The Greatest Danger of All

Of all of the dangerous endeavors that one may undertake, and of all of the great dangers that one may find himself in, there is one danger that is truly greater than all. That danger is not a peril that is immediately realized, but rather it is a state of heart and mind that procures certain harm to one’s self, whether physical, spiritual, emotional and/or circumstantial. That condition is known in the scriptures as being judgmental and unmerciful. Jesus dealt with this condition in the people he was around continually, and it was almost always the most religious people that he found it in. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Mat. 7:1-5). It is an absolute that men reap what they sow, because God is truly “the judge of all the earth” (Gal. 6:7; Gen. 18:25). And as Jesus stated in the above reference, if we are judgmental or unmerciful in our view of other people’s faults, it will surely return to us in like manner. The “beam” [large timber] in the eye of the judgmental person that Jesus mentioned, is an unmerciful spirit. And as Jesus pointed out, an unmerciful spirit and condemning view of others is a bigger sin than anything that one may find wrong with someone else [a mote, or splinter]. As long as someone is viewing others with an unmerciful spirit, that person is the blindest of all men, and sees nothing clearly at all; even as Jesus said. The apostle Paul admonished us of how we should deal with someone else’s fault, and also how to avoid reaping the dividend of an unmerciful spirit: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). And James gave us a sobering warning about this spiritual condition as well: “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy” (Jas. 2:13). An unmerciful, judgmental spirit is the earmark of all false religious doctrine, even as a merciful spirit is the earmark of someone abiding in the truth. And even as Jesus found this evil condition in so many of the religious people of his day, so it is today. Nothing has changed, only the names and faces.

Jesus let the seemingly righteous people of his time know that they were blind, because they claimed to see (Jn. 9:39-41). And their blindness was prevalently characterized by the fact that they were continually displeased with Jesus relieving the downtrodden people of their heavy burdens, whether by forgiveness or by healing (Lk. 7:36-39,48-50; Mk. 3:1-6; etc.). And there are many religious folks today who pride themselves on their own perceived righteousness by comparing themselves to others whom they see as being far more wicked than themselves. Jesus described this deception with a short parable: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Lk. 18:10-14). Things are rarely what they appear to be. The publican in this parable was focused on getting his own wrongs righted, while the religiously “righteous” Pharisee was busy overlooking the “beam” in his own eye while comparing himself with the seemingly unrighteous publican. The Pharisee was puffed up in a religious pride that gave him an erroneously exalted view of himself, and an equally erroneous unmerciful view of the downtrodden publican. And as Jesus explicitly stated in the parable, those who lift themselves up in this manner, and exalt themselves over others in an unmercifully proud relilgious spirit; will surely fall from that high perch. And so I believe the only thing left here is to quote one of the most powerful scriptures in the Bible, and then finish as we began; with a profound statement of truth from Jesus: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Mic. 6:8)? And this: “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Mat. 12:7). Oh my friend, all I can say is AMEN!