Unnatural Vision

Unnatural Vision

We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. 2 Corinthians 5:16

WE LOVE TO CATEGORIZE PEOPLE. It’s rarely intentional and usually subconscious. We have a tendency to size people up according to first impressions and how their words, behaviors, and attitudes fit into our past experiences. Sometimes those mental responses are positive, but they can also be negative, judgmental, and even condemning. We form or resist relationships based on instinct.

Sometimes when we think we are being a good judge of character, we are really seeing people according to their past and/or their present, which is not at all their whole story. A Kingdom mind looks ahead. It can envision a shepherd boy like David, marginalized even by his family, becoming a mighty, passionate, God-loving king. It can look at a zealous, murderous finger-pointer like Saul and see an apostle like Paul. It can absorb past offenses, look past annoying characteristics, and even understand a heart steeped in bitterness, anger, or hopelessness in order to see the image of God within. No matter how obscured that image is, no matter how quirky or grating or socially awkward someone’s behavior appears, there is a treasure inside, a measure of divine worth that is loved by the heart of God. Connecting with his heart gives us that kind of love too. We learn to see people for who they can become rather than for who they have been or now seem to be.

You can’t pray for people well without this Kingdom perspective. If you’re focused on sin, depravity, shortcomings, offenses, or even just a few oddities, you won’t be able to call out the treasures God has placed in a person or have faith for more than what you see. Jesus came not to condemn but to save (John 3:17); our prayers must come from the same spirit and be aligned with the same mission. Whatever it takes, we have to look past the visible to see the invisible—to live (and pray) by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Only then can we expect God to move in response to our requests to reach into people’s hearts, work in their lives, and bring them into the purposes he has for them.

The grace of God does not find men fit for salvation but makes them so.