Amputation to save the patient
This week is on Matthew 5:27-30:
Jesus says elsewhere that only the evil stored up in a man's heart is able to cause him to sin. And yet here he describes external things causing people to sin. The two seem to clash! And yet they're consistent, because sin often needs a catalyst. If there was no alcohol in the world, there would be no alcoholism, but the alcohol itself doesn't take a man down. It's the alcohol plus the man himself. Take one out of the equation and the other is fine.
Jesus uses the example of the man looking lustfully at a woman in order to anchor us to what he is talking about. Is it the woman's fault that she's sexy? Is it wrong for a man to be attracted to her? No to both. But if that man is dwelling on thoughts of having sex with her, not just noticing her beauty but focusing his desire on her, he's playing with fire. The next thing he knows, he'll be looking for excuses to hang around her, then for excuses to be close to her, then he'll make his move and before he knows it, he's committed adultery. In his mind, it'll be something that just happened, or maybe he'll blame it on something she said or did, but all the while he had a chance to escape it. Jesus' point is if you can't control the evil that's in your heart, you won't be able to control your actions either.
We see this scenario playing out again and again with failed marriages. A teacher takes a liking to his student. They start spending one on one time together. They start having mutual feelings. They take a trip together for the class and decide to spend the night. Then it's game over. A woman starts going to the gym and is flattered by the compliments she gets from her personal trainer. She notices his body. Lots of physical contact takes place during training. They decide to grab coffee afterwards. Then it's more than coffee. Then it's adultery.
At some point in the chain of events they recognize sin, but think "I've got this" or "It's still harmless." Or they worry about what a big change it would take to be free. "I can't just stop investing in that student. They'll take it personally and it'll affect their academic performance, and plus it's embarrassing and everyone will know I was tempted!" "I can't stop going to the gym or switch personal trainers! I'll get fat. Besides, people will talk." But Jesus says if your eye is causing you to sin, then pluck it out. That's conspicuous and extreme too! Better to lose face and save your marriage than to end up in hell.
But people still cling to what is familiar to them, or what gives them thrills or pleasure. They don't want the trauma of plucking out an eye or the inconvenience of being without their right hand. I've seen people get out of addictions only to get pulled back in because they started dating someone who wouldn't respect their boundaries and insisted that they use together. I've seen people fall back into alcoholism because they wanted to join their friends after work and fit in. If they were just able to cut out those catalysts, they might have avoided the sin that entrapped them.
People claim that it's their right to do as they like. They get defensive. "Who are you to tell me I shouldn't take an overnight trip with the sales team? Yeah people call the head of sales my 'office husband' but it's harmless! I'm not going to limit my career because you can't take a joke!" "What do you mean it's inappropriate that a band teacher takes an overnight trip with his star flautist for her audition? Are you calling me a pedophile?" "What, I can't have one drink? I've been sober for almost three years. Surely I've proven I can handle my addiction!" "So what if my boyfriend keeps giving me heroin? He's not ready to quit and I don't want to lose him. Besides, he loves me and it's my choice to share in it with him, not yours!" And yet sin already has them by the throat. Cutting off your leg to escape the trap is such a drastic action that many of them won't choose to be free.
But when do we take such drastic measures? Jesus says "when your eye causes you to stumble" or "when your right hand causes you to stumble." Surely at the point you're thinking that something is causing you to stumble (other than your own evil heart), you have arrived at that point. Maybe somebody points it out to you, maybe you discover it on your own, but at the point where you're thinking something is causing you to sin, where you're unable to control it on your own, that's the point where you may want to consider drastic measures.
But who wants to take drastic measures? They're drastic! Who plucks out their own eye? Who cuts off their best hand? And yet when faced with sin as the alternative, those are the better of the two options! I'm always shocked when I read stories of how someone got an infection in a small cut on their hand and had to have their arm amputated, or how someone with diabetes might have the same happen to their foot. I think, "man it was just a little cut and now it's a life-threatening condition that they have to maim the patient in order to treat." People used to die on the battlefield because they couldn't let go of their mangled hand and it ended up getting gangrene and killing them. Better to go through life one hand short than to die a reasonably complete corpse. Drastic measures for drastic problems.
Obviously the easiest place to deal with sin is in your own heart, before it becomes a drastic issue. But if you've prayed and done all you can do, there are always options under your control to avoid sinning further.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Jesus says elsewhere that only the evil stored up in a man's heart is able to cause him to sin. And yet here he describes external things causing people to sin. The two seem to clash! And yet they're consistent, because sin often needs a catalyst. If there was no alcohol in the world, there would be no alcoholism, but the alcohol itself doesn't take a man down. It's the alcohol plus the man himself. Take one out of the equation and the other is fine.
Jesus uses the example of the man looking lustfully at a woman in order to anchor us to what he is talking about. Is it the woman's fault that she's sexy? Is it wrong for a man to be attracted to her? No to both. But if that man is dwelling on thoughts of having sex with her, not just noticing her beauty but focusing his desire on her, he's playing with fire. The next thing he knows, he'll be looking for excuses to hang around her, then for excuses to be close to her, then he'll make his move and before he knows it, he's committed adultery. In his mind, it'll be something that just happened, or maybe he'll blame it on something she said or did, but all the while he had a chance to escape it. Jesus' point is if you can't control the evil that's in your heart, you won't be able to control your actions either.
We see this scenario playing out again and again with failed marriages. A teacher takes a liking to his student. They start spending one on one time together. They start having mutual feelings. They take a trip together for the class and decide to spend the night. Then it's game over. A woman starts going to the gym and is flattered by the compliments she gets from her personal trainer. She notices his body. Lots of physical contact takes place during training. They decide to grab coffee afterwards. Then it's more than coffee. Then it's adultery.
At some point in the chain of events they recognize sin, but think "I've got this" or "It's still harmless." Or they worry about what a big change it would take to be free. "I can't just stop investing in that student. They'll take it personally and it'll affect their academic performance, and plus it's embarrassing and everyone will know I was tempted!" "I can't stop going to the gym or switch personal trainers! I'll get fat. Besides, people will talk." But Jesus says if your eye is causing you to sin, then pluck it out. That's conspicuous and extreme too! Better to lose face and save your marriage than to end up in hell.
But people still cling to what is familiar to them, or what gives them thrills or pleasure. They don't want the trauma of plucking out an eye or the inconvenience of being without their right hand. I've seen people get out of addictions only to get pulled back in because they started dating someone who wouldn't respect their boundaries and insisted that they use together. I've seen people fall back into alcoholism because they wanted to join their friends after work and fit in. If they were just able to cut out those catalysts, they might have avoided the sin that entrapped them.
People claim that it's their right to do as they like. They get defensive. "Who are you to tell me I shouldn't take an overnight trip with the sales team? Yeah people call the head of sales my 'office husband' but it's harmless! I'm not going to limit my career because you can't take a joke!" "What do you mean it's inappropriate that a band teacher takes an overnight trip with his star flautist for her audition? Are you calling me a pedophile?" "What, I can't have one drink? I've been sober for almost three years. Surely I've proven I can handle my addiction!" "So what if my boyfriend keeps giving me heroin? He's not ready to quit and I don't want to lose him. Besides, he loves me and it's my choice to share in it with him, not yours!" And yet sin already has them by the throat. Cutting off your leg to escape the trap is such a drastic action that many of them won't choose to be free.
But when do we take such drastic measures? Jesus says "when your eye causes you to stumble" or "when your right hand causes you to stumble." Surely at the point you're thinking that something is causing you to stumble (other than your own evil heart), you have arrived at that point. Maybe somebody points it out to you, maybe you discover it on your own, but at the point where you're thinking something is causing you to sin, where you're unable to control it on your own, that's the point where you may want to consider drastic measures.
But who wants to take drastic measures? They're drastic! Who plucks out their own eye? Who cuts off their best hand? And yet when faced with sin as the alternative, those are the better of the two options! I'm always shocked when I read stories of how someone got an infection in a small cut on their hand and had to have their arm amputated, or how someone with diabetes might have the same happen to their foot. I think, "man it was just a little cut and now it's a life-threatening condition that they have to maim the patient in order to treat." People used to die on the battlefield because they couldn't let go of their mangled hand and it ended up getting gangrene and killing them. Better to go through life one hand short than to die a reasonably complete corpse. Drastic measures for drastic problems.
Obviously the easiest place to deal with sin is in your own heart, before it becomes a drastic issue. But if you've prayed and done all you can do, there are always options under your control to avoid sinning further.
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