Representing Team Jesus
And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:41-45
One of my passions is reading of leadership books. One of them is called, “True North,” written by Bill George. In it, he says one of the most profound things I’ve learned to be true. He said, “The hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself.” As a leader, I have so many different personalities to work and not have a good relationship with, and at times, it creates clashes. At those times, I might have this desire to lash out in anger at them during those exchanges. However, I use self-control to calm myself, and figure out a better way to manage the situation. This is what makes managing yourself hard. You know what you want, but you realize what you want may not be what is best. Paul understood this as well when he said, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to doo- this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19) Paul is trying to manage himself acknowledging the challenge that goes with it.
Thus, my job at times reminds me a bit of my own journey of faith. One time, I had to take a suggestion from my manager on managing a situation. I did not want to, but it was not about what I wanted. It was about what was best for the team and that situation. Her suggestion helped me to deal with the situation much better, and it worked out for the best. It also helped others on my team grow in their abilities. If I was not willing to follow an alternative path, I might still be dealing with the issue or have made it worse for the team. When it comes to being a better Christian, we know that at times we must learn to give up our way of thinking to be more like Jesus. Just like when leading others, if I cannot look at my own flaws and correct them, I cannot represent Jesus and who He really is.
Remembering to work on ourselves allows us to grow not only in Christ but also those around us. When reading today’s verse, there is Jesus making two separate points. But in reading it without its natural separator (starting at ‘A good tree’), it gave me a different understand of what Jesus was saying here. This was like a spiritual self-help guide to bearing fruit. First, we must be able to see to assess what is happening in our own hearts. Second, we must then look inside our hearts to see if it is good or not. The key element is understanding that if you do not see, you cannot know. My wearing contacts, there are times my vision is blurred. Obviously, it would be difficult to drive somewhere safely in that condition. Being that I am usually driving with my wife along with me, how can I get us to our destination? Much like this, Jesus is saying our heart must be in the right place, but we can’t get there if we cannot see Him. Additionally, if our hearts are not in the right place, they cannot bear fruit.
We must learn to be honest about ourselves to know whether we have a heart for God. Being honest requires us to look deep within and ask some tough questions. Am I doing what I want or what God wants? Am I doing this out of love for others as well as myself? What is God saying to me about my heart for him? When we challenge ourselves comparing us to Jesus, we can remove the log in our own eye, and only then can we give guidance that will bear fruit not only for God’s Kingdom but also within our hearts. Let us commit to being like Jesus to better see where our hearts lie and to bear fruit as He would want. My prayer is we clearly see our flaws so we can better represent Team Jesus. Amen.
Written by Kent Williams for The Hope Fellowship