October 07, 2008
Blind Spot
Last Sunday I lent a shoulder to an elderly woman as she wept. Amidst the tears she choked, “Thanks for listening to me.” Her outpouring of grief began as she signed her name to a transfer of membership to our new church. At her previous church, she’d been convinced by the leadership that as an ‘older person’, she should bow down to the (perceived) needs of the younger generation. Struggling to put it in perspective she said, “It just hurts so much to leave my friends…I’ve been going to that church since the 1950’s…I don’t want to leave, but I know the preaching and the message here [new church] is what I need to hear.” In one way or another we all have a blind spot…thankfully the Lord is still in the business of opening the eyes of the blind.
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Gail;
-----The blind marks seem to get their eyes opened more than the blind con-artists. I hate to call those brothers con-artists, but I hate worse to not be honest. I don’t think their con is as deliberate as it is a state of having conned their own selves first. You would think the Bible would pierce their blindness. So people have shared scripture with them for years, and still the scales have failed to fall from their eyes. For the ultimate con is to think that what God has meant for yourself He has meant for everyone else, too - that your objectives must be everyone’s objectives, your viewpoints, your rituals, your practices have all come as a gift of God to mankind. It is only natural then to expect others to grovel at your feet, unworthy to give an opinion, but certainly worthy to leave a gift in support of your mighty God given ministry. And the cloudy night inside is moonless.
-----The chosen subject for elevation seems to have the greatest bearing on clarity of vision, including the ability to understand simple scripture. You would first think to elevate the Lord would be the quickest salve for the eyes. But be careful! This is where it gets tricky! For who can reach out and touch the Lord so as to say, “His robe is soft, and His hands are firm?” He is not before us in the flesh as is our neighbor. Therefore all we have to experience Him by is the Word, the Spirit, our practice of the Word, and our imagination, if that is, we leave out our neighbor. This is all highly subjective and vulnerable to incarceration by the con. So people can become demanding in their elevation of what they perceive the Lord to be, however innocently expecting others to have seen Him the same.
-----The spiritual eyes attain much better focus when we elevate our neighbors. What they are is much less subjective. What they need is much less disputable. Simple attention given to their communications makes known many sensible things. Simple thought given to their situation draws you into their reality. Regard for the conditions you find there - empathy for the difficulties some create, thankfulness for the blessings others are - is vision. Response to those conditions is the Vitamin A that strengthens vision. And doing it to the least of these is doing it to the Lord, who ultimately has been lifted up by your lifting up your neighbor.
-----This is the relational mathematics the con-artist has overlooked. In failing to lower themselves to their neighbors they have failed to lower themselves to their Lord. In thinking they lift the Lord up by demanding their own objectives, viewpoints, rituals, and practices in Him, they lift up merely their own pitiful selves. And how clearly they are then seen by those who indeed hold up their neighbors!
Love,
Steve Corey
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