Author: Jon Partlow

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To Buffet or to Buffet My Body: The Power of a Disciplined Life to Say No

The eight years I spent in competitive running demanded discipline and sacrifice. Friends wanted to hang out, I had to train. Unhealthy foods calling to me were ignored. “Early to bed and early to rise” was the motto overriding the desire to either stay up or sleep in. When an athlete is in full training mode, unless significantly gifted, discipline and sacrifice are essential components for any success.

Looking back on my running career, I feel like discipline and sacrifice were often short changed. With the amount of miles I was running combined with a high rate of metabolism, I could eat almost anything I wanted with very little consequences. I went to bed early, not because I rose early to run, but because I liked going to bed early. Since running was my identity, I never really saw myself giving anything up. I was sufficiently gifted to enjoy enough success to coast through the off seasons. Overall, I loved running. I had friends who were runners. Whatever sacrifices I was making seemed minimal compared to the gains of high school and college competition. In hindsight I do not believe I comprehended the sacrifice of a truly disciplined life. Thus, I was never genuinely disciplined.

Paul knew what it meant to keep the careless desires at bay, and so did the Corinthians. Paul used the athletic image of a runner running to win the prize and a boxer who does more than simply shadow box for victory (1 Cor. 9:24-27). Since Corinth hosted the Olympic-type events called the Isthmian Games, the church was well versed in the dedicated sacrifice of the athlete. Successful athletes embrace training that cost them something in life (v. 27) in order to achieve something greater. They controlled their lives, instead of their lives controlling them.  

Paul’s use of the athletic imagery (1 Cor. 9:24-27) appears in the middle section of three chapters dedicated to addressing whether or not meat sacrificed to idols should be eaten by Christians (1 Cor. 8-10). By chapter 8’s ending Paul stated that if eating such meat causes a brother/sister to sin, then one should avoid eating the meat altogether (8:13). Turning the page to chapter nine Paul anticipates the pushback from the church as they demand their rights to eat the food. So Paul, dealing with rights, makes two strong points. First, he models giving up rights. He not only elects for a single life, but he refuses pay from the Corinthians for his preaching (9:3-6). Secondly, and to his point, giving up rights is an expression of the disciplined life as saying “no” manifests itself as a sacrifice. The athlete in training undergoes a strict regiment of diet, exercise, and sleep. In order to say “yes” to training he/she must say “no” to certain foods, to skipping workouts, and to sleep deprivation. Regardless of the pull to break training, the athlete leans into the power of a sacrificial discipline by saying “no.” In order to maintain control and discipline in his/her own life the athlete must say “no.”

I never quite understood this as a high school and college athlete. I was young and full of energy with a high metabolism. Much of that has changed. As I am staring down at the sixty year marker, not long ago, I experienced a health scare which forced me to alter my diet. I made changes that involved saying “no.” No to sweetened drinks and processed foods, while red meat and fried foods were far from my first choices. Sugar and salt intake were scaled back as I needed to drop significant weight. The disciplined life came into clear focus the day I craved a Sonic burger. I usually don’t crave Sonic burgers, but I did early on in this transition. I discovered that if I broke my fast and had the burger (with tater tots, yummm) I would satisfy my craving, but the hope of losing the weight and ruining my long term health were jeopardized. I came to realize that sometimes one just has to say “no” so that one remains in control and not being controlled by certain cravings. Even now, living with a clean bill of health, I’m pressed with the power that one must occasionally say “no.” Sometimes I succeed, other times I fail.

Such a sacrificial disciplined life stretches into our spiritual well-being. In a world that tells us to spend money and to embrace consumerism, sometimes acting in “no” helps reinforces contentment without forcing us into (more) debt. At a time when we’re bombarded by electronics and the need to mindlessly look at our phones, saying “no” frees us from all the negative social media platforms. In a culture driven by fast foods saying “no” might lead to a healthier lifestyle. Might. With an overly sexually stimulated society, saying “no” secures us from a deadly addiction with devastating consequences – not only to ourselves, but also to those we love the most. And for those who pride themselves on their own self-control, such self-control may simply be another cloak actually controlling you.

During the 1980’s FLOTUS Nancy Reagan initiated an anti-drug campaign called, “Just Say No.” Ultimately, the program failed because the producers underestimated the complexities of America’s drug problem (remember, the opioid crisis was still another generation away). The problem was individualized instead of empowering society. By treating the symptom of fighting peer pressure in the short term, they failed to provide concrete tools to resist drug use over the long haul.

What Paul is advocating is something far more encompassing than a political or social war on drugs. The discipline to say “no” is different in 1 Corinthians 9 than the “no” combating drugs. Paul is protecting the church from the arrogant as his community plea outweighs the individual rights. His message may be simplified by this axiom: you control it so that it does not control you.

I remember watching Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as a child and failing to understand why the mongoose refused the temptation to eat the entire banana. With danger lurking, the hero had to stay fit and sharp. Something was stalking, preying in the garden and far more pressing than Rikki’s personal desire and appetite. He had to stay in control so that the enemy would not gain control over him.

Thus, Paul argues, by saying “no,” we buffet our bodies over buffeting our bodies so that we remain in control so that it does not control us.

Solo Deo Glor
(i.e., Only God Is Glorified!)

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CHURCH: You Have Come

Church attendance in America has steadily declined throughout my lifetime. What was once the bedrock of our society has crumbled into seemingly shifting sands. The reasons are varied and difficult to outline here. Some of the factors are linked to the ever growing secularization of society while other causes are self-inflicted by the church itself. The recent Pandemic seems to have only exasperated the trend, leaving many to wonder the future of the church.

We aren’t the first ones who have struggled with church attendance, but we are the latest to do so. A group of Jewish Christians meeting in either Palestine or Rome became disillusioned by the Christian faith. They were second generation believers (Heb. 2:3) with a storied past. They had endured hard times facing persecution head on (Heb. 10:32-34), but now they were wavering (Heb. 10:35-36). Possibly enamored by the Jerusalem worship, their small house church couldn’t compete with the memories of the extravagant temple worship. Now they were looking to throw their faith away and revert back into full blown Judaism. We simply know this group from the letter to the Hebrews.

While the argument of the anonymous writer centers on Jesus being better than angels, Moses, the Old Covenant, the priesthood, and sacrifices, the apex of his argument is the heroes of faith in chapter 11. Having crested his thought process, the author gives one more compelling image before bringing his letter to a close. He addresses what happens behind the scenes in the assembly. Ignoring what we might know as the “worship wars” issues, he describes a reality we don’t see. He does so by a compare/contrast of two different and familiar places of worship. The writer moves from “You have not come,” to “You have come.”  

You have not come (Heb. 12:18-24) to an unnamed mountain. The writer starts in the negative to describe what is clearly Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Covenant (Ex. 19:10-25). At that mountain the people were forbidden from even touching the mountain. Fear and trembling permeated throughout Israel, even Moses himself was terrified. By reverting back to the Jewish faith, the Christians were returning to Sinai and the deadly fearful holiness of God.

You have come (Heb. 12:22a) to a mountain explicitly named, Zion. He also drops Jerusalem’s name but here he makes a turn. Where we come to is not the physical city of David, but a heavenly one. As we assemble, the physical place transports us spiritually to an entirely different reality.

You have come (Heb. 12:22b-23a) to a multitude of angels joyfully worshiping God. We do not assemble alone, regardless of our size. We are the church of the firstborn, God’s most precious people. First born like first fruits bring a status and privilege we receive from God as our names are written in heaven. Note the confidence of the writer. Our names are written, not might be written, or possibly written, or written only for a select faithful few, or written with disappearing ink. The assurance strikes with confidence: since our names are written in heaven, so don’t bail on your faith now.

You have come (Heb. 12:23b-24) both to God who is the final judge and to Jesus who mediates the new covenant. Drawing from an earlier mention of Abel (11:4) and from Genesis 4:10, where God says Abel’s blood was calling out for justice, Jesus’ blood calls out to something far better than Abel’s cry: redemption.

Right in the middle of these verses the writer says that not only are the multitude of angels present in our assemblies, but so also are the “spirits of righteous men made perfect” (v. 23b). One wonders, who are these men? First, I believe it’s safe to say that the writer is speaking generally of men so that the spirits made righteous are both men and women. Secondly, these are not the heavenly hosts mentioned earlier as he noted for they are the thousands of angels. Since the imagery is of a spiritual Jerusalem surrounded by the angelic hosts, then these spirits made righteous are the men and women of faith who have gone on before us. They are the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) who are comprised, not only of those from chapter of 11, but also all those who lived by faith even in the face of death. When we assemble, we are not alone. We join the saints whom we’ve loved and respected, but who have already received their reward.

I hear the names and see the faces of all those whom I have admired, and you do too. Some we have personally known and loved. Others we have read about and admired from afar. The Hebrews writer tells us that when we assemble with the saints, we are closer to them then than when we are anywhere. While I’m not sure how much motivation this perspective holds to drive up attendance, the perspective that the assembly is greater than what we see gives clearer motivation to embrace this reminder that showing up for church is beyond this world.

The last Sunday my dad attended services, he broke routine. Usually, mom dropped him off at the door where he walked in and occupied their pew at the front of the auditorium. Mom parked the car then came and sat with dad. On this day mom walked into the auditorium and could not find dad. She sat down, waiting with concern because dad’s health was failing. When services started, he finally joined her on their pew. When pressed as to his whereabouts, dad said he was greeting people. Dad hadn’t greeted anyone for a while. His vulnerability to diseases kept him from shaking people’s hands for some time. Mom realized later that dad was not saying hello, he was telling everybody goodbye.

Now, given the context of Hebrews 12, I wonder. I wonder if dad was not just telling people hello or goodbye, but was in fact, saying, “I’ll see you next week.” And if that is true, it changes everything about the assembly.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., Only God Is Glorified!)

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Greetings from Babylon

In the summer of 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment, originally enacted to protect the freedom of slaves, must now be applied to same sex marriages. The shockwaves were immediately felt. Celebrations and protests were heard almost in tandem. New marriage applications were available while some county clerks refused to issue the license out of conscience. The local newspaper, where I lived, conducted interviews with local preachers asking them their opinion and what they were going to do about the new mandate. As expected they stood against the decision and their sermons the Sunday after the announcement reflected their position.

I chose another route.

The struggle with the shifting culture is the disorientation we feel. We tell ourselves how we live in a Christian society with Christian neighbors and laws that reflect our Christian faith. As soon as laws get passed that conflict with our core value-sets our equilibrium begins to tilt and then spin. Sometimes out of control. We can cry “Foul!” or we complain, but no one listens. No one seems to care. The result always damages our witness to those who don’t believe. We are in a post-Christian era trying to view the world through a Christian era lens. We’ve convinced ourselves that we live in Jerusalem when in truth we live in Babylon. We’ve always lived in Babylon.

The following Sunday of the Supreme Court ruling I announced to the church the fall sermon series. I was preaching from 1 Peter. Instead addressing the ruling, I addressed the response to our culture. Peter’s first epistle gives the best possible way to fix, not the ruling, but our equilibrium.

Peter bookends his epistle with two words that convey the imagery he fleshes out in the body of the letter. The first is “diasporas” (1:1b) a word used to describe the Jews who were dispersed and scattered throughout the world when they were taken into captivity. In those days they found themselves in the heart of pagan territory, hostile to their faith and void of the temple which grounded their fidelity. They found themselves as unwelcomed strangers inhabiting a new land, a land they didn’t want. Peter picks up on that theme to say Christians living in a pagan world experience the same kind of disorientation. The place may be familiar but we do not fit in. We’re strangers. We’re sojourners. We’re pilgrims dispersed throughout the world. While we don’t belong, we don’t lose our faith either.

The second word of the bookend comes at the end of the letter where Peter claims he’s writing from Babylon (5:13). The cryptic message is unlikely literal as no record of Peter going into the city exists. More likely, he’s writing from Rome addressing the church in various locations (see 1:1b). By name dropping Babylon, Peter reinforces his theme of strangers living in a strange land.

The word to describe Peter’s message is exile. Located in a place far from home, living among people who do not hold common values. The exilic person feels ostracized, intimidated, and abandoned. No, we’ve probably never been exiled, but we’ve felt something similar to an exile.

In John Mark Comer’s book, Live No Lies (see pg. xxiv-xxvi), he describes the shared experiences of the exiled. First, a shift has occurred where Christians used to be in the majority, but are now a minority. Fewer and fewer people are identifying with a local church and long term trends are anything but optimistic on changing the trend. Secondly, being a Christian was once a badge of honor but now is often viewed as a prison of shame. Instead of the Church as a place to offer a pathway to solving social problems, the Church has too often been part of creating or exasperating the social problems. We’ve created part of the dilemma we live in. Thirdly, because of the first two, a shift has occurred where society may have been tolerant of the Christian perspective but are quickly moving to being intolerant. The result is that people who identify as Christian are in the minority and are bearing the shame of the title finding more and more intolerance toward such perspective. Comer’s description sounds like we’re exiled in our own land.

If Comer’s assessment is right, then maybe we can start understanding how we’re living in a post-Christian era which looks a lot like the pre-Christian era in which Peter wrote his epistle. We start viewing ourselves as exiles in a forsaken Babylon instead of citizens of safe Jerusalem. Some of the themes Peter touches on include hope (1:3-9), a call to living holy lives (1:15-16), accepting social rejection (2:4-8), suffering like Jesus (2:21-24; 3:3-22), living with an unbelieving spouse (3:1-7), living at the end of time (4:7-10), all while staying alert to the dangers surrounding us (5:8-9).

So when the verdict was handed down by the Supreme Court, I chose not to rail against the decision, though I am sure my congregation wished I had. I chose instead to take a different and difficult route. I began reframing our context. Society is far less friendly to the Christian faith then originally believed. Society has always been unfriendly to the Christian faith when it really mattered. The difference is that foreign soil. We’re being forced to reevaluate what following Christ really means, and that really is not so bad. We have a pretty good roadmap and it includes a letter from the Apostle Peter.  

Solo Deo Gloria!
(i.e., Only God Is Glorified!)

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I Prayed for Ukraine

I prayed for Ukraine
When the Soviet Union fell, folded, divided, and dissolved,
Giving the people more power and resolve;|
ndependence and freedom were ushered into the toast of a champaign.

I prayed for Ukraine
When the spiritually dry, barren, and parched Soviet lands
Received fresh water from the Savior with pierced hands;
Missionaries persuaded the locals to come to the Jesus who reigns.

I prayed for Ukraine
The day my brother and his wife traveled to an orphanage in Aackabo to adopt their son,
And when they saw that the boy was wearing a Snoopy t-shirt, they knew he was the one;
My nephew was chosen as if the moment was somehow pre-ordained.

I prayed for Ukraine
When an untested President was accused of corruption – a victim of being coerced –
And was threatened: “Play our game or the allocated monies for defense won’t be dispersed.”  
As his reputation was tarnished and maligned, he was recipient of the world’s disdain.

I prayed for Ukraine
When Russia began its invasion on the pretext of lies;
With buildings being bombed and cities facing undeniable demise;
Refugees fleeing their home, maybe forever, while saying their goodbyes
To the fighting men – their sons, their husbands, and their fathers – amid their tears and cries;
Their food, water, and clothing all in short supplies.
Death hovers like a vulture circling the brave soldiers and innocent civilians caught in the cross-fires,
While on the fringes – at the borders to avoid escalation – are waiting and watching the allies; 
The world saw an untested President refusing to flee, heroically calling his nation to rise,

Hoping that someone in power can put an end to this refrain,

I prayed for Ukraine’s enemies,
The Russian soldiers were told they were liberating the people
Because Putin’s invasion is far from legal,
Where the Imago Dei, instead of gathering in a warzone, should be gathered under a steeple;
For Jesus calls us to be fully stretched and pray for all, including those who are as trustworthy as a weasel;
Calling us through prayer that peace may come from the greatest of the Supremacies.

I prayed for Ukraine.

Solo Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)

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An Exposed Weakness: When Our Heroes Are Vulnerble

We love our heroes. We place them on victory stands and adorn them with honor. We build larger-than-life statutes because their feats were larger-than-life. They often defied the odds and overcame obstacles where others folded under the pressure. We cheer on their success and then quickly turn on them when they fail. For in their failures they remind us that they are human too.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe Thor was part of the key inner circle members of the Avengers. Confident, if not arrogant. Courageous and self-sacrificing. Rugged good looks but filled with compassion. He was born to be king and people were willing to follow him. But following his failed attempt to stop Thanos, Thor’s story took a dark turn. He devolved into a coward, hiding from everyone and everything. His only solace was the hard liquor he was consuming. When we find him he’s overweight and just under drunk.

The move may have been a brilliant stroke of genius from the writers with Chris Hemsworth selling his Endgame role. Yes, I hated seeing Thor suffer from PTSD. He was still mourning the loss of his mother and pining away the breakup from Jane Foster. His sister, cut off from the family, released Ragnarok upon Asgaard destroying his home city and planet. His father’s death came with his sister’s return. While a remnant of Asgardians were fleeing as refugees, Thanos appeared. The Mad Titan murdered Thor’s step-brother, Loki, along with his closest friends. Faced with his own defeat against Thanos, Thor showed us that the “God of Thunder” was just as human as the rest of us.

Humanity may prop people up as gods, but even the best of us have vulnerable spots. When those areas are exposed and exploited we feel the pangs of death. Most people downplay and hide those areas of weakness. They try to put on a strong face to mask the pain. For the apostle Paul, he chose another approach. He marketed those very areas as the best he has to offer God.

One of the most powerful images Paul paints is the treasure and clay pot in 2 Corinthians 4:7. Center stage to his entire epistle to the Corinthians is a church that props up leaders who show no fear and display great powerful strength. Paul won’t compete on that stage. Paul can’t compete on that stage. He is frail and weak. He is like a clay jar that is fragile, breakable, and expendable. Fear and suffering mark his faith. He hardly goes through life unscathed. And yet, God has chosen to place the priceless and powerful gospel in someone so frail, broken, and expendable.

What holds Paul together, like duct tape, is God. For the gospel of Christ is lived out in frail humanity. The strength displayed in Paul is God working through him. The power for Paul to preach, teach, and endure is fueled by God. The courage to face the future is energized by God working through Paul. Paul refused to take credit for God’s work, as he says,

. . . to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We also carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body (2 Cor. 4:7b-10).

To say it another way, Paul looked more like the broken Thor from Endgame than he did the mighty Thor of the previous movies. And if the Corinthians, who knew Paul face-to-face, rejected Paul because of his weaknesses, why do we think we, who only know him from history, would embrace him so readily?

Some of this “strength and weakness” theological inner conflict has come to the forefront of my thinking as I’ve been following the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Simone Biles, reigning Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast, sent shockwaves through the world by backing out of Olympic competition. Making sense of her decision may be an effort in futility, but adding perspective to her situation is possible. While I have no idea of her faith, and based on the treasure in clay jar analogy, Biles is a physically powerful athlete who experienced a crack in her mental and emotional well-being. With that in mind, here are my thoughts to consider.

First, I have only dreamed of competing on such a stage, she has struck gold 23 times (Olympic and World Championship count). She has 31 total medals. Until we have walked in her competitive shoes, we should be slow to criticize.

Secondly, the news cycle, whether it is political or athletic in nature, is a constant barrage of attention. In the age of incessant instant information the news media and social media outlets are constantly looking for a new and breaking story. Constantly. And our athletes are compelled to entertain the reporters. Such attention is unhealthy. I read that Michael Jordan believes even he could not imagine playing under today’s scrutiny.  

Thirdly, never underestimate the effect COVID-19 has had on the athletes. The isolation and lockdown has had negative repercussions on everyone, and the reaction has varied from person to person. Remember, the Games were delayed a year. Had they played last year without COVID protocols, we probably would not have this conversation today.

Fourthly, Biles’ success came in spite of being sexually abused by Dr. Nassar. Never underestimate the emotional and psychological damage trauma Biles has had to work through. Can we even fathom what she (and 250 other girls) have had to endure with the spotlight on them for so long? I don’t think so. By the way, a big reason for her to continue competing was to protect the new gymnasts in the US Gymnastic system.

Finally, she has demonstrated tremendous courage and grace in the midst of her trials and through these Games. She could have run and hid or go home. Instead she cheered her teammates on and reentered competition to earn a Bronze Medal in the Balance Beam.

Come to think about it, she appears quite human after all. And we ought to applaud her for that, too.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)

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Homeless And Hungry: A Compassionate Response

In Matthew’s final judgment scene (25:31-46) Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep/righteous responded to the plight of Jesus, while the goats/ all others ignored the pain Jesus suffered. Neither group actually saw Jesus, so they sought clarification (25:37,44). “Whatever you did (or didn’t do) for the least of these, you did (or didn’t do) for me” (25:40,45). Jesus identifies with the poor and the suffering. So when we see someone hungry, we feed them because we see Jesus as the one hungry. When we realize someone is thirsty, we offer a drink of water because we see Jesus as thirsty. When we practice hospitality for a stranger, we open our hearts and home because we see Jesus as needing shelter. When we see someone “naked,” we dress them because we see Jesus as the one needing clothes. When the sick need care we provide assistance because we see Jesus battling an illness. When we know someone is behind bars, we visit as if Jesus is the one in jail.

The seriousness of caring for those who are hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick, and in prison seem to be a heaven/hell issue. If we choose to ignore the plight of the “poor” (as defined by those who are hungry, thirsty, etc.), then when we face Jesus upon his return the outcome is far from promising. While culture does influence the passage, especially with hospitality and imprisonment, the truth of this passage speaks to Christians caring for people pushed to the margins of society. Jesus expects his people to show compassion and empathy by demonstrating concern for the poor.

Talking about helping the poor is always easier – even though it’s politically charged – than stepping up to demonstrate compassionate and empathic concern. While opening our hearts to the biblical story is the first step, the second is to open our hearts to the people in our community. Once that happens, the possibilities are endless.

● Reading a book about American poverty or addiction helps opens our eyes to see the biblical story clearer. Reading articles from the perspective of the marginalized helps understand their world better. Such information removes the caricature and paints an accurate picture of poverty. ● Each month Sunshine collects canned food and supplies to send to the Midwestern Children’s Home. ● At the beginning of every school supplies are collected and given to children who cannot afford to purchase themselves. By late fall Sunshine begins collecting monies to supply winter coats to children who do not have a coat. ● When COVID closed our schools we helped supply snacks and food for the Minford schools who delivered them to students at risk. ● Sharon Hallam has assembled “survival” kits for the homeless filled with snacks and personal hygiene supplies. ● A local organization, Hoodies for the Homeless, collects sweatshirts and fleece blankets to distribute to the homeless of Portsmouth. It’s a simple way of helping others while purging your own closet at the same time. ● At the Portsmouth Burger King one or two homeless people are usually at the corner seeking help. When going through the drive through, it’s not difficult to order a couple of extra burgers to give to them. ● A couple of years ago a Canadian high school chorus who presented a concert to Sunshine and needed homes for the student. Sunshine stepped up to the need. ● As you’re enjoying your meal at your favorite restaurant, someone is bound to walk in that you know needs you to (secretly) buy their meal for them (see also Dairy Bar hungry promise).  ● Before COVID shut down our facilities a small group of members met once a month to feed the Narcotics Anonymous members a spaghetti dinner, fully funded from their own pockets. Even in COVID the Directly Affected has asked for help to fund dinners for their meetings. Directly Affected comprise of teens whose parents are addicts. ● Remember outreach ministries like Hope for Haiti, Breaking Chains in Honduras or the many crisis pregnancy organizations like Elizabeth’s Hope in Chillicothe or CRADLE in Portsmouth.

As we are offering a compassionate response to the poor and to the marginalized, remember something bigger is at stake. Something bigger is always at stake.

If you feed anyone who is hungry,

                You are feeding Jesus.

If you give water to anyone who is thirsty,

                You are quenching the thirst of Jesus.

If you invite anyone into your home – even a stranger,  

                You are giving room and board to Jesus.

If you give garment to anyone needing clothing,

                You are dressing Jesus.

If you provide comfort and healing to the sick,

                You are looking after Jesus.

If you visited anyone in prison,

                You are visiting an imprisoned Jesus.

Because when we see the hungry, the thirsty, a stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned,

                We actually don’t see them,
We see Jesus’

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)

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Awakened to a New Perspective

John Keating, the literature teacher at the fictional Welton Academy in the movie Dead Poets Society, always saw the world through unconventional means. He had his students rip the entire first chapter of their textbooks out for disposal because poetry cannot be measured by mathematical probabilities. To demonstrate the danger of conformity, he took his students outside to march around the courtyard. But the scene that grabbed me was when he had his students stand on top of their desk to view the room. All the desks were still in place. The chalkboard continued to be mounted on the wall. The mini library was still intact. What changed was the students’ perspective. Standing on the desk gave them a different way of seeing the same situation. Perspective is everything.

Sometimes we find ourselves boxed in and trapped because the only view we have limits our perception. Sometimes simply stepping outside the box – outside our surroundings – gives us the new vantage point needed to see something new or different in a way we’ve never noticed. Other times it’s removing the blinders that hinder us from seeing the peripheral.

When Thomas Edison interviewed potential scientist to work for him, he took them to lunch. He ordered soup for the scientist. When order came, he sat back and watched what happened next. If the potential scientist reached for the salt before tasting the soup, the interview ended. If the potential scientist tasted his or her soup before reaching for the salt, the interview continued. He did not want his scientist to have their minds made up beforehand. Sadly, Edison failed his own criteria. In the war of currents, he boxed himself in with direct current (DC), making his mind up beforehand that DC was the only viable current, when others found success in experimenting with alternating current (AC). Perspective is everything.

When Peter saw the vision of Jesus in Acts 10, he was awakening to a new perspective on the Gentile mission. While Peter had preached that everyone who called on the name of the Lord will be saved (Act. 2:21), he hadn’t realized that such promise was offered to the Gentiles. When he saw that God had given Cornelius the Holy Spirit just like he had, he realized God’s plan. When Paul saw the light (Act. 9), he shifted from persecuting the church to becoming its biggest advocate. Readily admitting his own sinfulness (1 Tim. 1:15), he discovered that if God’s grace and mercy was more than willing to reach him then that same grace and mercy will reach the Gentiles (Rom. 1:15). Perspective is everything.

In any case changing the angle by which we view something alters our perspective, and that’s a good thing. When our perspective shifts, so does the way we see the world. We see people and situations differently. We tend to see them clearly. They say never criticize someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, so we understand their journey. We become sympathetic and empathetic to their plight. Will we change our opinion? Maybe not. But our inflexible views might soften. And if they soften we might step into compassion. For if we can view each other through the lenses of friendship, maybe we’ll stop viewing each other distrustfully as enemies.

What the writers, director and producers around Dead Poets Society were trying to grasp was that options were available if we’re willing to see them. How we navigate through life largely depends on the perspective we bring to living. Is there one path or two? Can we step out of the box? Are we working with blinders? What if we stood on top of our desk to view the situation? Suddenly, the world looks differently, and options begin to materialize. Perspective is everything.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)