Conscious And Unconscious Planks In Eyes (10.29.12)

Matthew 7,3: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye."

1Corinthians 11,31: "If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged."

John 12,40: "He [Jesus] has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts."  

"The deadliest Pharisaism today is not hypocrisy, but unconscious unreality."

Oswald Chambers ("My Utmost For His Highest", Barbour Pub., 1963, "The Master Assizes" [Judges] p. 55) 

Whether one is a new babe in Jesus or a mature faither, the best thing to read, love and study is scripture itself.

But "spiritual reading" does have a place in our discipleship in that it allows us to pluck Spiritual fruits seemingly out of reach beforehand.

I had one of these "what-took-me-so-long" moments shortly after I brought home Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest" from the local library book sale:

"The deadliest Pharisaism today is not hypcocrisy, but unconcious unreality."

Do you see the logic of Chambers' insight about Pharisaism (and by extension all falseness in religion)? It's this: hypocrisy, literally wearing a mask, is sort of in the lower range of Pharisaism. Wearing a mask involves some awareness of what the mask is covering and that it's there.

But Chambers is saying that there's a whole inner world of spiritual unconsciousness beyond ordinary hypocrisy which prevents us from judging ourselves aright, from seeing, hearing, obeying, and then following Jesus:

The range, from lower Phariseeism to higher, would be something like this:

1. The unwillful, unconscious, unreality of the new born babe in the faith.

Everything is swell and the babe is taken up with the things of God, but there is still a lot of Spiritual cluelessness, planks and specks and stuff in between;

2.  Ordinary Hypocrisy.

Here the person knows and understands some about the faith, but chooses to wear a mask and pretends not to see and hear because change is costly.

This guy or gal often loves "church" and greetings in the market square, but decidedly stays in the shallow pool of the Spiritual realm;

3. Muddling Denial.

But it's hard to wear a mask all the time, so now revealed truths, such as healing miracles and the deathly effects of sin, both of which everyone has seen but not everybody admits, must actively be denied, as things for "holy rollers," not for "real" people, or those in the know;

4. Hostile Mendacity (mendacity is lying to your self. What famous Hollywood movie refers to it?)

The Brasilians have a saying (more accurate than humorous perhaps) that fits this Pharisaical degree: "I don't know, I don't want to know, and I hate who knows."

This is where hateful and envious poison (Mark 15,10, the chief priests sold Jesus out because of envy) enters society and the Pharisee's psyche, and gets well drilled into the unconscious realm of unreality.

Here hatred and envy seize on folks;

5. Seared Conscience.

You might describe this degree "total denial." But despite this total denial such dedicated "pharisees" soldier on in their false teachings. Spiritual truths and biblical realities and revelations have been deceitfully stuffed down for so long that the conscience loses its ability to assess good teaching by biblical or reasonable standards, because one's inner life, conscious and unconscious, turns pharasaical, toxic, ugly, and tortuous. 1Timothy4,1-2: 

"The Spirit says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come from hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." NIV  

6. Willful and total blindness.

Samson-King Saul-Judas.

The invasion of the Pharisee's whole mind is now fully complete and is incapable of accepting truth, and so violently lashes out at those it hates and envies. 

God simply confirms this state. John 12,40: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts; so they can neither see with their eyes, or understand with their hearts, nor turn- and I would heal them."

Conclusion

So when Jesus tells us to take the big spiritual defect out of our own eye, which is obvious to everybody (like pride, envy, anger, lust, greed, hate), and should be obvious to us too, it would be wise to pay attention quickly, while we're still sort of conscious it's there.

But if we're one of those folks, who even after Jesus, has never quite mastered the obvious, perhaps it's time to give Jesus (or your pastor or some joyful prophet) the right to tell you, point plank, what the plank is!

Take heart, have courage. If we act on the revolutionary promises of Jesus' word, His spirit will break all concious and unconcious unreality and allow us to put on His mind: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down strongholds." (2Corinthians10,4)

Thanks Oswald Chambers for your insight about unconcious unreality.

It opened my understanding to a whole range and depth of Pharisaism. 

Happy spiritual reading.

Br. Tobin (relatively conscious of late)