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For forty years I was half-blind but did not even know it. Though I was not aware it still affected my worldview.
As a schoolboy I was small and short and always sat in the front row from primary school till completed graduate school. Therefore I never recognized that I was shortsighted. For 40 years I survived this, but the older I became the worse my eyesight became, but I never realized it.
To me that’s how the world was created. That was reality for me. Nevertheless it had its consequences for me and my relationships.
Socially
My friends would complain that I ignored them. They would smile and wave but I never smiled or waved back. They concluded that I was proud and ignored them. But for me they never existed since I did not see them at all.
Emotionally
Emotionally it affected me. At night as I drove I could not see properly, especially when the lights of an approaching vehicle hit my windscreen.
I thought the other drivers were putting on full lights, which were blinding me. I would complain and curse them as they drove past me.
Spiritually
I was not able to read the praise and worship songs on the overhead projector in my church. I would complain that the songs were out of focus and hazy.
Aesthetically
I was missing out on the beauty and color around me and putting the blame on others. When I bought a colored television the pictures looked hazy and out of focus. I blamed the shopkeeper for selling me a faulty TV. I blamed the manufacturer and even the TV stations for having faulty channels.
Physically
My eyesight was becoming dangerous for others and me. One night I almost drove straight into a police roadblock because I could not see it. “You’re driving into a road block! Please stop”, my wife yelled. My foot went hard for the break-pad. The car behind me suddenly stopped. The next vehicle following did not stop in time and the driver had his windscreen crashing on him and cutting his face. I took him to the hospital but still never realized my shortsightedness.
Moment of Truth
Last year I hired a new Human Resources Manager. He introduced a complete medical check up for all the staff of World Vision Uganda. When the doctor checked my eyesight, he was shocked. He declared me to be very myopic (short sighted) and recommended that I get glasses straight away.
As I stepped out of the optician's office, with my glasses, I was shocked by what I saw. Oh my God! The world looked different! The colors on the street sign posts looked brighter. I could see neon lights and multi-colored signposts that I had never noticed before. As I drove out of the city, the grass looked greener, the flowers very beautiful and the trees and hills yonder were a sight to behold. “Praise the Lord for all your beautiful creation”, I shouted. The people looked beautiful and handsome and the African dress more glamorous.
The New Me
When I see my friends from afar, I can recognize them, wave, go to them and give them a hug.
Driving at night is a joy since the lights of approaching vehicles no longer blind me. I enjoy the colored programs on my television. At church I enjoy learning and singing along the new songs on the screen from the overhead projector.
Lessons
For forty years I was half-blind but did not know it. My worldview was flawed but I did not realize it. My relationships with others were negatively affected. My attitude towards things and people I could not see very clearly was negative, and I put all the blame on others. It took someone to challenge my worldview before I was willing to change. I needed the help of someone else to give me a set of new glasses to change my life.
Scripture
1. I can identify so well with the blind man in Mark 8:22-25, as the blind man needed someone to bring him to Jesus to heal his sight. Are you willing to take those with flawed worldview to Jesus?
2. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
You need to trust Jesus and walk with your hand in his for the distance to have your eyesight/biblical worldview restored.
3. You may be a Christian, but this may not be sufficient to give you a biblical worldview. Though the blind man had received his sight, people still looked like walking trees.
4. We need a fresh touch from Jesus to enable our eyesight to be restored and to see everything clearly.
Conclusion
Now I understand why people discriminate against others because of race or tribe. Why men discriminate against women. Why we believe the web of lies spun by the devil? We are using flawed glasses that give us a flawed worldview and don’t even know it!
We must get a new set of glasses from Jesus that enable us to see the world in reality from a scriptural worldview. |
