Spiritual Acuity
27th October 2009
Dennie’s Room
The acuity of one’s eyes is something that can be measured off the bat. It does not require any medical preparation other than a chart with letters of varying sizes to be read with only a single eye. I don’t have a 20/20 vision but all I can say is that my eyes are clear enough to see the things that are visually pleasant and not-so-pleasant, what is black and what is white, what needs to be fixed and the how-to-do’s of fixing it, and the list goes on and on. However, a normal visual acuity does not always lead us to an accurate way of analysing and interpreting things, as it is not very uncommon that we see a lot of optical illusions around us. If we always believe on what we see on the visual realm we might end up impairing our judgment.
Our perception is a result of a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes (sense of sight is one of them) while a stimulus is present. These communal conversations from the different senses are critical to how we respond to certain stimuli and if we get to see and experience the same stimulus over and over again our brain creates an automatic response to a single stimulus without analysing it (awesooomee, isn’t it?!!). It is so amazing how the brain, culture, and genes make up the human psyche - - however, I do not want to discount the fact that one’s spirituality greatly impacts the way we understand things and how we behave as individuals. Hey wait-a-sec, I am not here to promote the undying duel between Science and Religion because I believe that both these disciplines could be married given the right explanation (or I maybe wrong, cut the crap dennie!)
How many times have we been bamboozled by our perception just because our eyes were so hallucinatory? We judge things based on what we see but most of the time what we see is never quite what it seems, hence, an impaired judgment. The same is true in our Christian living, our spiritual eyes are so stringy about what they see on this earth and judge them so easily. This is simply because they think that those eyes are so capable of seeing things the same way God sees things. Just because we are not from this world does not mean that our eyes shall only see the things that are holy and any deviation from what is holy is an infection that needs to be isolated and worse is quarantined. The humanness of mankind may be very sinful, but it is through this very nature that the Son of God embraced humanity so that people would likewise embrace eternity with Him when our heavenly Father summons our spirits. It is, however, so frustrating that some Super Christians have a microscopic visual acuity that even a miniscule of dust could easily be magnified. They keep an eye out for their fellow Christians who will stumble and fall into sin and criticise their lifestyle; they then make a permanent perception about that person and the worse part is that they influence other Christians through this holy and perfect perception.
How many times have we heard Christians harshly commenting about their fellow Christians who are being rumored as an adulterer, a fornicator, a drug user, a homosexual, an alcoholic, a smoker, a party-goer, a feigner, a sexual addict, an immoral, etc etc. This is an ugly truth that we often see inside the church – an ecumenical paradox that even church leaders found themselves ensnared by. It all starts with some degrees of impairment in one’s spiritual acuity and if this is not corrected, it will result to a more debilitating effect on one’s (the person being judged) battles against addiction (and the others that the Bible considers as ungodly) and eventually loses his hope of being recovered from a bondage. I am not saying that Christians should have a sense of indifference on these things, in fact seeing and identifying a possible aberration in one’s Christian walk is just the first step of dealing the issue. The steps after that are as equally critical as the first one, as this would make or break a person’s faith in God. I said POSSIBLE aberration because some people think that their practices are right (perhaps culturally or according to one’s personal beliefs and preferences), others are simply clueless that their practices contradict the standards of God. The rule of thumb is that you do not spill out nor pass judgment against one person if you have identified a possible aberration. You pray for guidance so God can give you wisdom on the how-to-dos of rebuking a person, needless to say, this needs to be subtly done. You do not dictate to a person how he should become, how he should act, how he should go about his life, but you need to give him options, explain to him how you feel about this contradiction in relation to his Christian walk. The worse thing that you could ever do as a counselor or friend is to make that person feel condemned. Nobody is perfect and since every individual is unique, you can NEVER feel and understand how and why he/she does those things that you consider as ungodly. There are a lot of things that contribute to such behaviours and being so superlative about Christianity is not and will never be a powerful tool to make a person feel that we have a loving and gracious God (another paradox, huh!). Don’t get me wrong with what I said so please allow me to explain this deeper…. Although most if not all Christians know that we are still prone to committing errors (at least that’s what we tell to our brethren), some of us STILL find it so hard to accept that these spiritual glitches are possible. These Christians are being rumored, ridiculed, persecuted (oh yes…… by their fellow Christians!!!!) and condemned. Wheeeew!!! Some people!!!!! Christianity does not equate to perfection, it is a continuous battle between human affliction, shortcomings and God’s amazing grace.
I know some of you are raising your eyebrows or perhaps even way too itchy to respond to this ideology, some of you might even ask who my Small Group leader is but this I tell you “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” The next time your spiritual acuity tells you that something is wrong about a person’s life, practices, etc. ask yourself these questions “What kind of person are you when nobody is looking? Is your spiritual body bleeding because of the chains you have been secretly nurturing? Will your words destroy a person? Is your mind filled with filthy thoughts? Are you equipped with the tools you need to be able to subtly rebuke a person? If you claim to be a Christian, then perhaps judging a person straight off the bat should never be your expertise. Pray for wisdom. Speak words of enlightenment and not confusion. Be a friend, and above all be fair!
27th October 2009
Dennie’s Room
The acuity of one’s eyes is something that can be measured off the bat. It does not require any medical preparation other than a chart with letters of varying sizes to be read with only a single eye. I don’t have a 20/20 vision but all I can say is that my eyes are clear enough to see the things that are visually pleasant and not-so-pleasant, what is black and what is white, what needs to be fixed and the how-to-do’s of fixing it, and the list goes on and on. However, a normal visual acuity does not always lead us to an accurate way of analysing and interpreting things, as it is not very uncommon that we see a lot of optical illusions around us. If we always believe on what we see on the visual realm we might end up impairing our judgment.
Our perception is a result of a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes (sense of sight is one of them) while a stimulus is present. These communal conversations from the different senses are critical to how we respond to certain stimuli and if we get to see and experience the same stimulus over and over again our brain creates an automatic response to a single stimulus without analysing it (awesooomee, isn’t it?!!). It is so amazing how the brain, culture, and genes make up the human psyche - - however, I do not want to discount the fact that one’s spirituality greatly impacts the way we understand things and how we behave as individuals. Hey wait-a-sec, I am not here to promote the undying duel between Science and Religion because I believe that both these disciplines could be married given the right explanation (or I maybe wrong, cut the crap dennie!)
How many times have we been bamboozled by our perception just because our eyes were so hallucinatory? We judge things based on what we see but most of the time what we see is never quite what it seems, hence, an impaired judgment. The same is true in our Christian living, our spiritual eyes are so stringy about what they see on this earth and judge them so easily. This is simply because they think that those eyes are so capable of seeing things the same way God sees things. Just because we are not from this world does not mean that our eyes shall only see the things that are holy and any deviation from what is holy is an infection that needs to be isolated and worse is quarantined. The humanness of mankind may be very sinful, but it is through this very nature that the Son of God embraced humanity so that people would likewise embrace eternity with Him when our heavenly Father summons our spirits. It is, however, so frustrating that some Super Christians have a microscopic visual acuity that even a miniscule of dust could easily be magnified. They keep an eye out for their fellow Christians who will stumble and fall into sin and criticise their lifestyle; they then make a permanent perception about that person and the worse part is that they influence other Christians through this holy and perfect perception.
How many times have we heard Christians harshly commenting about their fellow Christians who are being rumored as an adulterer, a fornicator, a drug user, a homosexual, an alcoholic, a smoker, a party-goer, a feigner, a sexual addict, an immoral, etc etc. This is an ugly truth that we often see inside the church – an ecumenical paradox that even church leaders found themselves ensnared by. It all starts with some degrees of impairment in one’s spiritual acuity and if this is not corrected, it will result to a more debilitating effect on one’s (the person being judged) battles against addiction (and the others that the Bible considers as ungodly) and eventually loses his hope of being recovered from a bondage. I am not saying that Christians should have a sense of indifference on these things, in fact seeing and identifying a possible aberration in one’s Christian walk is just the first step of dealing the issue. The steps after that are as equally critical as the first one, as this would make or break a person’s faith in God. I said POSSIBLE aberration because some people think that their practices are right (perhaps culturally or according to one’s personal beliefs and preferences), others are simply clueless that their practices contradict the standards of God. The rule of thumb is that you do not spill out nor pass judgment against one person if you have identified a possible aberration. You pray for guidance so God can give you wisdom on the how-to-dos of rebuking a person, needless to say, this needs to be subtly done. You do not dictate to a person how he should become, how he should act, how he should go about his life, but you need to give him options, explain to him how you feel about this contradiction in relation to his Christian walk. The worse thing that you could ever do as a counselor or friend is to make that person feel condemned. Nobody is perfect and since every individual is unique, you can NEVER feel and understand how and why he/she does those things that you consider as ungodly. There are a lot of things that contribute to such behaviours and being so superlative about Christianity is not and will never be a powerful tool to make a person feel that we have a loving and gracious God (another paradox, huh!). Don’t get me wrong with what I said so please allow me to explain this deeper…. Although most if not all Christians know that we are still prone to committing errors (at least that’s what we tell to our brethren), some of us STILL find it so hard to accept that these spiritual glitches are possible. These Christians are being rumored, ridiculed, persecuted (oh yes…… by their fellow Christians!!!!) and condemned. Wheeeew!!! Some people!!!!! Christianity does not equate to perfection, it is a continuous battle between human affliction, shortcomings and God’s amazing grace.
I know some of you are raising your eyebrows or perhaps even way too itchy to respond to this ideology, some of you might even ask who my Small Group leader is but this I tell you “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” The next time your spiritual acuity tells you that something is wrong about a person’s life, practices, etc. ask yourself these questions “What kind of person are you when nobody is looking? Is your spiritual body bleeding because of the chains you have been secretly nurturing? Will your words destroy a person? Is your mind filled with filthy thoughts? Are you equipped with the tools you need to be able to subtly rebuke a person? If you claim to be a Christian, then perhaps judging a person straight off the bat should never be your expertise. Pray for wisdom. Speak words of enlightenment and not confusion. Be a friend, and above all be fair!
