A Matter of Perspective

Many years ago, while I was Pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Shady Hills, I learned a very valuable lesson in perspective.  We had a very large pine tree in the back of our property that was perilously close to our football field.  When the tree was cut down the trunk of the tree was carried away by someone who had a use for some pine wood.  The stump and limbs were left behind for us to dispose.  Our area of central Florida had been experiencing a drought and the ground was extremely dry.

After a number of weeks, the stump and the limbs had not been removed and I became impatient.  One afternoon I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I decided that I could get rid of the limbs and stump at one time by burning them.  I piled the limbs on top of the stump and set fire to the pine needles on the limbs.  The fire spread rapidly through the pile of brush and soon I had flames that were ascending at least one hundred feet, and then the grass around the pile ignited.  At that moment, I realized that I was in a precarious position.

I was at the back of a five acre property with no water and only had a shovel to contend with a raging fire that was rapidly turning into a brush fire that was spreading toward a wooded area next door.  While frantically trying to beat out the spreading fire I saw two girls near our classrooms.  I began to yell to Kim and Melanie for "Water!  Need Water!".  I was relieved to see them run toward the office, and I was confident that help was on the way.  I continue to run around the raging inferno with my shovel trying to beat back the fire from the dry grass and brush, but I knew help was coming.  Suddenly I heard the voice of a little girl saying "Here, preacher", and I turned to see them standing there smiling holding a styrofoam cup of water for their thirsty pastor.

Fortunately, I was able to stop the fire before it got to the wooded area, but I learned a great lesson about perspective that day.  They thought they were doing exactly what I wanted, but it wasn't what I thought I needed at the moment.

How often do we miss God's perspective and plan due to our lack of spiritual perspective?  Moses saw a burning bush and thought it to be an oddity for examination, but God spoke from that fire.  Samuel saw a mere shepherd lad, but God saw David as the future king of Israel.  The world saw a motley crew of fishermen and other misfits, but Jesus called these men to follow Him and they became the Apostles.  Too often we are prone to trust our own reasoning rather than the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible reveals the folly of trusting our own insights, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (I Cor.13:12), The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer.17:9)"

At best, we can not see the way ahead of us clearly.  At worst, our hearts can easily deceive us and lead us astray.  We need to be constantly influenced by the truths of God's Word coupled with the leadership of the Holy Spirit if we are to walk in wisdom.

We can not expect a lost world to grasp the plans and purposes of God.  It is our duty to walk in wisdom in the midst of the world as we share the Gospel.  To do that well, we need God's perspective.  May God help us to put on the mind of Christ!

Why Is Change So Difficult?

 "Change is as inexorable as time, yet nothing meets with more resistance." - Benjamin Disraeli”

We live in a changing world, but most of us resist and even fight against change.  Unfortunately, the majority only want change if it will personally benefit them.

There are some things that are unchangeable.  The veracity and the authority of Scripture should never be considered as a subject which is open to our whims and opinions.  God is clearly seen as the One who is changeless throughout eternity.  Truth is true whether the opinions of the majority would discount it, and lies will be deceptive regardless of the trappings that Satan, religion, and mankind would embellish them.

Change is a painful topic for many of us.  Perhaps the local church is one the best examples of a microcosm that resists change with fierceness and tenacity.  Many of our churches saw their greatest time of effectiveness during the decades between 1950 through 1980, and we continue trying to reach the world of 2014 with the methods that worked well in the past.  While we must hold with conviction our Biblical foundations, we must realize that we must be open to some variation in methodology to reach current and future generations.

One example of effective change is our annual Vacation Bible School.  When I was a child, VBS consisted of pledges, missionary stories, and snacks comprised of butter cookies and red Kool-Aid.  Today, we use an all-out program to capture the attention and engender enthusiasm within the kids that attend.  All of this is done so that we can have the opportunity to share the Gospel with those who may not hear it otherwise.  It's not the way our grandparents did it, but it works.  We can change the methodology without sacrificing doctrinal integrity.

Churches across America are dying and they refuse to realize it.  Perhaps the main culprit is the fact that we are too often focused on our own preferences, traditions, and tastes.  We are happy to see people come to faith in Christ as long as they adopt our way of doing things.

We need a revival that will lead us to see the lost as the Apostle Paul saw them, "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!  For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.  What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;  To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." (I Cor.9:16-23).

Sadly, too many of us have adopted the attitude of King Hezekiah, "Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?" (II Kings 20:19).  Hezekiah was content to sacrifice future generations as long as he could enjoy the present with contentment.  We need to awaken to the reality that staring at our own navel will never gives us an accurate vision of the world around us that needs to know about the love and grace of God.

God help us to be willing to change according to His will!  God help me to view the needs of the world through God's lens, not just through my own filtered lens of personal perception.