A year or two ago, I listened to a sermon in which the way we see God was discussed. To be fair, I am not even sure if that was the main point of the message, but it struck me and stuck with me. The lens through which we see God clearly has profound ramifications. For it determines how we relate to Him, and also to others.
But what occurred to me then, and has sat with me ever since, is that identifying this lens is undoubtedly both challenging and complicated. For we see God through our eyes, our experience, prejudices, preconceptions, through what others have told us, what we have read and heard. Beyond doubt, all these things colour our perceptions. While we will never see perfectly, this is something we must be aware of, and seek, wherever possible, to overcome. For if we fail to do so, we may end up following a God who is not.
I am only too aware how easy it is to get so carried away. That in the name of Christ, many terrible things have been justified, even applauded. How are we to ensure that we too do not fall into the same snare?
How do we instead find the God who is, and was and is to come?
Perhaps being aware of this limitation is the first step. And so making room to hear other perspectives, other interpretations, and different points of view is invaluable. However, this demands that we genuinely sit with them rather than just dismissing them out of hand as errant or ridiculous. But, how are we to determine what is right and what is not, without becoming incapacitated by our inability to see without bias?
There are some obvious things that we can do. Firstly, we must immerse ourselves in the life of Christ, in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole. Furthermore, books, sermons, other people and rubbing shoulders in community are all indispensable in helping to open our eyes to see where our understanding is lacking. Or even blatantly wrong. And yet, again, there is always the danger that we simply interpret these things through our lens.
We must have the humility to set aside the need to be, or to appear to be, right and to humbly ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear.
Above all else, we must rub shoulders with our God. We must work side by side with Him, look to Him, observe Him, and be willing to change. For me, I have found that as I encounter God, I find him to be totally different to what I would or could imagine. He is far greater, far gentler, far wiser, and far more loving than I could ever imagine. My God is patient, beyond my comprehension. He challenges me to see things the way he sees things, and the more time I spend with him, the more time I desire to spend time with him. The more I long to know him. And the more I want to be like him.
It is with great comfort that I hear the words Paul wrote to the Corinthians echoing in my mind.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I Know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12
For one day we will know fully, and we will see clearly, until that day may we walk with grace and humility, looking to him and following his way.
Lord Jesus, it is so easy to look through our eyes and think that we are right. But we know that we only see things in part, that we never see the whole picture. Open our eyes that we may know you more fully, that we may see you more clearly. Show us those things that are displeasing to you, that we might relate with others the way you would wish us to do so. Teach us to see you more truly today. Amen
How has your background and experiences influenced the way you see God? Where do your eyes need to be opened? What is God showing you about him, about yourself and about others?
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