I Can See Clearly Now the Plank is Gone

When I was much younger I worked for a plumber and one day while I was in the shop cutting a piece of metal a very small sliver of hot steal shot right into my eye.  One blink and it stuck nicely into the inside of my upper eyelid so that every time I blinked it would drag the sharp shard of steel across my cornea and send intense pain all the way down to my left big toe.  The ER doc flipped my eyelid inside out and plucked the sliver of metal out, put it on a piece of gauze, and said, "Well, here is the little demon."  I could barely see it!  It was like half the size of a gnat.  I wonder what it must be like to have an eight foot 2x6 stuck in my eye.  Jesus said these words in Matthew 7:

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 our own eye, and then you will see clearly to  remove the speck from your brother's eye.

A couple weeks ago someone you know took a fall, a really big fall. He sinned against the Lord and against his wife and kids.  Since then much of the world, including many Christians I know, have taken out their red hot pokers and have mocked him, scorned him, and accused him.  His name is Tiger.  I have never met Tiger Woods but it seems that he has led a double life.  He has been unfaithful to his wife and has likely been addicted to the attention (physically and socially) of other women.  Yep he is a sinner.  Oh, yeah by the way, so am I.  And, so is this guy I saw a statue of in a church once.  His name is "Saint" Paul.  He said these words in Romans chapter 7:

"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep doing.  Now if I do what I don't want to do, it is no longer I who do it but sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work; when I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am!"

So I think it's time to pluck the planks out of our own eyes, take a look at what sin really looks like, and also reevaluate what our response should be to one that has fallen hard.  I'll go first.  OK, I'm slowly removing the lumber from my eye.  Ouch! Ok, that hurt but now I can actually see clearly.

I want to start by saying that what Tiger did was very serious and has caused his family much pain.  From experience I also know that he is also in a lot of pain now.  Sin does that.  James tells us that "Sin when it is fully grown gives birth to death." It sure does!  But Jesus reminds us that the sin isn't just in the final ugly act but begins in the heart way before someone crawls into bed with another woman.  Jesus said, if you look at a woman with lust you've committed adultery in your heart.  So how many of you guys have ever looked on a woman with lust?  Or you women looked on a man with lust?  If you said, "Not me!" then you also have to add lying to your list of sins.  So if you've engaged in pornography, the adultery is in your heart and from the God's perspective it is the same.  Maybe it's not pornography but looking longer at the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than Tony Romo.  Bottom line is that we have to examine our own lives for the sin in our hearts.

I don't know if Tiger is a born again believer but I would guess he likely isn't.  So, then there may be a chance that he is closer to a saving relationship with God now than he was when he was putting on the green jacket at the Masters.  Being humbled and fallen and seeing the "depravity" that the Bible reminds us we each share is often the first step towards seeking God.  Do I care if Tiger hits a 360 yard drive, eagles a 595 yard par 5, or wins another Major?  Nope.  Do I care if he earns another million dollars from Nike?  Nope.  Do I care that he comes to know the Savior of the world, the One who died for Tiger while he was yet a sinner?  Yep.

Look, he failed big time and so have I.  Tiger and I have a lot in common except  that I have a wicked slice and can't putt worth a darn.  So, let's each take a real close look at our own lives (and the planks in our eyes) and see where we are sinning against God.  Lust, greed, deceit, pride, coveting, gluttony,  cursing, cheating, selfishness . . . should I go on? Nah, I think we get the idea.

Lastly, I'd like to say to my brothers and sister in Christ that when we see someone fall regardless of the magnitude of the crash our response should be to find an opportunity to share the One who came to take away our sin, restore relationship, and to remove condemnation.  If we find ourselves making a joke at the expense of the man who is broken and his wife who is crushed we might want to stop, find a quiet place, and pray for them both.  They could sure use someone with the love of Christ to show them the way home.

Paul said, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.'

Thank God!

Peace,

David