Tunnel Vision Jesus Style

tunnel vision

n

1. (Medicine / Pathology) a condition in which peripheral vision is greatly restricted

2. narrowness of viewpoint resulting from concentration on a single idea, opinion, etc., to the exclusion of others

After Matt and I were first married I taught music at a middle school in the Northern suburbs of Chicago. It was a wealthy area, and I have to admit that I got a little consumed with the material side of life during those years. It was a difficult thing, though, because I was a public school teacher and Matt was in seminary, so there wasn't much I could do to satisfy those desires. We were, honestly, odd ducks in that part of town. I was surrounded by 6th graders who were carrying Louis Vuitton bags and on the (thankfully seldom) occasion that my car was unavailable I had to pull up to school in this:



Sweet, right? When Matt and I would cruise around town in this baby we would often receive an unfortunate greeting (involving a particular finger) for pretty much no good reason. I think people just didn't like to have to look at it. . .

But anyway, I found myself obsessing over things I wanted (and often couldn't have). If I saw a fabulous outfit I would begin organizing my life around finding a way to buy it. I developed tunnel vision focused on satisfying the material desires of my heart. And, unfortunately, as a result I lost the ability to see a lot of the blessings God was pouring over us at that time of life.

Thankfully God and I dealt with that whole issue years ago and I have widened my scope when it comes to the material things I think I need.

We all do that, though, don't we? Our team loses (or wins!) some big championship and we become so consumed with grief (or joy) over the event that our identity begins to be shaped by passion for our team. Or our boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with us and our whole world crashes down around us and we feel unlovable and insignificant. . . all the while completely losing sight of all of the people whose love for us is constant and of the great worth that we have in Christ.

Tunnel vision isn't just something that effects us in areas of life outside the church, though. Sometimes we develop tunnel vision when it comes to our faith, too.

We can become so consumed with the need for personal holiness that we forget that God calls us to go out into the world and interact with it. Or we become so motivated and impassioned about living the life that God has called us to that we can no longer see the grace the washes us clean and enables us to enter God's presence in the first place. . .

So much of the Christian life is a balance: grace and truth, free will and God's sovereignty, prayer and action. . . I can't help but ask the question, is tunnel vision ever ok? Is there any area in which we are called to have a "narrowness of viewpoint resulting from concentration to a single idea at the exclusion of others?"

My proposition: Yes.

In John 14:6 Jesus says this:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

When it comes to the source of our salvation, we don't need to look any farther. We don't need to widen the scope and look to other ideas or people to know and believe that we can be saved. I think tunnel vision that honors God is vision that focuses so much on Jesus that our whole lives are shaped by our understanding of and love for Him.

If you are struggling with the "tunnel vision" of believers around you, simply ask yourself this question: Is their tunnel vision focused on Jesus? Or have they let Jesus slide into the periphery and allowed other things (even good things!) to become the center of their line of sight?

Jesus-centered vision is the only vision that will satisfy our souls and draw us to God. We look to Him as our Savior for eternity, and we look to Him as our example for living life now!

I think there is a good reason for why kids in Sunday School always shout out "Jesus!" as the answer to pretty much every question. . . I think they've got the right idea.