You have been influenced to see it the way you see it. That’s why you see it that way. But some of what you see was pre-programmed in how God designed you to see it. He didn’t create any two people exactly alike. That’s why you see it differently. Even in scripture regarding the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, the writers saw things differently. In many instances, they saw the same thing but they saw it from their point of view.
A Point of View
Many of us understand that people see things from their point of view. We view it from our point and so that’s the way we see it. When you bring others into it, that’s when you can see things from a different point of view. Many times that gives us a more rounded (panoramic) point of view.
Proverbs 15:22 SRV (Scott Ramsey Version)
Plans fail for seeing it only from your own point of view,
but with the insight of many they succeed in seeing things in a greater way.
So all of that is good stuff, but here’s what I want to get to on the way it is seen. We begin to define ourselves (and others, but that’s for another message) by how we see it. And the way we see it is not necessarily the way God sees it.
Many people have been programmed by others who have influenced them. Unfortunately in church culture, we have been programmed in Christianese. People say things like:
- You must attend church, a minimum of once a week, to be a “good” Christian
- You should pray five minutes a day, or some as much as an hour or more a day, to be a good Christian…or to be one who is serious about their life with Christ.
- You at least have to read one verse of Proverbs and a chapter or a section of New Testament Scripture to be spiritual
- Add to the comments below one thing you have heard that others see as a must-do to be a Christian.
The Way Scott Sees It
The points above are seen in many different ways depending on the individual and/or the denomination/non-denominational church in which someone is a part.
Can you be a Christian and not attend Church regularly, or not pray as often as others, or maybe only crack your Bible open once or twice a week? I would say yes, you can still be a Christian.
Just because you are not doing all those “Christian” things regularly or consistently doesn’t make you less of a Christian. And it doesn’t mean that your steps are any less ordered by Christ through the Holy Spirit. And it doesn’t make God’s purpose and your dreams any less a desire in your life.
Do You See the Limits
What it does do though is limit you. Be among other believers as often as possible for support and encouragement and to worship together. Pray as much as possible. There is no maximum to hit to be effective. There is no “ceiling” in prayer. Read the Bible as much as possible to better know and understand God and His heart.
Though there are no minimums or maximums to hit on your KPIs for Christ (Key Performance Indicators), those things are indicators of how healthy your walk with Christ is.
Your Everyday Life
Your everyday-walking-around-kind-of-life is happening with Christ Jesus with every step you take every day of your life. If we see it that way, then we are talking (praying) with Him all day long all throughout the day. If Jesus is the Living Word and we are walking with Him every step of the day, then we are walking with and in the Word. And when we are walking with Him every step of the way and we are with other believers, then no matter where we are we are “in” church.
How Should It Be Seen
Don’t let your spirituality be determined by how others see you. If we do that, then Jesus (to the normal eye) may not be seen as a Christian. He was one of the biggest rule breakers to what “Religion” looked like to many others in His day. That’s why the religious elite wanted to kill Him.
And the Disciples, if seen in the sight of these blurred views of what it means to be a good Christian or a Christian at all, may not be Christians. The Disciples back then definitely weren’t reading their Bibles daily (not everyone carried scrolls around back then). And maybe they weren’t even praying all the time (but the disciples were actually walking with God).
You Will Never Be Seen As Good Enough
What makes a person a Christian? When they recognize Him, Jesus, as the son of God, God in the flesh, and that He lived a sinless life, thus sacrificed His life and shed His blood on our behalf and for the forgiveness of our sins.
Going to Church and attending so many times doesn’t make you a Christian. How much you pray or don’t pray doesn’t make you one either. Nor does how much you read the Bible. And going to McDonald’s doesn’t make you a french fry either.
But if you know Christ and want to know Him more, and want to be more of who He designed you to be, then you will do all of these things. As you are more consistent with all of those things then you will walk more in the fullness of who Christ is and what He wants to do through you. But don’t let all those things, how much you do or don’t do them, define how good of a person and Christian you are.
Let Jason Gray sing to you about “See As You See” to encourage you along in your day…
Challenge of the Week
Be seen as Jesus sees you. The way others see you is subject to the viewer’s spiritual, emotional, and even physical conditions. This week focus your sight on pleasing Christ, not others. You will then more clearly see yourself as He sees you. Through His eyes, you can see yourself as deeply loved by Jesus. So be it!
