Seeing What (Really) Matters
Or How Our Vision Impacts Everything
For the last 35 years or so, I have worn high-powered prescription eyeglasses. I am quite nearsighted, so much so that my first action in the morning is to reach for my glasses. Without them, everything past my nose blurs after only a couple of inches.
Because I cannot see clearly, I need outside help (i.e. glasses) for my vision to be of any practical use. Without such help, I cannot read effectively, drive safely, or even recognize who is right in front of me. My driver’s license notes that I am restricted from operating a motor vehicle without the presence of corrective lenses.
Like poor eyesight, a lack of clarity in spiritual vision serves to inhibit and restrict our lives. When our priorities become out of focus, our whole life soon becomes distorted. While at first such blurriness may seem only an inconvenience, the continued deterioration of vision over time limits and confines us. When we can no longer see the full picture clearly, we can focus only on those things that are immediately in front of us. We become more and more myopic, and we cannot see the potential dangers nor the possible blessings that surround us.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus often faced opposition from religious leaders who seemed unable to see beyond their own immediate, narrow focus. They were scrupulous in observing the tiniest details of God’s written law, but while doing so, they neglected the larger spirit of community and mutual care God had commanded under the covenant. Such men became expert in “missing the forest for the trees.” There was nothing wrong in their observance of regulations, but their devotion to precise rule-following did not extend to “the weightier matters” of living in connection with others and in harmony with God.
In one famous showdown on this issue, Jesus declared,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
Mt 23:23-24 (NKJV)
Jesus calls these men “blind guides” in that they could only see what was right in front of their faces. They would go to great lengths to correctly sort out the smallest issues of their personal piety and to bind such rules on others, but their blindness to the larger issues of life made them poor spiritual leaders for God’s people.
In a vivid contrast, Jesus critiques the mindset that could lead pious men to precisely pluck tiny leaves from their herb gardens as a display of religious devotion while refusing to help a critically-wounded man (Lk 10:25-37) or prizing Sabbath observance above human wholeness (Mt 12:1-14). Jesus does not say that details do not matter, but He does recognize the danger of zooming in on the smallest matters while missing the bigger stories of justice, mercy, and faith that God has called us to as His people.
Before we pile too much criticism on these ancient Pharisees, we must recognize we too are often guilty of the same spiritual short-sightedness. We can become so focused on defending the finer points of our theology that we miss the Lord’s mandate to love and serve our neighbor. While recognizing that experiencing the truth of Christ sets us free (John 8:32), we must not place perfecting our doctrine in opposition to the lived application of God’s love and grace.
In the Christian life, knowledge and application, as well as truth and love, are both/and rather than either/or propositions. We seek to align our lives with God’s word, but we cannot be content to fixate on facts alone while missing the heart of Christ.
As we see from the ongoing political and social unrest in our world, we are often pressured to choose between very different and conflicting visions presented as God’s will for His people. Concepts often viewed as abstract like love, justice, and the good are always reflected and refracted by the individual lenses through which we, knowingly or unknowingly, see the world. The frequent placement of qualifiers like real/biblical/true when placed in front of subjects like Christian/church/faith often testifies more to the prejudices of the speaker than to the orthodoxy of the individual, congregation, or group being described.
Beyond all modifiers, we are called to pursue God’s will, and His will is most clearly seen in Jesus Christ.
The standard for vision cannot only be what seems true, feels good, or appears right in our own eyes; our vision must be one that is continually focusing on Jesus and faithfully aligning with both God’s word and His Spirit. With such focus, we seek to see both God’s will and our neighbors’ need through the eyes of Christ.
We must come to see our daily opportunities and challenges through the lens of Christ’s compassion and grace. We must see people (all people) as bearers of God’s image and as beloved by the same Savior whose love we seek to ever celebrate and imitate. As we focus our lives each day, may we commit to seeing more through the eyes of Jesus and broadening our vision to the beauty and the needs around us.
Love the picture and the words.