General Superintendent
Max Edwards
Oh, but wait
Seeing Things My Own Way
Imagine a sports arena packed with enthusiastic fans. Half of the massive crowd are hometeam fans, and the others are spirited supporters of the visitors It’s nearly the end of the final period of play and the score is tied. A dramatic play unfolds and the result is a score for the visiting team, but the referee’s call is questionable.
What do you imagine is the crowd's opinion regarding the validity of the call? Of course, we know how it will go! The opinions will be split right down the middle – a multitude believing it was a fair score and thousands of angry hometowners feeling robbed, right?
stant replay and the huge jumbotron screen come to the rescue! When the event is played over and over, in slow motion, from a variety of angles, the situation will be resolved, and everyone in the stadium will agree on whether or not the score stands, right? OF COURSE NOT! Few, if any, opinions will be changed. The home enthusiasts will still be certain of their opinions, and so will the opponents.
This tendency of human nature is real, and it has real-world implications as we seek to lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only sacrifice for sin. A brief and somewhat obscure passage in the Gospel of John gives evidence of the kind of skeptical world we live in all the time.
John 9:8-9 “8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
Why do you suppose that some of the crowd said, “No, he just looks like him!”? Were they right? Of course not. Did they have any evidence to support their claim that he was not formerly blind? NO. Their dogmatic claim that he was NOT the man who had been blind was based on one thing, and one thing only - - their predisposition that miracles don’t happen. That’s all. No facts, no science, and no open-mindedness as to what might have actually occurred there. Just clear and bold opinions (false ones, mind you) based on the skeptical assumption that a man who was blind cannot now see as a result of the gracious work of a Creator God.
Here's the bottom line … the skepticism we encounter regarding Jesus is not based on fact, reason, or science at all. Often it’s just a product of a previously formed opinion. All the more reason for us, then, to “drive on” as Dr. Hamblen encouraged, proclaiming the true truth about our Savior and Lord.