Perspective – Disciple Up

Disciple Up #116
The Power of Perspective
By Louie Marsh, 4-22-2020

How we view, look at, understand and respond to everything depends entirely upon what our perspective of it is. As disciples of Jesus what perspective should we have on life? Well if we want to see things the way Jesus saw things then we need a Biblical Perspective on life.

A Definition of Perspective

A particular perspective is a particular way of thinking about something, especially one that is influenced by your beliefs or experiences.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/biblical-perspective

…a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. – google

A Brief Explanation of Perspective

Perspective is our frame of reference, our point of view on things. You could compare it to a camera lens. If you take a picture of the same object with a wide angle lens and a close up lens you’re going to end up with two very different pictures.

The object itself has not changed, but it looks different because of why we viewed it. Thus perspective changes how you see and interact with the world and everything and everyone in it. That’s why two people can see the same thing or hear the same news or speech and yet have two very different responses to it.

Person A might love what they hear while person B might be dismayed by the very same speech. Why? Because if Person A has a secular or cultural perspective on life and Person B has a Biblical Perspective on life then they will love, value and evaluate things very differently.

A great example of this in the New Testament are the Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels all have a very similar (but not exactly the same) perspective on the life of Jesus. John’s Gospel on the other hand is very different in perspective. A professor of mine in Bible College said it’s as if the Synoptics view Jesus from ground level and John was shooting from a crane in the air.

Some Verses Reflecting A Biblical Perspective

¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)

¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (ESV)

¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)

⁴ though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:4-11 (ESV)

Popular Perspectives

Positive – everything must be positive.
Political – everything evaluated in light of whatever political stance I have – and everything (or almost everything) is seen as political.
Intellectual – everything must “make sense” to me or it’s false.
Emotional – what makes me feel good is true, what doesn’t is false and bad.

Markers of a Biblical Perspective on Life

There is a God.

Therefore we are all ultimately accountable for our lives.
Therefore life can have a real purpose.
Eternity is real so life can extend beyond mere space and time.

The Bible is God’s Word

The Bible is an accurate and objective moral and spiritual authority.
We ought to make it our high priority to know and understand it.
Since the Bible records so much history, it must be important & I ought to learn from it.
We are accountable to obey what the Word teaches.
It is the ultimate authority of what is moral and what is immoral.
Good and bad do not change with the times or the culture.

Jesus is God’s Son and the Only Way of Salvation

I must make Him Lord of my life.
I must live life according to His commands and example.
If His Word is true than all others who disagree with Him must be false.
His Kingdom must be number one in my life and is not of this world. That means eternity is more important than time.

God Wants to Be Involved In My Life