Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
One's first thought might be, 'Why choose a blind guide?' But the answer is evident, since it would not be obvious to the blind person whether or not a potential guide could see. No doubt such a guide would need to validate himself in some way. But this could come down to luck that his lack of sight had not yet been revealed by some inevitable crash or collision. This presents a real problem for those seeking instruction. By definition they do not know what they do not know.
Blind guides might attempt to captivate potential disciples by promoting speculation, appealing to curiosity rather than reason. Curiositas is a negative in the traditional sense of the term. But in our modern sense curiosity can be considered neutral. When it leads us to seek for solid truth it is a positive. But its makes us prefer being led into ever deeper layers of mystery or conspiracy such that we don't actually even want to know the truth it is a negative. There are some truths which, it is true, are above our ability to understand with natural human reason. But it is not these that draw curiosity. Curiosity prefers to correlate lots of lower things in ways that give us the thrill of being insiders with a special understanding. Truth is something in which we can rest, but not ultimately something for which we can take credit. And this is especially true of faith, which we do not arrive at in virtue of the strength of our mental prowess, but which is rather a gift.
How do we discern good teachers from those who speak good game but whose aim is merely to increase the count of their disciple for the sake of pride and vainglory? Teachers who are not blind can actually see the path. And they can convey that sight, virtually, to those who cannot yet see it in ways that help them to avoid accidents along their journey. Their teaching will actually work. They will call something sinful, which time and the evidence of those who neglect their warnings will bear it out. Take contraception or no fault divorce as examples of warnings made that were unheeded which are now bearing rotten fruit. Closer to home, we may need to be told that our own vices, from lying, to gluttony, to lust, to gambling, will have consequences that make them not worth whatever petty gains they give. When we test these claims we may journey on a while longer without stumbling but we will inevitably discover them to be true, at least with sufficient self-reflection.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
- CS Lewis
Jesus asked why we are predisposed to notice the minor imperfections in our neighbors while ignoring our own blatant failings. No doubt this is because we don't want to see ourselves as we are. We prefer the illusion of ourselves as competent guides to the reality that we too impaired too travel safely, much less provide guidance to others. We preoccupy ourselves with others so that we can evade our own scrutiny. It is not that it is inherently wrong to want to provide guidance to others. However, we must first make sure that we are sufficiently grounded to do so, and that our motivation is for their sake.
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
Jesus is the only guide with perfectly clear vision, with not even a splinter or a speck in his eye. His guidance that reveals us to ourselves. Our temptations to hypocrisy, our readiness to believe falsehood, only helps to demonstrate his claim. As the one who is Truth itself he alone is worthy of absolute trust. He can do even more than guide the blind in ways that are level and smooth. He himself can give them sight, he who is the light of the world.
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