The Beam in Your Own Eye
"Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
— Matthew 7:3-5
This comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus, a carpenter's son, reaches for a picture from the workshop, and the people listening knew exactly what he meant. The word for speck meant a tiny bit of dry wood, a chip or a shaving. The beam is a heavy timber, the kind that holds up a roof. A man with a roof beam in his eye bending over someone else's wood chip is a deliberately ridiculous picture, and the crowd may well have laughed. The word hypocrite comes from the Greek theatre and meant an actor playing behind a mask. The text does not forbid noticing other people's faults. The ending even assumes that someone will one day help a brother get that speck out, only first he has to be able to see. An eye is a place you operate on very gently, so you need a steady hand and good sight. The only person who can really help someone else is the one who has dealt with himself first.