As it happened, the inspection on the home we were buying went first. Check this, check that, check every tiny detail, we implored, even though I am sure the professional inspector did not need our advice. Two days later it was our turn. "Hope he doesn't see that," we thought. "Hope he remembers that it is 41 years old and cosmetic blemishes should be expected!"
Isn't it funny, or not, how our standards change when we are personally involved? But that has always been the case. Jesus spoke about it in the Sermon on the Mount. Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye (Matt 7:1-5). Yet somehow, when it's me, things seem so different—even when it is not.
And so when my neighbor is rude, I reply with rudeness because "he deserves it." When my co-worker is inconsiderate, I am inconsiderate to him because "why should he expect otherwise?" When my spouse bites my head off, we preach Ephesians 5 at them, forgetting that both of you are in the middle of a stressful situation or not feeling too good or have lost a parent, or some other event that can have one forgetting to watch his words, and try to be patient. When the driver ahead of me "gets in my way, goes too slow, forgets to use his turn signal, etc." I can do the same back to him because "he is harming others besides me"—conveniently forgetting the many times I have done the same thing that irritates me.
And so we go on our way conducting our inspections in the minutest detail while expecting everyone else to inspect us with blinders on. It has been going on for thousands of years. Everyone does it, in every culture, in every age. But our Lord did not call us to be like everyone. He called us to be like Him. Even if it is really hard to do.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment (Jas 2:13).
Dene Ward