Matthew 18:8-9

A co-worker told me of his cousin who was deeply religious – he would lock himself in his room and study the Bible for hours upon hours. One day the cousin’s father knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Another knock, and another. Nothing. Worried, he smashed the door open: the cousin lay hunched over, his throat slit and blood emptied all over a pile of sand. I am sure the color drained from my face, as this is a true story, and my co-worker told me, “You gotta be careful with the Bible. You can’t go mistranslating all that stuff.”

Here is a passage of scripture that goes mistranslated over and over. Jesus is saying, “If your eye causes you to sin, gauge it out. If you’re feet run to do evil, cut them off. It’s better to enter Heaven blind and paralyzed than fully-seeing, fully-walking, only to be burnt in a lake of fire.” His speech is figurative. He is not commanding us to stab out our eyes every time we happen to chance upon a lovely girl and lust creeps up – if that were the case, I’d been blinded years ago! No, Jesus is saying, “Don’t get involved with stuff that will lead you to sin.”

This ‘stuff’ that can lead us to sin is not a defined list. It varies with every person. Is it the people you hang out with, or the television shows you watch, or you the music you listen to, or the girlfriend or boyfriend you spend all your time with? Jesus says that when we follow him, we must live lives that glorify God, and if we spend all our time in habits that turn us away from God, our following won’t be getting too strong. Jesus recommends that we toss out – or at least trim down – all those habits that may lead us to sin (habits that in themselves may not be sin) and replace them with habits that will deepen our roots of faith. This is one aspect of self-denial and taking up our cross.