Why is it so easy to see the faults in others and so difficult to see them in ourselves? Jesus tells us to remove the plank in our own eye before we seek to remove the speck in another’s. Of course, to do this, we must first be able to identify and acknowledge the plank in our own eye. In other words, we must possess both self-awareness and humility—qualities that require cultivation and nurturing. When they are neglected and allowed to atrophy or disappear altogether, the vacuum is usually filled by self-righteousness instead.
My friend David French has written about this tendency as it relates to political polarization. When facing a choice between two flawed candidates, many people choose to hold their noses and vote for the person they consider less odious. At this early stage, we can recognize the flaws—the planks in the eye—of our candidate, party, or group. But over time, as we continue to identify with the team, it becomes increasingly difficult to acknowledge these shortcomings. French describes it this way: “People can stomach voting for the lesser of two evils, but few people can stomach being a part of a movement that’s simply ‘less evil.’ People want to be a part of something good, not merely something that’s less bad.”
This deep desire to see ourselves and our group as truly good, rather than merely less evil, eventually leads us to minimize our team’s sins, then to excuse them, and finally to deny their existence altogether. We stop holding our noses because we’ve convinced ourselves that the foul odor really isn’t foul at all; it’s actually a bouquet of flowers. To maintain this illusion of self-righteousness, humility and self-awareness aren’t just abandoned but actively discouraged and criticized within the group. At the same time, the tiniest splinter in our opponents’ eyes is magnified into a sequoia. In other words, we lose all objectivity and any ability to perceive the truth.
When self-righteousness fully eclipses self-awareness, and we are completely convinced of our team’s goodness, we can justify the most heinous evils. This is precisely what we see in those who opposed and killed Jesus. For example, the Sanhedrin could have arrested Jesus while he taught openly at the temple each day. Instead, they snatched him in the middle of the night outside the city to avoid public outcry. Then they held a trial under the cover of darkness so no one could come to Jesus’ defense. Finally, the Sanhedrin arranged for false witnesses to testify against Jesus to fabricate a reason to execute him. They blatantly broke God’s law, all the while they were attempting to find just one speck of sin in Jesus’ eye. They were so blinded by their self-righteousness that they could no longer discern right from wrong, godliness from wickedness.
Their example serves as a warning to all of us who cling to a righteous religious identity while judging the less devout around us. We may become so convinced of our group’s goodness that we fail to see our true ungodliness. Once we stop affirming and cultivating self-awareness and humility, we stop recognizing the truth about ourselves. We become convinced that we could never belong to team evil, which is precisely how evil spreads.
Daily Scripture
Weekly Prayer
From Thomas à Kempis (1380 - 1471)
How long can we love life, when it holds so much bitterness and brings so much sorrow? Indeed, how can we call the daily struggle true life, when it brings physical pain and spiritual sadness in equal measure? Yet people cling to sinful activities as a source of comfort. They grasp desperately at the passing pleasures and vanities of the world. They do not readily abandon the desires of the body and the lusts of the eye.
Lord, strengthen me with heavenly courage, that I may fight against pleasures and vanities that harm the soul. I do not expect or ask that trials and sorrows should cease. I ask only that, in your strength, I resist the temptation to seek consolation in sin. For I know that only by clinging to the gospel of righteousness, and by grasping at your eternal grace, can I ever experience true and lasting joy.
Amen.