A broken pair of glasses is a deeply unhelpful item. With a missing arm or a deformed arch, they tend to balance on your face at a deeply disconcerting angle. They may still have the lenses in – one at least. They may still be able to bring things into focus, in theory. But, in practice, they don’t. They leave the world somewhat distorted and unclear. After well over 40 years of wearing glasses, I’ve experienced the many difficulties that broken glasses can bring. As I was reading through Acts this week, I was reflecting on the way in which our hearts can look through metaphorical broken glasses too. We don’t see things rightly – our heart gets a distorted view.
In chapters 21 and 22 of Acts, Paul had been speaking to a crowd in Jerusalem – and, as was so often the case, people responded strongly to the gospel. Some for – some against. Some saw Paul as a messenger of good news and welcomed him warmly (21:17). Some randomly mistook him for an Egyptian terrorist who led 4,000 people in a revolt (21:38). Some saw him as a troublemaker among the Jews and bayed for his blood (22:22).
A little while later, he was called to speak to the Sanhedrin and give an account. As he revealed he was a Pharisee who believed in the resurrection, we find the Pharisees who had opposed him becoming warm – “we find nothing wrong with this man, they said” (23:9). The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, remained so angry that Paul had to be removed for his own safety.
What was going on? The broken glasses of the heart were at play.
A blind heart
Some people did not see Paul clearly because they were spiritually blind. Their hearts had not been opened and therefore the gospel message – and the gospel messenger did not make sense. They could not see Christ in him and therefore they rejected him.
A biased heart
But there was also something else going on – some of them rejected Paul because of a biased heart. A heart that was partial and self-seeking. The Pharisees were happy to back anyone who taught the resurrection of the dead (one of the pressing theological issues of the day). The Sadducees determined to oppose anyone who taught that same resurrection theme. They weren’t just blind they were partial.
The early church was not immune to such traps. They may have been following Christ, and as such not completely blind to spiritual things, but there was still a lack of sight and a partiality at play. For example, as the faithful poor were sidelined in the church and the unfaithful rich were given places of honour, the believers exhibited a similar kind of rejection of God’s people and a similar kind of bias to those who they thought would advance their cause. (James 2:1-13).
A biblical heart
If we are to avoid the same kind of traps, if we are to have a hope of seeing others rightly, we need to be alert to the blindness and bias that can exist in our hearts. We might helpfully learn from David, in Psalm 139, where he invites the Lord to search him and test him (Psalm 139:23). We can humble ourselves and follow Job in inviting God to weigh our hearts and see if there is offense in us (Job 31:6). We can listen to others as they speak into our lives as James did to the scattered believers of his time (James 1:1). We can seek the kind of wisdom – and shun the kind of foolishness – that Proverbs describes.
And, whilst we may never have the spiritual equivalent of 20:20 vision, we can be alert to the common kinds of blindness and bias that can blight every human heart. Maybe you might like to take a moment now and, with the Lord’s illuminating help, see if you can see bias in your own heart. Things like:
- Convenience – am I likely to prefer whichever people help me most and cause me least stress?
- Similarity – am I likely to prefer people like me over those who are unlike me?
- Cliques – am I likely to discount someone simply because of the company they keep and welcome others because they hang out with those I like to hang out with too?
- Vocabulary – am I likely to lean towards people who say the kinds of phrases I am familiar with, and away from people who speak differently?
- Presentation – am I likely to warm to people who present things in a way I see as competent – and be cool to those who present things in a very different way?
- Confirmation – am I more attentive to people who say things I want to hear – and less attentive to those who challenge me?
Only the Lord sees people completely rightly. He is the only omniscient one. But let’s do all we can to look through good (not broken) lenses in our hearts. Then we will be better equipped to walk alongside others well and point to the ultimate Lord in whom no blindness or partiality is found.
