When I took anatomy in college, one of my favorite things to learn about was eyes. I am incredibly fascinated by how all the tiny muscles, lenses, and parts create the ability to see the world around us.
While all of the parts of the eye are important, I'm especially fascinated by the lens. The lens has two main jobs - to focus on things and to work with the light that is coming into the eye.
The other day a friend and I were talking about being a Christ-follower and what that looks like. Specifically in how it should cause us to view the world around us. My brain (being a connection machine) made a connection between eyes and peoples' relationships with Jesus.
I've noticed that there seems to be 2 types of Christ-followers - people who use Jesus as reading glasses and people who use Jesus as their lens.
People who use Jesus as reading glasses pick and choose when they use Him and His perspective. Some examples I have seen people pick and choose have been in hard times, at church Sunday mornings, when they are around certain people (i.e. other Christ-followers), etc. These are the kinds of people that act one way on Sunday and different the rest of the week. The "you shouldn't curse in church" kind of people (which, my response to that is, "If you are going to curse any other time, why stop at church? Jesus can hear you where ever you are.") They often live out of an attitude of entitlement "I think Jesus understands why I do this, because I deserve to be able to do this" or they live out of victimization - "If [something bad] wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't be here."
The singer Katy Perry has a song that says, "You're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down" -- basically all over the place, indecisive.
There are some harsh words in the Bible for people who are lukewarm. Revelations 3:15-16 declares, "I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were hot or cold. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I'm going to vomit you out of My mouth."
People who use Jesus as a lens have their entire lives filtered through Him. From buying a car, to getting married, to spending time with people, to going to church, everything is filtered through Christ. Even though these people still struggle at times, they make an effort to keep Jesus at the center. These are the people who say to Jesus, "I want to use the resources you've given me [time, energy, money, etc) how You want me to use them." They live out of an attitude of obedience to Jesus and expectation that He is working no matter what it may look like at that moment.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." WHATEVER YOU DO. End of Story.
Quick side note about eyes, if you've ever seen some animals at night, you will know their eyes glow in the dark. When I took anatomy, I got to dissect a cow eye, and there is a sheet (it honestly looks like an oil slick - rainbow and black) in the back of their eyes that is called the tapetum lucidum. The light reflects off of the tapetum lucidum making it easier to see in the dark. Although human eyes don't have this, we can still apply the simile to our spiritual eyes. Jesus (the Light) comes towards us, and we should be reflecting Him to those around us.
What type of Christ-follower are you right now? Identify areas of your life that you have not given Jesus complete control over. He should be over EVERYTHING - no matter how large or minor it may seem. It's not about WHAT it is, it's about how completely you have given your life over to Him.
Thankfully for us, Jesus doesn't expect us to be whole as we walk with Him. He knows we are works in progress. This is not an excuse not to grow, but rather grace for the process of growing. We have to make conscious choices to continue walking with Him, trusting Him, and seeing life through Him.
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