Moral Blind Spots
When we keep resisting God’s will, our moral mind eventually becomes darkened so we are willfully blind to His will – especially in those areas where we have been resisting Him (Eph 4:18, AB with CJB and Knox). This opposition is pride that prevents us from discerning our own wickedness (Ps 36:2, CW). Since every person struggles with this to varying degrees, we all have moral blind spots (Ps 19:12, CW). Sadly, “Their own defect, invisible to them, Seen in another, they at once condemn” (Cowper).
An example of a huge blind spot would be the Pharisees who persecuted Jesus. The Pharisee in Lk 18:9-14 condemned the tax collector for not adequately keeping the Mosaic law without realizing that he himself was not adequately keeping it. Many Pharisees were blind to the stupidity of condemning Jesus for His unwillingness to keep their traditional rules for Sabbath behavior – even though He performed many astounding miracles when He ignored their human rules (Jn 9:30-34; Mt 12:9-14; Jn 5:1-16 etc.).
We are all blind in certain areas. Even as groups we can have blind spots. We can engage in grievous wrongs simply because we can’t grasp the wrongness in that area. Yet, in many other respects, we may be spiritually sensitive and enlightened. This should warn us about condemning others for not seeing what, to us, is clearly the right course. Graciousness, compassion, and prayer are more in order. We should look to ourselves to see if we have a similar blind spot (Mt 7:1-3). And we would often do well to heed the words of Ben Franklin: “Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.”
Loving trust is more important than mere head knowledge.