A Different Point of View

Yesterday, I had lunch with a group of area church leaders, ministers, pastors, and others from some very fine para-church organizations.  We meet once a month for lunch.  Our purpose for meeting, besides the fact that at this point we really enjoy just being together, is to remember the needs of the poor, forgotten, and neglected in our area.  Each month the lunch is hosted by a different church or organization.

 
Our lunch was hosted by Viento Fuerte Church, a fairly new Spanish speaking church in our area.  We ate a wonderful Mexican lunch, including a dish that was new to me.  It was "nopalas" or cactus.  It was delicious.

 
Cactus for lunch.  Hmmmm.  

 
Now for years, I had one view or opinion of cactus.  Cactus was a plant growing in certain regions of the country.  It was green and had thorns on it that could inflict much pain.  That was my view.  Now, on a Tuesday in May, I am eating it for lunch.  My view of cactus has changed. 

 
We often have very strong opinions about all kinds of things.  Our opinions are often based on our own experiences, what we saw in the lives of our mom and dad, or bits and pieces of information that we have gathered from somewhere.  We can even be quite stubborn about our opinions.

 
"I want my son to play sports!  I don’t know what I will do with him if he does not"

 
"I wasn’t raised that way.  If it was good enough for my mom and dad, it is good enough for my family."

 
"Try something new?  Why would I want to do that?  What’s wrong with doing what we always do?  What’s wrong with going to the same restaurant, vacation spot, etc"

 
"What’s wrong with our marriage the way it is?  I’m perfectly happy!  You are the one with the problem." 

You know the attitude that I am referring to.  There is one way of seeing things.  (That would be my way.)  Yet, along comes Christ and he completely changes the way we approach life.  He changes the way we see and handle life.  He impacts our values, our priorities, our goals, and our entire point of view.  In Christ, we learn that life is about him living in us and seeing everything through his eyes.  We make it our aim each day to please him, not to do what we have always done or what makes us feel most comfortable.  He has a way of getting us out of our self-made ruts and on to a life of trusting him.

 
Consider Paul’s words, "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) 

 
Think for a moment about your own life and experience as a Christ-follower.  How has Christ impacted the way you see your marriage, your children, your job, etc.?