Blind Spots
A sweet lady in our church recently had a stroke that left her with diminished vision. She has a blind spot to her right side that simply wasn't there before. And it has become quite the hassle.
I wonder though, how many of us have blind spots in our life and Christianity that we don't even know about. Everything seems normal and I think I have full vision, but I don't. In fact, I am missing a bunch. The reality of this has become more clear to me as I have struggled with the divisive nature of my own "tribe" and I have been seeking Jesus for a better way.
Enter a whole new season of writing. From Scott Sauls calling for gospel formed unity and cultural engagement to the new book from Collin Hansen calling for the church to become courageous, compassionate and commissioned.
Blind Spots is a quick read and a timely one. Hansen sees three primary categories where Christians typically land overemphasizing. They are those that call for a courageous faith - against all detractors and even other Christians that don't "get it." The compassionate among us set aside all spiritual health to focus only on being caring and using inoffensive language to be tolerant. And the commissioned want to wins souls at all costs event the cost of theological richness, biblical authority and gospel clarity.
Hansen skillfully and graciously call all of us to be aware of blind spots and then fill them with those we might think too different but that are actually enriching. Here is the call of Christianity to have affinity in Christ and diversity in so much else.
I was thankful Crossway gave me a chance to read the book and I look forward to living in the wake of its impact. A truly courageous, compassionate and commissioned church. Here are some choice quotes from the book:
“We all have blind spots. It’s so easy to see the fault in someone else or in another group but so difficult to see the limitations in ourselves. Unless you learn to see the faults in yourself and your heroes, though, you can’t appreciate how God has gifted other Christians. Only then can you understand that Jesus died for this body, which only accepts the sick. Only then can we together meet the challenges of our rapidly changing age.”
“When you and I worry less about what the world thinks of us and more about what God wants for the world, then we’ll have something unique to give to the world.”
“Be careful, then, about trusting your conscience. The heart is deceptive… Here’s a quick gut check: if your sin is somehow less deserving of judgment than someone else’s, you’re in trouble.”
“Courage, finally, is not so much something we do for God but something we humbly receive from him as a gift. And if it belongs to us as a gift, then it’s something God intends for us to share for the good of others.”
“If coming generations prefer the darkness to this marvelous light, then we will mourn together… Where we must change music and methods to meet the times and welcome new believers, let us do so without selfish regard for our former ways. Where popular preachers tell us to compromise our beliefs, let us instead trust in the power of the gospel to advance in our weak and lowly condition. And where the world pleads for hope and for answers amid suffering, let us point to Jesus,”
“It’s easier to associate only with our own. But anyone in the world can have that kind of community. You’ll find it every Saturday afternoon in football stadiums. You’ll find it in country clubs. You’ll find it in any protest march. That’s just community, not the variously gifted and blessedly eclectic community created by the gospel. True community results only from a miracle.”
I wonder though, how many of us have blind spots in our life and Christianity that we don't even know about. Everything seems normal and I think I have full vision, but I don't. In fact, I am missing a bunch. The reality of this has become more clear to me as I have struggled with the divisive nature of my own "tribe" and I have been seeking Jesus for a better way.
Enter a whole new season of writing. From Scott Sauls calling for gospel formed unity and cultural engagement to the new book from Collin Hansen calling for the church to become courageous, compassionate and commissioned.
Blind Spots is a quick read and a timely one. Hansen sees three primary categories where Christians typically land overemphasizing. They are those that call for a courageous faith - against all detractors and even other Christians that don't "get it." The compassionate among us set aside all spiritual health to focus only on being caring and using inoffensive language to be tolerant. And the commissioned want to wins souls at all costs event the cost of theological richness, biblical authority and gospel clarity.
Hansen skillfully and graciously call all of us to be aware of blind spots and then fill them with those we might think too different but that are actually enriching. Here is the call of Christianity to have affinity in Christ and diversity in so much else.
I was thankful Crossway gave me a chance to read the book and I look forward to living in the wake of its impact. A truly courageous, compassionate and commissioned church. Here are some choice quotes from the book:
“We all have blind spots. It’s so easy to see the fault in someone else or in another group but so difficult to see the limitations in ourselves. Unless you learn to see the faults in yourself and your heroes, though, you can’t appreciate how God has gifted other Christians. Only then can you understand that Jesus died for this body, which only accepts the sick. Only then can we together meet the challenges of our rapidly changing age.”“When you and I worry less about what the world thinks of us and more about what God wants for the world, then we’ll have something unique to give to the world.”
“Be careful, then, about trusting your conscience. The heart is deceptive… Here’s a quick gut check: if your sin is somehow less deserving of judgment than someone else’s, you’re in trouble.”
“Courage, finally, is not so much something we do for God but something we humbly receive from him as a gift. And if it belongs to us as a gift, then it’s something God intends for us to share for the good of others.”
“If coming generations prefer the darkness to this marvelous light, then we will mourn together… Where we must change music and methods to meet the times and welcome new believers, let us do so without selfish regard for our former ways. Where popular preachers tell us to compromise our beliefs, let us instead trust in the power of the gospel to advance in our weak and lowly condition. And where the world pleads for hope and for answers amid suffering, let us point to Jesus,”
“It’s easier to associate only with our own. But anyone in the world can have that kind of community. You’ll find it every Saturday afternoon in football stadiums. You’ll find it in country clubs. You’ll find it in any protest march. That’s just community, not the variously gifted and blessedly eclectic community created by the gospel. True community results only from a miracle.”
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