Need New Glasses

As I sit here typing this blog, I am wearing a pair of reading glasses. They help me see things that are within about 5 feet of my nose. I never used to need glasses, but as I turned 40-ish it started to become apparent that my arms were no longer long enough. But even with glasses, my eyes have slowly deteriorated, and I keep buying stronger and stronger ones - I now use prescription reading glasses for work.

The other day I started reading a new book by Shane Hipps (with my glasses). He was the teaching pastor at Mars Hill church when Rob Bell was there (not Mars Hill where Mark Driscoll is). The name of his book is; 'Selling Water by the River'. It seems to be about how we as Christians often confuse our  religion with what Jesus taught; how we end up worshiping our beliefs instead of God. You can see a short video clip promoting the book here where he uses a really good analogy comparing the wind and sails with Jesus and religion.

The interesting thing is that he doesn't totally dismiss religion and the beliefs that are an inherent part of any religion as irrelevant. In this quote the river is used as an analogy of God or Jesus;

Beliefs are an important part of any religion. What we believe matters, but not for the reasons we may assume. Our beliefs (or lack of beliefs) do not qualify or disqualify us from the river. Instead they determine how clearly we will see the river, which is always running just beneath our noses. Some beliefs clear the way and give us high visibility, while others create a thick fog. The distance between the river and us never actually changes. What changes is how well we can see and accept it.

 As a former fundamentalist I think I was wearing glasses that helped me see the river, but as time wore on I became increasingly aware that I needed a new prescription. I could still see, but the edges were fuzzy and I couldn't see a lot of the detail, and quite frankly I was getting a lot of headaches. Since I got my new glasses things are once again crisp and clear, and the headaches are gone. However, I still need to be aware that my eyes are constantly changing, so I shouldn't criticize those that still have their old prescription. Instead, I should help them, and encourage them to see their optometrist.