“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
This painting by René Magritte that hangs in the MoMA is a self-portrait of him looking at an egg but painting a bird in flight. He’s expressing that’s there’s something more than what is right in front of him. There’s the possibility, the potential of the future. For the Christ follower, though we see and are grounded in what is, i.e., present world reality, we have the ability to see beyond it to what is possible. Call it the Spirit-shaped imagination if you like.
For many Christians, if they are able to imagine anything beyond what is, it’s often concentrated on nothing more than a vision of how to make themselves more prosperous or comfortable or entertained. But the Holy Spirit, who in some versions is called the “Comforter,” (which is not the best translation) didn’t come to make us comfortable or materially prosperous. Not that he’s opposed to our comfort or prosperity, but he came to help us make the world a better place. If we’re prosperous it’s so we have something to help the poor or disadvantaged have their needs met. If we’re comfortable it’s so we can comfort others.
The Spirit fills our imagination to see beyond our circumstances and the chaos in the world (and we have a lot of that today) in order to create circumstances that can alleviate as much of the chaos as we can in his power.
When after the resurrection the disciples said, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) they wanted to know if he was going to make THEIR WORLD better. He responded that he was interested more in empowering them with the Spirit so that through them, he can make THE WORLD better, i.e., “witnesses…to the ends of the earth.”
We tend to want to have more of the Spirit for purposes too small, for our benefit; so we can speak in tongues or so we can be known as spiritual people or so we can get answers to our prayers for a better job or a better house or a pretty wife. Our God isn’t so small as that. I’m all for speaking in tongues (I do it a lot!) or getting a good job. But his vision for us is bigger than what we can imagine for ourselves!
It’s too small a thing for you to merely survive as a believer in Christ. He wants you to have a much larger vision for your brief life here on earth; to be like Jesus, to build for the kingdom of God, and influence others with the good news.
Asking God to join you in your plan is too small. Terrifying as it is, we must find a way to join him in his. Jump on his moving train. What are you living for that’s too small?
OK, so you can clearly see an egg. But can you at the same time paint a bird in flight?
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2)
barney wiget 