Pause to Meditate: When the Scales Come Off – bdemo.com

Most of us have heard the phrase looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Most of the time, it simply means that we have chosen to view something in a positive light. And in fact, I think we very often do choose to view the world in which we live with certain preconceived ideas. I believe all of us look at life through the lens of a certain worldview. I believe further, that it is impossible not to interpret the events that unfold around us without passing them through some sort of intellectual filter. It helps us understand things, and allows us to categorize other peoples opinions and biases.

At one point in my life - early in my faith walk - I spent quite a bit of time studying the different apologetic and philosophical arguments both for and against the monotheistic God. It was really fascinating, even more so than a typical world religion class (where they compare different religious belief systems in a more basic manner). I enjoyed researching the conflicting core worldviews quite a bit more.

If we are talking here about viewing things through a particular type of lens, then to begin with, I can list off several non-Biblical systems of thought. For example, the atheist says that there is no God at all, so dont bother looking. The relativist says that all truth is relative, and depends only on what you personally decide is right or wrong as an individual. A universalist might stop you in the hall and remind you that basically everything shakes out to similar attributes in the end. Finally, Scientism tells us that we can only ever know the physical world around us, and nothing else really matters.

If you notice, all of these worldviews seem to share one thing in common: they dont leave space for any higher, greater truth claims. They look only so far as their particular belief system allows, and no further. Any appeal to a higher moral or ethical power is limited by whatever a worldview happens to espouse. In other words, there is a glass ceiling in terms of how much truth you can access.

I will contrast this to the orthodox Christian Biblical view in a moment, but first I want to point to a piece of Scripture from Acts 9:18. It says, Immediately, something like scales fell from Sauls eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. This passage describes the apostle Pauls famous conversion on the road to Damascus. In a flash of light and loud audible voice, Saul becomes Paul, and he meets the real God for the first time.

The concept of scales being removed from someones eyes means that at some point, God steps in and allows a believer to see the world through the lens of Jesus of Nazareth. Its as if all of a sudden a dark veil that once hindered our understanding of godly things is dropped, and we are able to comprehend the things of the Spirit. Paul had this type of epiphany on the road to Damascus, and it changed the course of his life forever. It changes you and I also.

Author and philosopher C.S. Lewis has been quoted as saying, 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. God is our primary source of goodness in this world. If we arent looking at things by His light, then we are missing something. All we see are shadows. We need His help to see things clearly, to understand the parables and stories of the Bible, and to help spread the Gospel message. Without it, we can easily slip back into one of the secular categories I mentioned earlier.

So what in fact does it look like to view the world with Bible colored glasses? To answer that question, we must go back to the account of Paul in Acts. Scripture says that he didnt go directly into ministry after his conversion. In fact, he took some time off to study and reflect. I think it is okay for us to do the same. Once we see things the way God does, then lets face it - a good many of our personal philosophies might need to be revised. We need to work on ourselves for a bit.

Once the scales come off, however, we are free. There is no going backwards. We are free to love without reservation, to shed guilt associated with sin, and to recognize the need for repentance in order to come closer to a Holy life. This all takes some work of course, but it is work with an end goal of hope (getting closer to a loving God). Whereas other worldviews are often limited by a finite end goal, the Christian view allows its proponents to test other opinions and views by staking them up against what God says in the Bible. At that point, we can weigh an idea based on whether or not it yields good fruit and produces spiritual growth, or whether it espouses hate speech and conflict.

My advice is this: use the gift of clear vision to steer your ship in Gods direction. Look at whats happening around us today in the world in light of the Bibles commandments, and not just what a television news anchor might think. Gods Word will take you on a deeper, and more fruitful path, often yielding a far more profound result than you would otherwise find.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Let His heart guide yours, and we are promised that eventually over time, our paths will finally cross. What a glorious day that will be for every believer.

As a final note, I wanted to add that some readers may accuse me of being a victim of my own religious bias and Christian worldview, in the same way that I have faulted secular belief systems. But understand this difference ... in a solid Christian church, a new believer has the freedom to question faith and look around a bit. Can adherents of the other views I mentioned do that? For example, if the atheist starts talking about the possibility of the supernatural, I suspect intense criticism would follow. Likewise, if a naturalist tries to question macroevolution or the Darwinian view on human origins, they are out of the club so to speak. By contrast, a confident and loving Christian church can provide a safe platform by which a new convert can kick the tires and test ideas a bit. This is how iron sharpens iron.

When we embrace our faith journey and seek after the God of Jacob and Abraham, then we are truly free in the sense that by His light, we can now test all other things. We have the space we need to grow and heal in a loving and nurturing environment. The type of nurturing that we can then pass on to the other people in our lives that really matter to us.

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Pause to Meditate: When the Scales Come Off - bdemo.com