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CHAPTER 19

LENS OF THE GOSPEL

I’m thankful that much of the New Testament was written by the biggest sinner the world has ever known.

At least that’s what the apostle Paul considered himself to be.

In 1 Timothy 1:12 – 16, Paul pauses to offer a glimpse of what he was like before his radical conversion. He tells his young protégé, Timothy, that the Lord has used him in spite of his ugly record. He admits that he once was a blasphemer of God, a persecutor of Christians, and an insolent opponent of the Savior he now serves. Then in verse 15 he drops a statement that has become well-known: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (NKJV).

Paul claims he’s the worst sinner who ever lived. While it is an example of his humility, I love how he put a special emphasis on his claim. He introduces the sentence by saying, “This next statement is true and should be believed by all.” In other words, one of the only times in his letters when Paul gets in our grill and says “you really need to hear what I’m saying” is to tell us he’s a loser.

It’s pretty awesome that a guy who was elevated so high in spiritual matters was still keeping his humble place at the feet of Jesus.

Why did Paul see himself in such a radical way? Because Christ had changed him, and he was able to look at where he came from and where he was going through the lens of the gospel. Paul had been one of the religious elite, among the most highly regarded people in society. Yet through surrender and obedience to Christ, Paul’s vision had changed to the point that he considered everything outside of knowing Jesus to be rubbish (Philippians 3:8). To see with Christ’s eyes is to have an eternal perspective, which is essential for us in our reaching out. If we are to know God and make him known, it matters how we see God and how we see ourselves.

Is Christ the center of your life, or are you the center of your life?

I often tell the story of one of our students who joined our youth group for a day at Islands of Adventure Theme Park at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. He sat right behind me as I accompanied several of our students on the Spiderman roller coaster. The ride requires 3-D glasses.

Shortly after the ride began, the kid started his critique. “This is dumb,” he said. A few seconds later, he blurted out, “This is stupid.” It took all the restraint I could muster not to turn around halfway through the ride and tell him to zip it.

As soon as we got off the roller coaster, I turned to give him a stern look of disapproval, but any inclination to chastise him faded when I realized why he had been so outspoken. He wasn’t wearing his glasses.

The guy had endured the ride with a hazy, blurred focus that would’ve cleared if only he had worn his 3-D glasses. He couldn’t enjoy all that the ride had for him because he didn’t have the clarity that the makers of the ride had intended. The Bible says that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). In the same way, the condition of our heart determines what our eyes see. The more we follow God and obey him, the less we are conformed to this world and the more our minds are renewed. The more our minds are renewed, the more we are conformed to the image of Christ and see with his eyes.

When our perspective is temporal and our focus is on this life, we will not reach out to others. We will reach in to ourselves. When God made “you shall have no other gods before me” the first of his Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3), he knew our biggest temptation would be to make gods of ourselves. When we sit on the throne of our lives instead of giving God his rightful place, we can’t see past ourselves, much less see other people the way he sees them.

However, when we soak our minds and hearts with God’s Word, when we follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts to pray for others and act on their behalf, our vision changes. We see with the compassion and clarity of Christ.

I’ve had to learn my own lessons about seeing the way Jesus wants me to see. A lot of times, youth pastors dream of the perfect student leader — the kid who would change the local high school if he or she would just surrender to the Lord and live out loud for him. Scripture doesn’t make such promises.

I have to catch myself whenever I’m tempted to overlook people whom God wants to use for his glory. A lot of us are focused on the quarterback when it’s the water boy who is going to change the world.

I recently studied the Old Testament book of Ruth. It tells the story of Ruth and Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law. Naomi loses her husband and sons, thereby leaving her in a strange land with strange people and only her two daughters-in-law, including Ruth, as family. In the end, Ruth demonstrates amazing faithfulness to Naomi, staying with her even when Naomi returns to her native Bethlehem, a strange land with a people strange to Ruth herself. Naomi originally urged Ruth to go back home. But Naomi also showed great patience and love after Ruth declined, allowing Ruth to live with her without speaking another word of protest.

The lesson I walked away with was that you can’t pick your Timothys (or your Ruths or Naomis). Sometimes God picks them for you. And they’re not people about whom you would normally think, “These are the ones I’m going to attach my life to and pour into.” In a way, Naomi got stuck with Ruth and felt compelled to allow her to live with her in Bethlehem. Naomi didn’t ask for Ruth. When Naomi’s son died, it left the two women. So Naomi was like, “Oh. Well, I guess it’s us.”

If we’re not sensitive to how the Lord wants us to see people, sometimes we’ll miss the friendships God has for us that would’ve been awesome. Sometimes we’ll miss relationships because we can’t see the connection. We’ve already figured out what our best friends are supposed to look like. They’re supposed to have the exact same interests as us and laugh at all our jokes. They like honey mustard sauce, just like we do. We try to pick our best friends based on things we have in common, but true best friends often don’t have that much in common. They just click.

I’ve made the mistake of prejudging people plenty of times and didn’t even notice that this other kid in the youth group is the one who is loving on everybody and praying for everybody and seeking God. I saw the light a few years ago. Now, when you watch my ministry, I don’t gravitate to a particular group. I hang with whoever comes to me and wants to go share the love of Jesus with others, and we go together. God has shown me that I shortchange what he wants to do when I don’t see the world the way he sees it.

How well do you see? Do you have your God-glasses on? It’s up to us to sharpen the focus through spiritual disciplines and obedience, but Jesus always gives his followers a new way to see things.

Even our past, present, and future.

Point to Remember
Jesus gives us a new way to see the world.