Prettying Up The Plank

I have a friend who is an amazing artist. She makes a living for her and her family from sales of her "art". Tourists spend lots of money in her shop. Her works have been displayed all over the country and I am sure in other countries as well. What makes her work so novel is what she calls her "ordinary canvas". She takes what someone else would call trash and sands it, paints it, decorates it and makes it beautiful and valuable. From old wheels to rusty farm implements, to weathered wood, come works of art, worthy of any mantle or living room. She is amazing. She tells me that with enough paint and decoration, she can make anything pretty, its true purpose almost unrecognizable. Very talented!
I think many of us do that every day with some of our most undesirable traits. I started thinking about this passage in Matthew 7:3-5 : "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (NIV) --It seems many of us would rather spend a lot of time and put forth much effort to pretty up the plank in our eye rather than commit to removing it.
It is a constant struggle to keep the plank removed. It requires time in the Word, discerning God's will in our lives, giving Him lordship over our lives, battling satan and his attempts to deter us. It is a twenty-four/seven endeavor. And it is not always easy. It is so much easier to "pretty up" our plank. We can often disguise our plank with a life that includes going to the church building three times a week, praying before we consume our foods, leaving our Bibles and Power for Today on the coffee table or the desk for others to see. We mask the beam by using church words and being on church committees. We hide the lumber in our eye by singing at funerals and visiting the hospital. And before long, to the rest of the world, it is no longer a big ole chunk of wood but a "work of art", its true character invisible to those around us.
Jesus says it is important that plank be removed---not covered up. He says it effects our ministry. He says we cannot see clearly enough to help others with the beam in our eye. He says we are hypocritical to even try! That is pretty powerful!
I believe we have good hearts. I believe we have evangelistic spirits and we want to help others. But I also believe some of us are lazy. We know it is easier to work on and for others than to work on us and so we sand and paint and pretty up the faults, hiding them and then going out to share God's Word with the lost. Like my friend's art though, when one gets close enough, one can see a rusty farm tool, an old wheel, someone else's trash. A closer look reveals that much effort has been taken to make this discarded item into art. When that close look is taken, the value of the art decreases. Likewise, as we begin to develop relationships with others, the plank we took such great care to hide becomes glaringly evident. And our message is seen as less valuable, less honest, less desirable. In the book of Titus, Paul says that slaves should be taught to be honest and trustworthy so that "in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive".
It is not about art or about preserving a false impression. It is about God and salvation. It is about telling others that Jesus saves!! Prettying up the plank does not change the facts. We must work on us. We must spend time in the Word, learning about God and His will. We must repent and strive to walk as children of light. We must remove the plank rather than trying to disguise it. In doing so, we will make the teaching about God our Savior more attractive. And that's a good thing!!

Peace
Neva