Seeing Through the Glass, Darkly...

Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith."

The more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot to learn. While I have confidence in what I believe to be true, I also recognize that we only see through a glass, darkly, but one day we will see face to face. How will we handle the light that breaks through the darkness?

I often find myself in the position of needing to be the one with all the answers. I'm often questioned about the Bible, faith, life, and many of the mysteries that we as human beings struggle with on a daily basis. While I don't have all the answers, I trust in the One who loved me & gave Himself for me. I am confident in Him.

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul, "We know in part...prophesy in part...we see through a glass, darkly..." What an honest assessment of spiritual life. I want you to consider that much of what we think we know is only commentary. While we may be convinced that we have a great handle on the truth, we find ourselves struggling with thoughts/ideas that the church has wrestled with for nearly 2,000 years. Are we humble enough to admit it?

Have you ever found yourself in a darkened room with just a little light pouring in? While we cannot see everything, the light coming in helps us to discern shapes, objects, etc. We do not see clearly, but we see clearly enough to make out certain things. I want you to consider that this is a lot like the life of faith. We are still seeing through a glass, darkly. Each of us have enough light pouring in to have discernment, but it takes others on the journey to enable us to see things more clearly.

The Church should be a place where this type of thinking is encouraged. A place where we can give expression to the light we have shining in our lives. A people of honest evaluation, who know they don't have all the answers, and are confident only of the Father's love for them. Unfortunately, our structure doesn't always allow for this type of honesty. We elevate a particular person into a place of having all the answers. He's the one who is supposed to see through the glass clearly. He's the one who is supposed to have a close enough relationship with the Lord to not have any questions. His commentary becomes the truth in our lives or it becomes the argument against our own way of thinking. I've said for some time now that I wish many of our churches would put a sign out front that said, "Come & seek the answers with us."

This is the beauty of the Body of Christ. Made up of various members, all with their particular perspective, working together to possess a greater understanding. I believe our problems arise when we think we have a corner on the truth. We find ourselves arguing against others who are simply seeing through the darkened glass. We forget about the humility that is exemplified throughout the Scripture. We erroneously believe that since we have the Bible that we have all the answers, and yet the Bible never makes that claim. These things were written for our learning that we through patience and the encouragement of the Scriptures could have hope [see Romans 15:4].

What if we all came to the table with the simple confession that JESUS IS LORD?
What if we all carried the humility that said we don't have all the answers?
What if we all chose to have a discussion on where we are, what we are learning, and how we can have unity?
This is what the church desperately needs in this hour. We don't have to possess all the answers. We simply need the humility that says we are all seeking the answers together.

Have you ever heard this statement in church: "The Bible clearly says..."? According to several studies on the matter, this is one of the statements that is actually driving the next generation away from the church. In the age of information that we live in, they understand that the Bible isn't particularly clear on every subject. What if we said, instead, "This is my understanding of what the Bible is saying."? Could this simple approach make a huge impact? Would people then feel invited to bring their portion of light to the table? I believe so.

My encouragement for you is to not lose heart when you only see in part. Simply seek out the wisdom of others. Listen to their individual parts of knowledge. Seek to bring together these collective pieces. And watch how God puts the puzzle together. Not only is the church a bit of a mosaic, but our understanding is a mosaic as well. When all of our parts come together it creates a beautiful picture of the Lord in our lives. It's a reminder of how we need each other. We need each person's portion of light. We need their understanding. We cannot afford to stand alone with all of our answers anymore. We need every member of the Body of Christ. This is how we begin to see face to face. I believe, God in His wisdom, did not give one person all of the answers. I believe He gave to every person what the collective whole needs in their understanding of Him. While the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, the relational nature of God keeps us all in a place of needing to relate to one another. Jesus is the Head. We all have our place in the Body & we must work together.

We see through a glass, darkly. Humility allows us to see face to face. What a beautiful journey.