You Can Never Become a member of a perfect ecclesia because the minute you join it, it won’t be. Often we expect perfection in others but fail to see our own imperfections. Surely this was the lesson that Jesus was trying to drive home in his parable about the mote and the beam, or, as the newer versions have it, the speck and the plank. We seem to see other people’s faults so much more clearly than our own.
Having just had two cataract surgeries we now realize what we have been missing. Cataracts grow so slowly one does not notice the change until one eye is corrected and one isn’t. No doubt the perfect vision of the future age will expose how imperfect our sight is now in spiritual matters, for at best we now “see through a glass, darkly.” Isaiah tells us that the Lord shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ear; he won’t, but we do. We can only judge by what we perceive, we don’t know what others are thinking or feeling, which is why we should be more patient with the imperfections of others.
The lesson the Lord is trying to teach in the parable of the mote and beam is that our vision is obscured, and our failings make it impossible for us to correctly examine the faults of others. We can be so harsh to others while overlooking our own imperfections and faults. The Lord sees us as we really are, which is a sobering thought. He has perfect vision and perfect insight. We look on the outside but he looks on the heart. He knows our every thought and motive.
This side of the kingdom we will not find a perfect ecclesia, a perfect partner, a perfect job, or a perfect anything. We are all so imperfect, why aren’t we more patient with the imperfections of others? We make demands on others but excuse ourselves. “Hypocrites” is the word Jesus used in accusing the Pharisees. He used the right word. Does it apply to us? Me, a hypocrite? Yes, we can be, and likely are. It is about time we acknowledge it and ask to be forgiven for our hypocritical attitudes. Fortunately we can be forgiven, but not unless we recognize our faults, confess them, and ask forgiveness.
We just don’t see things the way the Lord sees them. Jesus over and over tried to drive home the lesson that we have so much to be forgiven for. Why are we so hard on our fellow brethren and sisters and demand that they toe a line that we have drawn for them? The frightening fact is that we are only going to receive as much mercy as we have shown to others, which means that there will be some at the judgment seat who were so self righteous and unforgiving of others that they will be rejected. In their own minds, they had done many wonderful things for the Lord. Jesus describes them this way: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” His response to them is a warning to us: “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
We each owe a debt that we can never repay. Others may owe us a much smaller amount. Are we willing to forgive their debt as we want the Lord to forgive ours? We are all familiar with the parable Jesus told us about the man who owed the huge sum of money and was forgiven only to go out and grab his fellow servant by the throat demanding payment for a paltry sum. We may be familiar with the story, but do we live out the lesson it teaches us? We all owe so much to God and no one owes us anything in comparison. How do we treat those who owe us? The lesson is clear.
We have come out of the world seeking Truth and we have joined others of like precious faith on a journey to the kingdom. We cannot belong to a perfect group but we can belong to a loving and compassionate group. Let it begin with us.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One