How good is your eyesight?

"Without Vision the People Perish"

The first time I read this simple statement (from Proverbs 29), it really stood out to me as such an important statement for the Church today. The Message translation says it even better;

"If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed."

It leads me to ask just what we see God is doing around us. I think if I'm honest, I sometimes struggle to see just exactly what God is doing around me. Lets be honest, in life we get so busy, so caught up in drama, routine, work etc, that sometimes we lose focus on the important stuff. We've all been there. Furthermore, like many in my generation, I have a really awful cynical streak that runs right through my core. The 20s and 30s age group are so hard to impress. We are so hard to get motivated and excited. We've seen and heard it all before. Bright lights and loud noises won't fool us. You won't pull the wool over our eyes with your parlour tricks and emotive theatre. And in some way, I find myself really sad that I have this cynicism, for the long and short of it is that I often find myself doubting that God can really deliver. Sure, in the small ways he is there. I sometimes feel Him speaking to me through prayer and the bible. There are times when I even see Him moving in what we do in church (both discipleship and outreach). But I was reminded recently of how over the years I have lost some of my belief that God can move in BIG ways. I mean in the casting out demons, healing the sick, prophesying kinda ways. I mean the ways in which when you see Him move, goosebumps raise on your flesh. The ways in which your knees knock together because the power and presence of God is so palpable. I've allowed myself to become blind to what He is doing. And the result? Often I find myself stumbling about, barely achieving much!

God wants me to have perfect vision. He wants you to have perfect vision too. If you have, praise God! If you haven't, 'attend to what he reveals'! I've often heard people ask what our vision is. I've sat in many 'strategic' meetings where church leadership have asked this question. Repeatedly I find myself coming back to what Jesus said when questioned about the most important commandment (Matthew 22). When asked to sum up just what is important he made two simple statements; love God and love others. I have a real tendency to over complicate things in life! But here, even I cannot escape the simplicity of what Jesus is saying. He goes further...

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

See what he is saying?! Everything, the entire law and demands of the prophets, hang on these two simple commands. All your religion, all your planning, all your passion, all your vision. EVERYTHING! In all that we do, we must be able to measure up to those simple commands. Does your worship show love to God? In your financial plans (both individually and corporately), do you recognise and respect others? In your service to church (volunteering at youth club, sitting on a committee, serving the tea and coffee) are you loving God and loving others? I think that if we are honest, sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes we get so caught up in routine, or doing things just to be noticed, or because we feel obligated to, that we sometimes forget our simple task is to love God and love others. Of course, how this manifests itself in your context could be radically different from how it manifests in mine. However the challenge is as simple as it is vast. Our vision, if it is to align with God's, is simply to love. In a world where love is in such short supply, it is so important that Church recognises this!

So maybe the question shouldn't be 'how good is your eyesight'? Maybe the question has to be 'how good are you at simply loving God and people'? Please Lord, give us the strength and the capacity to love and in doing so may we see the people and communities around us changed by simple, radical, courageous acts of love.