“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7:1 – 5

I figure that I spent 20 years in school, from First Grade at Kaufman School in Davidsville near Johnstown, to New York University where they put the finishing touches on me and pronounced me “Dr. Jacobs.”  A Ph D. That is a heap of school.

As I look back I can see that, in many ways, school taught me to be discerning and thoughtful, not to just swallow everything because others do. I was taught to be critical.  After all, I was in a high world-class society.  This supposed position of superiority came clear as crystal as I lived in African cultures.  I critiqued everything!  That is what I was trained to do and I was certainly not going to change.  After all, I was a “missionary!”  The word itself exalted me.

Then, what?  Because of the work of God in my heart I reached out to African friends and others who were also touched by the grace of Jesus Christ, and they reached out to me.  What, pray tell, am I to do with all the prejudices that had built up in my life?  Was I not, after all, superior?  Did not my training, etc., make me good at recognizing deficiencies in others?  Am I not the very best Christian?  Dear me!

I discovered that as I exposed the weakness of others, ever so harshly, I had to squint to see their bad sawdust specks because my own huge wooden timbers kept me from seeing the truth or from seeing others they were.  That was wrong and harmful.

These words of Jesus finally made sense. Stop critiquing others and examine yourself!  Ouch.  Strong medicine but the best for healing prejudice and blindness.  It is God’s prescribed medicine that produces love and humility.