A Matter of Perspective

Photo by Mike Chai from Pexels

I would have made it if not for all the people. Like a herd of cattle, they funneled into the door that stood between me and my ride home. I tried to go against the flow but made very little headway. When the crowd finally thinned I ran onto the platform just in time to have the train door close in my face. And somewhere between the station door and the train door I passed a woman who made some remark about wishing people would just move out of her way. Initially I was annoyed at her comment which was clearly aimed at me. Later I laughed at the difference in how we each saw the situation. I still find it funny that each of us thought the other was the problem. Who was right? It’s all a simple matter of perspective.

Followers of Christ need to keep perspective in mind as we deal with people who do not know God. From our perspective every blessing comes from God and every daily event is orchestrated by Him. Even when a crowd of people sweep us away from the train we want to catch, God is still in control. That is how we see (or at least should see) life. That is our perspective. This is not, however, the perspective of the nonbeliever, who has no reason to look beyond chance or blind luck in explaining how our prayers are answered. People of other religions or of no religion might even think us a bit off when we speak of one who was raised from the dead. This is the perspective we must keep in mind as we share our testimonies with our friends and neighbors and with anyone else outside of the faith.

What do I mean when I say keep this perspective in mind? I mean we should not be shocked nor become angry when confronted with other explanations for what happens in life. We should not take it personal when someone refuses to accept what we say. In fact we should expect them to look for the flaws and the holes in our presentation, knowing that ultimately we’re not the ones whom they are rejecting. And so remember Christian, as you share the truth the resistance you face is not something to get upset about. It’s simply a matter of perspective.