Spiritual Vision Impairment

The verses for this morning come from the end of the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. The story is a great read, but today I am just focusng on the last few verses  - John 9:35-41 NIV:

[35] "Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 

[36] “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 

[37] Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 

[38] Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

[39] Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 

[40] Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 

[41] Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

Yesterday my theme in prayer was listening to Jesus, and this morning the theme is Spiritual Blindness, so I see a bit of a pattern.  Lord, help me to see and hear!

If I were to create a definition of Spiritual blindness from these verses, it would be those who think they can see and understand God but don't have relationship with Jesus.  

It is such an interesting thing that the Pharisees and other experts of the law, knew the words so well, but completely didn't recognize the author was in their midst!  Not only that, but when Jesus pointed out that they were misinterpreting the very meaning, they wanted to kill Him!  They were so committed to their understanding that they refused to change or even consider that they might be wrong, even when confronted with signs and miracles, healings and deliverances.

As I was thinking through this I was reminded of a story about a magician named the Amazing Rudi who created a fake psychic "Carlos" and worked with 60 Minutes in Australia.  The show was a complete hoax and at the end of it, they revealed it as such, but there were people who would not believe they had been tricked.  They were so firm in their belief, and judgments that when confronted with the truth by the author of the hoax, they refused to change their minds.  In the same way, the Pharisees were so committed to their way of understanding the Law and God, that they were unwilling to change their minds.

I know that at times I  certainly have been spiritually blind, or maybe vision impaired!  Especially when I was younger in my faith, I thought I had most everything figured out, and understood exactly what God was like, based on my own experience and what I had heard from trusted teachers.  I was convinced that the beliefs of our church were representative of the complete truth, and every other church only believed part of the truth.  I was spiritually vision impaired for sure.

There are many such churches out there, denominations that teach such,  and many of our brothers and sisters that refuse to believe anything other than what they have been taught or seen themselves.  There are those that hold the Bible as the complete record of God, and anything experienced that is not specifically found in the Bible as being not of God.  We have many ways of being spiritually vision impaired, of seeing things only through the lenses of our own limited understanding and perspective.  

The Lord has been gracious to me, providing me ample opportunities to change my mind (repent) about my beliefs and perspectives.  He has been gentle and merciful, knowing that it requires a level of humility to admit my own wrongness, and He is willing to help me get to that point!  

I guess if I were to modify my definition of spiritual blindness I would add spiritual pride, as a sort of spiritual vision impairment.  We can see in part, but be convinced that we see the whole thing and understand every bit perfectly.

I am reminded of the story of the blind men who encountered an elephant and each defined the elephant by what they could touch, but none were able to describe the whole elephant.  In my spiritual walk I have realized that I have only experienced a very small portion of God, and that as such, I better keep my eyes and ears open to further understanding and opportunities for repentance!  

I am impressed more and more how true God's words through Isaiah are , “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." ( Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV).

I am also impressed to be aware of anyone claiming to know everything about God, for while I once had similar thoughts myself, I have been mercifully corrected.  :-)

May the Lord bless us and help us to see!

Amen!