A Great Big Flaming Log

It was on this date in 1981 that something kind of embarrassing happened in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The guys in an Indy firehouse were just hanging around, perhaps waiting for dinner, when the all-too-familiar bell sounded. A fire! The firefighters rushed to grab their gear, checking to be sure all was properly equipped. They jumped into their trucks, and with one last check of the address, headed out!

When the group arrived at the address, they were likely a little confused by the complete lack of smoke. Or of anything, in fact, that even remotely resembled fire. A false alarm. Somebody accidentally pushed a button, or flipped a switch. Ah, well. Such things happen -- more often than anyone would care to admit. The firefighters left, perhaps even relieved to not have to battle another fire, and headed home...

... to find the station ablaze!

Very often, Christians are like these Indianapolis firefighters, alerted to the sin in somebody else's life, battling to rescue these poor saps from whatever perceived wrongdoing, even while we ourselves are burning. 

Jesus warned that, when it comes to spiritual well-being, it's best to be sure your own house is in order.

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. (Luke 6:41-42)

I notice that Jesus didn't really make mention, here, of motivation. So often, when confronted with the admonition of Christ to not judge our brothers and sisters, we protest that we're really just concerned! After all, are we not also told to speak the truth in love? Yet, whether it is out of Christian concern, or (as is most often the case) a tiny, all-too-human internal desire to show ourselves just a little better than another, it makes no difference to Jesus' point. Before we can hope to "guide" our fellow Christians in dealing with the sin in their lives, we must be sure we've dealt with the sin in our own. 

Notice, by the way, that Jesus isn't saying to never point out the folly in another person's spiritual walk. He didn't tell us to never offer correction, in love, to another Christian. But before you go rushing off to fight the fire in somebody else's life, be sure to turn your stove off first.