Tag: Matthew

If Your Eye Causes You to Sin

Matthew’s Gospel contains an intense period of instruction from Jesus to His disciples (Chapter 17-20). Jesus knew His time on earth was limited, so He spent more time with His followers and less time ministering to the crowds.

This section includes a hard saying of Jesus:

“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”

Matthew 18:7-9 (NLT)

This is not the first time Jesus said something like this (See Matthew 5:29-30), but I imagine his audience was shocked to hear it (even if it was the second time around for some of them).

How do we make sense of it? Let’s first state the obvious: it is not to be taken literally. How do I know this? Removing a body part (or multiple body parts) would not remove our sinful nature, nor would it save us from hell. Sin is a heart issue.

Notice that “Temptations are inevitable.” In other words, they are a part of the broken world we live in and will be until He makes all things new.

When I see this statement I think of the availability of sexually explicit material now compared to the world of my youth. There was a time in which one had to go to a “specialized” store or theater in order to purchase or view such material. Now there’s an unlimited buffet of filth available with a few screen clicks. These and other temptations now permeate the world we live in–they are everywhere.

But judgement will come to those who live to lead others to sin: “what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.” Jesus already warned His listeners about a broad path that leads to eternal destruction (Matthew 7:13). He also warned that a life of setting traps for God’s children would be better off cut short than to continue storing up judgement (Matthew 18:6). A life of sin and leading others into sin is horrifically short-sighted in light of eternity.

But what of all this talk of self-mutilation? It’s a figure of speech Jesus used to vividly drive a point home. It’s not that different from Jesus’ declaration that a tiny bit of faith will allow His followers to speak and move mountains (Matthew 17:20).

Here’s the point: we, God’s children, should not invite temptation into our lives. The prevalence of sin and temptation in this world is never an excuse for us to allow it into our lives.

I think back to my previous life as a substance abuse counselor. Recovering addicts are often warned to avoid “triggers”–people, places, and things that might cause them to slip back in to their addictions.

In much the same way, followers of Christ are called to remove known sources of temptation from our lives–no matter how precious they are to us.

What if there’s a relationship in your life that constantly leads you into sin? You must distance yourself from that person–the benefit of the relationship simply isn’t worth the risk of leading you to sin against a God who loves you and wants the best for you.

The same could go for a streaming service or website that constantly entices you to look at images that displease God. Cancel your subscription, install accountability software, or take whatever other steps are necessary to remove this source of temptation from your life.

These are just a couple of examples, but I think you get the point: Jesus calls us to treasure our relationship with Him above all things. Nothing is worth damaging your fellowship with Him.

Do Not Judge

Jesus said, “Do not judge,” or “judge not,” (depending on your translation) in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s one of the most well-known statements of Jesus. But it’s also one of the most misunderstood and misquoted sayings in the entire Bible.

I ran across a meme some time ago which reflects how how many see or interpret this biblical phrase:

Some act as though Jesus called everyone’s attention, said “do not judge,” then said nothing else. But this is not what happened.

Matthew 7:1 is part of one of Jesus’ most well-known sermons, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapter 5-7). The Sermon on the Mount is a guide to Christian ethics. Don’t miss this–“do not judge” appears in a sermon on Christian ethics.

Here’s the biggest mistake I see in relation to this phrase: many believe that “do not judge” means we should never make any type of ethical assessment between right and wrong.

“Do not judge,” for example, is often spouted as an objection when we (believers) say that certain types of sexual behavior (such as homosexuality) are immoral/sinful. But let’s once again consider the context.

Here’s something Jesus said in Matthew 5:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Matthew 5:27-28

According to Jesus, an intense desire to have sex outside of marriage is just as evil as the act itself. The only thing lacking is opportunity when someone’s heart is in this sinful state. It’s beyond ludicrous to use Jesus’ words from this same sermon to justify an “anything goes” approach to human sexuality.

What exactly was Jesus warning us about, then? Let’s look at Matthew 7:1-5:

1“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Here’s the point Jesus is making:

We should honestly look at ourselves before looking at others.

This doesn’t mean that we must be completely sinless in order to call something sinful. No one could make any type assessment if that was the case.

It does mean we should be constantly vigilant against hypocrisy. We all have a strong tendency towards self-deception and self-righteousness. It is very easy to see others’ flaws while being blind to my own. The Pharisees were masters of this hypocrisy, but we should be just the opposite. I like the way AW Tozer put it:

A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.

-AW Tozer

The worst form of hypocrisy is to hold others to a standard that I myself am violating. Jesus used an outlandish (and humorous) image to make his point: imagine trying to remove a small piece of sawdust out of your brother’s eye while you have a huge plank protruding from your own.

Having a foreign object in your eye is not good–we all know the irritation a single eyelash can cause. Jesus did not say, “Ignore the log and the speck because after all I just said don’t judge.” Instead He said I must first examine myself so I can see clearly to help someone else come to repentance.

Part of my role as a pastor is to correct and rebuke (2nd Timothy 2:4). This happens through the proclamation of God’s word and can even happen privately. But I should always be harder on myself than I am with others.

This is the heart of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:1-5.

Lord, please give me the courage to relentlessly examine my own heart and life in light of Your word. I pray that my own sin grieves me more than anyone else’s. May any correction from me come from a place of love and humility, not hypocrisy and self-righteousness.