Speaking Wisely
It’s easy to be hypocritical, and we’re all guilty of it sometimes. A little while ago, Florida’s Sun Sentinel examined the records of 3,915 officers who had traveled on toll roads in 2011. The paper found that nearly 800 of them had driven at speeds of 90 to 130 miles an hour, many either while off duty or in violation of department rules. Jesus offers some sobering insights on hypocrisy in the Sermon on the Mount. His insights are relevant today.
In Matthew 7, Jesus warns against judging others. He warns, “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.” (vv. 1-2) If we approach our brother or sister with a judgmental spirit and condemn them for their failure, we need to be careful because the Lord promises that the same standard will be applied to us. That would, of course, be a fearful thing. Jesus drives home the point with a visual aid. He asks, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s yet 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?” (vv. 3-5) Jesus is highlighting here the issue of hypocrisy. We see a tiny fault in another—a speck—and we pounce. And yet there is an equivalent but much larger fault in our own life—a plank—and we’re entirely blind to it.
It is a mark of spiritual maturity when believers learn to be gracious toward one another – slow to criticize or judge. That slowness to speak flows from a deepening grasp of the gospel truth that we all approach the Lord on an equal footing – as helpless and hopeless sinners in desperate need of a Saviour. The gospel eliminates boasting—it destroys pride—and it cuts down self-righteousness. Jesus knows full well that the challenge He lays before us in Matthew 7 is more than we can manage on our own. It requires great self-control and wisdom to live out. So He calls us to seek help from our Heavenly Father in verses 7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Some have taken these verses to mean that God will give us whatever we ask for – a dream vacation, wealth, etc. But the verses relate to God helping us with fulfilling the righteous commands outlined in the Sermon on the Mount.
Be encouraged this week: if you ask for help with your speech, the Lord will indeed help you. As Jesus explains: “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (vv. 9-11) God is good and not evil. Like any loving father, He longs to give good things to His children. And He is able to do so perfectly and flawlessly.