Toolbox For Faith

I had my eyes examined this week and discovered that I needed new lenses to improve my vision. That started me thinking that the lenses we use to view life determines what we see and don’t see.

A friend shared the story of the consultant who came to help with long range planning in his congregation. The consultant’s specialty was conflict management but the organization for which he worked felt he was also excellent at leading long range congregational planning. When the consultant interacted with the congregation, he concluded that the congregation needed conflict management and not long range planning. He created an environment where he attracted everyone who was dissatisfied and then saw everything through the lens of discontent. The congregation never completed their long range planning.

Jesus constantly struggled with his followers seeing through lenses that looked in the wrong direction. Peter asked Jesus how many times a person should forgive someone. The rule at the time was that you forgave someone three times. Peter thought he was being generous when he suggest seven times. Peter’s question reveals his lens. He was interested in counting—not forgiving. By saying how many times a person should forgive another, he was already off course. His lens was the number, not the act.

In congregations, the lens for the majority of people who have grown up in the church is the past. People laugh about “this is the way it has always been done’ but that is a powerful lens. I think that is why I have discovered that people on the fringe of the church rather than the church leaders are usually better at suggesting creative and dynamic ways to expand ministry. Fringe people are not limited by the lens of some past church actions.

Our midweek Lenten service this week centered on Pilate, exploring the possible lenses he used to view his job and his life. As we worshiped, the call was for all of us to examine the lenses we use to view life. That means pushing aside our normal lenses but the dilemma is that we are very comfortable with our lenses. Lent attacks our comfort and asks us to take time to look at our lenses to see how God would want us to be more loving, compassionate, forgiving and humble. Then, like with my new glasses, we will all see clearer.