the book reviewers. But don’t allow their opinions to cause you to throw up your hands and quit.
The number one characteristic of a successful author is not talent but perseverance. Don’t give up!


Dorene Meyer
http://www.dorenemeyer.com/

Author of The Little Ones

Shortlisted for Canadian Writing Awards: General Readership
Shortlisted for Canadian Writing Awards: Independently Published Fiction
Shortlisted for Canadian Writing Awards: Mystery/Suspense

Author of Jasmine
Now in book stores across Canada

Both books distributed by Word Alive Press http://www.wordalivepress.ca/.

Available also on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (key in title of book and publisher: Word Alive Press).