On our way home from church services my sister went on and on about all the problems in the church. She had come home from college with lots of answers. My dad listened attentively until she paused, seemingly waiting for his perspective on the matter. He wisely replied, “I guess you can do whatever you want when you get your church.”
Silence.
A few years later I was fortunate to enroll in a class on missions with a wise former missionary. Early in our class he told us that we would undoubtedly have ideas that we were sure would make the church better. His advice: “Don’t act on your ideas immediately; write them all down in a notebook and then store them in a box after beginning your ministry. Then, after five years take out your notebook and have a good laugh.”
My sister and I were young, lacking biblical knowledge and lacking life experience. We both needed to change the lens through which we viewed God’s church. We thought we knew something but were crippled by focusing on ourselves and our newfound knowledge. The wisdom of my dad and my professor was to change the lens through which we viewed God’s church.
In reality, there is nothing wrong with the head of the church, Christ. There is nothing wrong with the design of God’s church. There is nothing wrong with the teachings and direction of God’s church. And believe it or not, there is nothing wrong with the church itself, not when those who make up the church maintain their focus on Jesus and view the world, the church and themselves through a lens crafted by God. Problems come when people begin to view the world and the church and themselves through a lens of their own making, a lens that is focused on oneself.
Children often make the same mistake regarding their parents. While focusing on themselves, seeing life through a lens of their own making, many children grow up viewing their parents as overlords keeping them from all the wonderful things in life, keeping them from chasing their liberty. Many of those views change when they have children of their own. It is as if a new lens is used to view life.
The same is true of life in general. When we focus on ourselves through a lens of our own making, we become comfortable in passing judgment on others. We view others through our lens of justice, our lens of righteousness, our lens morality. We become critical instead of merciful. We become judgmental instead of forgiving. We tend to condemn instead of advancing the gospel.
At least in part, I think Jesus was trying to communicate this through the parable of the prodigal son. The younger son was completely focused on himself. He left home as soon as possible to get out from under his father’s suffocating rule. Only when he was destitute did he view things through a different lens.
The older brother did not make the same mistake as his younger brother. Yet he was also completely focused on himself and his own self-righteousness. So, when his brother returned home, he compared himself to his brother and bemoaned his circumstances by keeping the focus on himself.
The father was the only one with the right focus…a focus on relationship.
When we focus on duty and doctrinal correctness and Christian liberty and law, we tend to turn inward with a lens of our own making. We tend to turn our focus onto ourselves and our perspectives while losing our focus on people. Whether we are thinking about the church, children and parents, or life in general, we must learn to view things through the eyes of God.
God wants to have a relationship with you. He wants you to be like Him. Do you need to change the lens through which you view life?
Mark Stinnett
October 18, 2026
