Recently, I wrote a blog about Blind Spots, those areas in our lives we just can’t see. Much like the blind spots you experience when driving your car with the reality of a car being alongside of you, yet you cannot see it, is a dangerous situation especially if you are changing lanes.
I evaluated some of my blind spots and realized that I accent on more of the justice side of the Lord than I do on the positive, beneficial side of God’s love and redemption. It is a blind spot in me … it’s hard for me not to see a need in the body of Christ to understand both sides of God’s love and His justice. Early on, I learned that there is a negative side to the Prophets and much of Scripture, as these addresses of the fallen nature of man has a warning to it, which gives it a negative posture. It is good for us, however, to see ourselves in the light of Scripture and identify those blinds spots that may keep us from growing in the grace and love of our Lord.
Now, I want to talk about being blind. In Scripture, blindness is described as people who see nothing at all. They don’t have blind spots … they are completely blind with no ability to see anything. First of all, the spiritual enemy in the world is a master at hiding the truth and making people blind so they do not see what God has done for us in Christ:
2 Corinthians 4 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The first blindness that happens in the world is the truth about God and the message of God’s redemption found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The second blindness is how religion, or religious practice, blinds people from knowing the truth. This blindness is what we call deception, or presenting a narrative that is not about God but is about a belief that is not from God. Religion can be an enemy of God because it becomes the center of the teaching. It is the practice, and of course, the center of the worship we give to it.
Isaiah 56:10 Israel's watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.
Israel’s teachers, pastors, and Prophets were blind according to God. The Prophets were described as prophets of the wind and the Lord’s Word is not in them:
Jeremiah 5:13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.
This second blindness is about religion because if the Word of God is not in them, then it only is an attempt to know God, and it is not a reality … it is a religion. Religion teaches us many things that mislead us and teach us doctrines, creeds, or practices that distract us from knowing Him as He wants to be known. This is the second blindness … religion that does not know God.
The third blindness is an unawareness of what God’s Word expects. In the modern church, we teach a public relations message that God is a positive force in our lives where He always has our backs. Yet, the message that Jesus presented is a different message from what many churches preach. Jesus talked about a narrow way of living for Him; by denying self and living sacrificial lives represented by the Cross. Jesus talked about how hated we would be because we were His followers. The only way we would be hated by the world is if we confronted it with its evil practices and immoral thinking. Jesus specifically stated in the Sermon on the Mount that we would be persecuted for preaching Jesus. Our blindness is about the expectations the Word of God that has for us in living holy lives that honor God.
I realize that this is not a popular way to build churches and influence people to investigate the claims of Christ, yet if we ignore this side of the Scriptures are we teaching the whole council of God?
God’s theme from the beginning of the Bible is about redemption. Ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3, He has been working His plan to redeem us from sin so that we would live free from sin and the condemnation of guilt and shame. That was fulfilled by Jesus upon the Cross. Now, those who believe in Jesus have an assignment … be disciples whose ears and eyes are open to understanding God through our relationship with Jesus.
My challenge for you is to read what Jesus said in the Gospels about how we are to live. I think your eyes will be opened to how dangerous accepting the message of Jesus really is and how blind we have become.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler