Seeing Through A Lens
Perhaps you have experienced hearing about a poll that was taken in which a sizable number of respondents answered a question quite different than you would have. You may have been suprised, or even shocked, that so many people thought differently about that topic. That is an example of when our view of the world, our “lens”, becomes apparent.
My daughter and her husband are professional photographers. Depending on the situation, be it a wedding, family photos, wilderness landscapes, or something else, they choose a lens from which they view the images. They will choose a lens in which they think their audience will most want to see the photos. I won’t go into the various nuances of photography, such as camera settings, but such selections present the pictures in distinct ways.
In our lives, family, economics, geography, etc… all impact our initial default lens. We are impacted by those influences which then effects how we see the world. But as we age, we also begin to make choices, are exposed to more knowledge and experiences, and our “lens” can be further influenced, Those influences may effect us consciously or unconsciously, and can be positive, negative, or somewhere in between. Let me clarify. The lens can be grounded in reality, truth, and with the proper perspective. However, our lens can include elements that distort reality, or put it out of focus.
Two main considerations greatly impact our “lens”: How we see ourselves, and how we see God. In essence, our theology has great sway over the shape of our “lens”.
Some questions we can ask about how we see ourselves, include: Do we see ourselves primarily as good? Do we see ourselves as bad? A mixture? A success? A failure? A certain personality type? Heritage? Tradition? Part of a tribe? Do we see ourselves, and others, as made in the image of God? Do we consider ourselves in Christ?
Likewise, we can ask questions about how we see God. Do we think of God as loving? Do we think of Him as angry? Do we think of Him as the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Do we see him through a particular theological stream (Reformed, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, etc…). Do we think of Him through the lens of a particular book or verse in the Bible. Do we think of Him through our knowledge of a particular person or institution, either good or bad?
These, and other related questions, help reveal our “lens”. A recent sermon by my friend Anson McMahon asked such a question. In discussing the events around the arrest of Jesus, he read about how Jesus looked at Peter after Peter had denied knowing Jesus. Scripture does not say much about that specific look, but Anson noted that what each of us read into “the look” may reveal what we actually think about Jesus. Was it a condemning look? A concerned look? A comforting look? Something else? Those are the type questions that can help start to unearth deeper influences, or lens, that impact us.
It may take a lot of time, and something we should continue to work on. At some point we can begin to recognize the “lens” we are using on our “camera”, where it came from and why it is there, and then begin to graducally see things as God wants us to see them.
