Thesis Statement 

Biblical counselors should apply Matthew 7:3-5 by addressing the log in our own eye, only then will we see clearly to address the speck in the eye of other biblical counselors.

Biblical Statement: Matthew 7:3-5 Applied to Biblical Counselors       

“Biblical counselor, why do you look at the speck in your biblical counseling brother’s eye and pay no attention to the huge log in your own biblical counseling eye? How can you say to your biblical counseling brother, ‘Let me take the speck of sawdust out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a redwood tree in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the redwood out of your own biblical counseling eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s biblical counseling eye” (Matthew 7:3-5, paraphrased).

Problem Statement: Hypocritical Confronters and Blind Guides 

Some biblical counseling leaders and organizations are expending massive amounts of time critiquing other biblical counselors. However, they are spending miniscule amounts of time doing self-confrontation of their own approach to biblical counseling.

Some biblical counselors claim to be “all about truth,” claim to be biblical prophets on the wall, and claim to be all about judging and exposing the errors of others. However, these “truth-tellers” disobey God’s truth. These “truth-tellers” refuse to face the truth about themselves.

• They disobey God’s truth in Matthew 7:1-12 by not judging themselves and their “tribe” before addressing the personal sins and doctrinal errors of others.
• They disobey God’s truth in Matthew 23:1-36 by refusing to address the hypocrisy and blindness in their own lives and in their “tribe” before addressing the sins and errors of others.
• They disobey God’s truth in Luke 4:23, “Physician, heal thyself!” They refuse to obey the biblical admonishment, “Soul physician, judge yourself!” They refuse to obey the biblical rebuke, “Nouthetic counselor, nouthetically confront yourself!”

Biblical Diagnosis: Spiritual Eye Disease and OCCD 

Jesus, the Soul Physician, diagnoses our spiritual eye disease.

“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” (Matthew 7:5).

• Our hypocritical refusal to do spiritual eye surgery on ourselves blinds us so that we cannot see other biblical counselors clearly.
• Our willful blindness is why these biblical counseling wars are characterized by mischaracterizations.
• We have OCCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Confrontation Disorder): Our obsessive fervor and compulsive need to confront others blinds us to our need for self-confrontation.

Biblically, the primary sign of spiritual blindness is our arrogant and hypocritical refusal to see, discern, and judge our own sin and doctrinal error.

Biblically, the primary result of spiritual blindness is our inability to see others clearly.

A Spiritual Eye Exam 

We can use Matthew 7:5 as our “spiritual eye chart” to discern between spiritual eye disease (spiritual blindness) and spiritual eye health (20/20 spiritual vision).

“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” (Matthew 7:5).

• Spiritual Eye Disease: The spiritual hypocrisy to refuse to perform spiritual eye surgery on ourselves (nouthetic self-confrontation) leads to the spiritual immaturity to see others with spiritual clarity so that we perform eye surgery on others out of a false sense of spiritual superiority, thereby losing all spiritual authority.
• Spiritual Eye Health: The spiritual humility to perform spiritual eye surgery on ourselves (nouthetic self-confrontation) leads to the spiritual maturity to see others with spiritual clarity so that we perform eye surgery on others with spiritual sincerity and authenticity thereby demonstrating spiritual competency.

Biblical Counsel for Biblical Counselors 

“So in everything biblical counselors, do unto other biblical counselors what you would have them do unto you, for this sums up all the Law and the Prophets. Be biblical by listening well to other biblical counselors, as you would want them to listen to you. Be biblical by characterizing other biblical counselors accurately, as you would want them to characterize you. Be biblical by humbly learning from other biblical counselors, as you would want them to learn from you. Be biblical by nouthetically confronting your own biblical counsel, as you would want other biblical counselors to do” (Matthew 7:12, paraphrased).

Back to the Future: Learning from a History Lesson 

Just five short years ago, I authored, Consider Your Counsel: Addressing Ten Mistakes in Our Biblical Counseling. As the title and sub-title suggest, this book addressed ten common mistakes that we make in the modern, traditional biblical counseling movement. Seven ACBC Fellows glowingly endorsed Consider Your Counsel. Five years ago, we biblical counselors were being biblical—we were practicing nouthetic self-confrontation of our own approach to soul care. We refused to be defensive. We humbly sought to practice the progressive sanctification of our own biblical counseling model.

We need to travel back in time to those recent days where we were known more for our self-confrontation than we were known for our confrontation of others.