““And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:03-05, NKJV).
Jesus has a lot to say about hypocrites and hypocritical behavior within this Sermon on the Mount. Hypocrisy is a powerful stimulus in human interaction. Being accused of it, whether true or not, usually elicits an impulse for self-defense. The accusation itself is sometimes enough to ruin a reputation, bring down a career, or completely undermine someone's influence. It is a very effective tool of character assassination precisely because it is so often plausible.
Let's face it, we are all pretty good hypocrites just about right from birth, as soon as we discover that we can get what we want by saying or doing something insincerely, and often conclude that the benefit outweighs the cost. There's also another level of hypocrisy that has to do with our public persona, the facade we wrap around ourselves so people like us, or think highly of us, or at least don't outright spit in our face.
We get it wrong, though, when we conclude that the price is worth it. In reality, that is quite far from accurate. The underlying fuel of hypocrisy, its engine, so to speak, is deceit. And deception kills. It destroys trust, relationship, integrity, and authenticity. In its place, it substitutes betrayal, usury, exploitation, and fakery. It's like a parasite or cancer that feeds on the good, and excretes filth in its place.
Christ illustrates this brilliantly in the passage on several levels. First He asks a question: "…why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" The very question is meant to bring forth the unspoken motive, namely, self-satisfaction at the expense of truth. Then the follow-up, "[or] how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?" This, in sequence, evokes the foundational illogic upon which hypocrisy, all hypocrisy, must rest. How can you judge someone else's heart, when your own hearts is even worse? The comparison between the judge, and the focus of judgement couldn't be more intentionally hyperbolic; a speck in the plaintiff's eye, versus a plank (some versions say "log") in the judge's eye. Since accurate judgment must necessarily be based on perception, which is blocked by a large and unwieldy obstacle, how can it possibly be valid? Answer: it can't.
Then Jesus, Who has perfect and unsullied perception, pronounces His infallible judgment: "Hypocrite!" This is quickly followed by the only remediation possible. "First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Flawless.
Examine your own sin, get yourself right, purge yourself of your own ridiculous preconception that you are pure enough to render judgment on someone else, and then, and only then, concern yourself with the miniscule aberration you think you see in your brother. Wreckage along the path of my own long history of snap judgments is rife with hypocritical pronunciations of others' faults. Even as a Christian, I am far more guilty of hypocrisy than I care to admit, and as a Christian, knowing my King despises such, my failures in this regard are that much worse. And where hypocrisy thrives the most is in public, because it is much easier to hide your real self from the world, then it is, let's say, from your spouse, or sibling, or children, or parents. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's all that difficult to be intimately hypocritical, just that it typically takes more energy and stamina.
Of one thing I am certain, I despise hypocrisy in other people, and gladly overlook it in myself, which is exactly what Jesus is saying we are guilty of when we judge someone else's heart. Not surprisingly, the Apostle Paul says the same thing in another way in his epistle to the Romans, and James, the Lord's brother, affirms it as well.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. (Romans 2:1, NKJV).
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4, NKJV).
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (James 4:12, NKJV).
It bears repeating that, while we are ordered to be sufficiently discerning to differentiate between good and rotten fruit (deeds), we are incapable of looking accurately into someone's motivation, especially when the deed in view is not inherently sinful. That doesn't mean that we are to be idiots. It is fairly obvious when the fruit of someone's superficially good actions produces decay. Charity that actually undermines another person's self-sufficiency just to keep them "down", is one example. There are a billion others. Professed love that is really lust, or a desire to control or own. Compliments that serve to prevent someone from actually improving so that you always win. Outwardly sincere flattery in order to manipulate or ingratiate. Eventually, this all becomes evident in the light of day for what it really is: hypocrisy.
What is the antidote? How doe we yank that plank out of our own eye?
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. (Romans 14:10-13, NKJV).
