Feeling Hopeless From the Hypocrisy Of Our Leaders?
News Flash: Jesus Disapproves and Demands Self-Examination From All Offenders
While listening to the news the other night, I perked up when I heard the commenter state he believed that a lack of self-examination was causing much of our nation's division. Wow — He must have been reading my mind!
Unfortunately, it was just a passing statement, and I was disappointed that he didn’t expound on his observation. Since then, I have tried to develop a unique way to posit this theory, and then I remembered another expert on the subject: Jesus, yes, of course.
How quickly I forget the timeless spiritual teachers who might have better advice than me. (Hmm, another hard teaching for another day. Maybe something to do with humility?)
I had never touched a Bible until I was in my fifties. I fell in love with the words of Jesus after reading several passages indicating that he abhorred hypocrites. Most people beginning to read the Gospels might focus on his miracles and generous love. Not me. I was stunned and in awe at his anger toward the pious and self-righteous. Yes, a furious Jesus. How wonderful!
So, I will let Jesus do this scandalous teaching. Matthew 7:3–5 reads:
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.
Read more on the origin of the word hypocrite here.
I rarely pull a Bible verse out to make a point. Too many Christians have used the Bible to justify their behavior. (Jesus doesn’t like that either.) Meaning always comes from context. And scripture used out of context, can be toxic.
I’m not a theologian, but here is a bit of context: Jesus was admonishing his culture’s religious leaders. Many high priests of Jesus’s Hebrew faith were using their authority to abuse their people. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly rebukes these leaders for misleading and exploiting their unassuming flocks with falsehoods and pretenses. (Sound familiar?)
This short Bible passage reminds me of many of our current political and religious leaders. I shy away from calling myself “Christian” because I believe the hypocrisy in so many churches of my faith is rampant: We are still witnessing people who play the Christian card as a means to self-aggrandize. (I swear, Jesus would roll over in his grave — if he had one.)
But in his teaching, Jesus does not just rant on and on. He offers the solution: First, take the plank out of your own eye.
On first reading, I thought, “You go, Jesus! Tell them! Set them straight!”
Now when I meditate on these powerful words, I realize the message is also for me — for us all. Like Jesus, I disdain hypocrisy, especially from leaders. And yet, I understand how challenging and necessary this teaching is. Honest self-examination may be one of the most courageous lifelong practices that we can choose to adopt.
But even more complicated:
Jesus also said to love your enemies. Impossible and improbable perhaps — and yet I wonder if removing the planks from our own eyes would help create a new road. A passageway toward more understanding, compassion, and the elusive unity we all thirst for.