Have we forgotten about perspective? Defined, it means a particular attitude or way of regarding something or someone; a point of view; a view of the world; a strongly held opinion; a political aversion; a worldview shaped by beliefs.
All of these together capture the ethos of what perspective is. It has not changed nor evolved nor grown nor shrunk. Everyone sees the world from a certain perspective, which is colored by a life lived. Yet, this little truth seems to have been forgotten by many these days.
As a Christian, I understand that I see the world from my own perspective, which is greatly influenced by... me. Of course, as a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ, who stated quite clearly that He was the Truth (For my obsession on this subject see other posts with the label, "truth."). But, I still acknowledge that not everyone sees the world from my perspective. I also acknowledge that even though I believe my worldview to be rooted in the Truth (Jesus Christ), it still is not absolute. As a fallible sinful human being, I see the world from one tainted vantage point... mine.
And, this vantage point is greatly influenced by my beliefs, my hurts, my past, my present situation, external forces, my peers, home, work, my education and most certainly, my faith, just to name a few. The above picture is an example of how different a vantage point can be. The picture was taken from the perspective of the ground looking forward. What would it look like if the picture was taken from the same spot, but this time I was standing up? What about looking straight up? What about straight down? What happens if someone else comes along and tries to take the same picture? You get my point.
Today, one perspective is always being presented as true and declared as absolute. As Christians, it is this very presentation that should sound an alarm in us. Jesus, in Matthew 18:20 presented to each of us the means of avoiding such temptation when He stated, " For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them." Truth cannot be found alone or from one perspective; instead, it takes several Christ-centered perspectives gathering together in the name of Christ before we can even hope to approach truth. Yet, we are presented daily with this idea that one perspective is true while all others are false.
I can only think of one instance in the history of the world when this occurred... one side was 100% right and the other was 100% wrong, and Jesus died for us anyone, knowing our complete guilt and ruin. Be wary of those who claim to be always right for you can be assured of only one thing... we will not be.
May we continue to live as Christ instructed us... to pray without ceasing that God would be glorified in all that we do.
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