If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:23
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther stood before a hostile court. He was being accused of heresy. Yet, despite immense pressure, he stood firm. He was convinced of his position by the Word of God and refused to compromise the truth.
“If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:23). The bad eye, or the divided eye that Jesus spoke of here, represents those who interpret life not through God’s Word but through humanistic philosophy.
Warned by Jesus
Jesus warned us, however, that we cannot mix elements of the world with the faith to no ill effect. He went on, “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (6:23). He was speaking of a severe deception by which a person assumes that he or she is in the light but is actually in the dark. If people delude themselves into thinking that they can syncretize humanistic ideas with biblical ideas, they are in deep darkness.
God’s Worldview
The world and the Bible represent two entirely different worldviews. According to the world, man is the measure of all things; his wisdom and philosophies explain life and provide for a productive, enjoyable existence. Biblically speaking, God is the measure of all things, and His Word is the standard by which we know what is true and thus conduct ourselves. If we find ourselves in alignment with the world’s view on things that contradict God’s truth, we are in trouble.
This is what Jesus is talking about here. The eye that is bad represents a heart that is divided in its loyalty between the world and God, and as a result, devises schemes that seek to accommodate man’s wisdom even when it is in conflict with God’s Word.
No Compromise
This is the light that is darkness. The words of Jesus here have an ominous tone because these are real dangers that we must beware of, especially since they can arise out of our own hearts. The potential for this to happen exists for all of us if at any time we begin to think that we can compromise God’s Word. If we ever think that we can put human opinion, whether our own or that of some renowned philosopher, over or against the Scripture, we take a step into darkness that only becomes darker the farther we go in that direction.
Is your single eye divided by desires and ideas that are contrary to God’s Word? Then let go of those ideas and submit yourself to the truth of God’s Word.