Hammer on Anvil '

"Lord, we want to see" (Matthew 20:33).

I was inspired to write about vision after a recent visit to the optometrist. Many different lenses were placed before my eyes as the doctor tried to determine the exact correction I needed to be able to see perfectly.

If we view life through the wrong lens, our vision will be faulty. The same is true in the spiritual realm. Some of us are nearsighted -- we see things close to us, but don't see things in the distance. We pray for our families, but rarely pray for God's kingdom to come in faraway lands.

Some of us are farsighted. We may have grandiose ideas about serving God in other lands, but can't see obvious needs in our own neighborhood -- sometimes even in our own families.

Two blind men in the 20th chapter of Matthew uttered a simple prayer: "Lord, we want to see." It is a prayer I often pray, because I know my own vision is skewed at times, and I want to see things the way God sees them.

What are some faulty lenses we look through that contribute to our poor vision? First, our family of origin may have had a huge impact on what we believe. We grow up embracing as truth things we heard from our parents or in church -- and it's not always accurate.

Second, tradition is a big lens smudger! I will never forget an incident in which a woman in our church wanted to perform a worship dance to the song, "I Can Only Imagine." She showed me her routine before she asked the pastor for permission to do the dance, and it was beautiful and very tastefully done. Imagine my shock when she was denied the opportunity to do it. I had endured "human videos" that were much less tasteful, and not nearly as worshipful.

When I asked our pastor why this woman was denied the opportunity to use her gift, he said, "Do you know of any other (insert denomination name here) churches that allow dance?" I looked at him square in the eye and said, "Wrong question. Our standard should not be denominational tradition, but biblical truth." He was not thrilled with my response, but I pray it gave him cause to think.

A third lens that can skew our vision is faulty doctrine. Sometimes tenets worm their way into mission statements, but they are not biblical. A good example is forbidding people to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. Paul addressed this strongly in Colossians 2:20-22:

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.

When people are asked to sign membership statements that include man-made rules rather than liberating Scripture, everyone loses.

I encourage you to ask yourself today what might be clouding your vision, and then ask God to help restore your sight.