My Plank or Yours?

I truly dislike election season. I avoid watching TV (thank you Netflix and Hulu) because I can’t stand the ads which are all full of lies, half truths and exaggerations. I just don’t enjoy coexisting with so much negativity. It is everywhere… it’s on TV, it’s on my Facebook wall, it’s on every internet page and in so many of the conversations I hear around me. Negativity is everywhere.

And now my Facebook wall and 6 o’clock news are covering a new topic – Chick Fil A vs. Muppets. Okay, not muppets really, but the Jim Henson Corporation. I happen to love Chick Fil A with their waffle fries and shakes that are delicious. I also love the Muppets; I grew up watching them and have a cat named Fozzie Bear. According to my Facebook news feed, I can’t exist this way. I must take a side. I have to decide who I will stand by in this latest edition of divisive media stories.

I am a Christian, so does that mean I must automatically take the side of the Christian based company of Chick Fil A? Not so fast…

See, I take a different approach to this subject. In my attempt to follow Jesus’ example of how to live life, I am not so quick to point out the flaws in someone else. I don’t avoid certain people or places simply because they live their lives to a different moral standard than I do. I don’t assume that their sin or their life issues are any worse than mine. Trust me when I tell you, according to the bible, there is plenty of sin in my life. I am flawed and the plank in my eye is a big one. So who am I to point out what I perceive to be the splinter in yours?

Jesus spent most of his ministry life with the dregs of society – the prostitutes, tax collectors and the dishonored of that time. He gave them his time, he told them about God and most importantly, he loved them. This man, who was without sin, did not spend his hours ranting about the sin in their lives. Instead, he loved them.

Who am I to act any differently? And we are not talking about the dregs of society here, we are talking about your neighbors, your teachers, your family members and your friends. Does the bible say a man should not lay with a man? Yes, it does. The bible also says adultery is wrong and lying is sinful, and yet it happens more often than we even know about. Why are we as a Christian society so focused on a few sins of others? If we truly believe in the redemptive power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then don’t we also believe that God can deal with this particular issue on His own, just as he deals with the sin in our own lives? Who are we to point fingers at the splinters of others? My plank is big enough for me, and it needs my immediate attention… How about yours?

Now, I think I will head to Chick Fil A for some waffle fries, and pick up a Muppets t-shirt on the way.

Matthew 7 1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 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.