He Didn't See the Bling

**This post is part of the current series "Who Was Jesus?  Practical Ways to Teach Our Children About Who Christ IS"  You can find the entire series linked up here when we are done.**

All of us have blind spots. Jesus pointed to this when He said that we were experts in seeing a speck in someone else's eye while completely missing the giant log in our own. This statement reminds us that showing partiality to people based on wealth, social status, appearance, age, race, or anything else is not the kind of faith that Jesus wants us to have. Like Rebecca Bloom in the clip above, even trying to keep up with those who have wealth or a higher social status can get us into trouble. Sure, it may be easy to stand back and watch that clip (and even though it is completely fiction)and say "Wow... she sure has a problem with shopping. Why can't she stop spending money?" But can we the giant log in our own eye? Are people looking at us and saying "Wow... she sure has a problem with blogging, or facebook, or twitter, or .... Why can't she get off the computer?" Are we so busy trying to keep up with the popular websites, the blogs that have tens of thousands of readers. Are we so blinded by our own log that we can't see the problems that we are creating for ourselves???

When Jesus looks at us, he doesn't see us for what we are wearing. He doesn't judge us based on what kind of house we have, or what kind of furniture we have in it. Jesus doesn't comb through our closets before we are admitted to heaven, or tell us we are not allowed in because we aren't dressed appropriately. He doesn't turn his nose up because we don't have enough facebook fans. He won't refuse an invitation because we don't live in the right part of town. He won't talk about us behind our backs because we don't belong to the country club. He won't mock us because we don't have a flatscreen TV. He won't stare at us with a look of horror when our children knock over a display shelf at the grocery store.

Think about the kind of example Jesus set for us. What kinds of people did He associate with? The religious leaders of His day mocked Him for hanging out with sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors. He looked past the "bling" of the religious leaders and saw them for what they were. So how can we teach our children (and ourselves) to do the same thing? Here are a few suggestions...

1. PRAY
We can start by praying to God to reveal to us what logs we have in our own vision. What about ourselves can't we see. A while back, my son had a math project that was assigned on Monday and due by Friday. I watched as he procrastinated and tried to avoid the work all week. By Thursday night, I was very frustrated that he had not started the project yet and really fussed at him for not getting it done sooner. After he got off to bed, I received a phone call from someone and upon hanging up realized that I too had been procrastinating and complaining all week. The apple doesn't fall far my friends.

2. MEET
We can make sure that we know all of our children's friends. Make sure that we are involved in discussions WITH their friends about other kids... kids in the neighborhood, at school, at church. Pay careful attention to judging language like "he's weird" or "she's snobby" and discuss with our children at those points that Jesus never treated anyone differently based on exterior appearances or attitudes.

3. HONOR
We can claim that we don't play favorites, but just because we aren't OVERTLY acting disrespectfully towards those that are less fortunate than us doesn't mean we are satisfying the intent of God's word. In order to honor others, we have to treat all others respectfully at all times.

Here are some really great examples of not seeing the log in our own eyes...



Father God, help me to see correctly. Help me remove the log from my own eye so that I can grow closer to you. Help me to avoid hypocritical, judgemental behavior. Help me to treat others equally and to develop actions that follow my words. In Jesus name, amen.