My wife and had an argument that we couldn’t resolve. It took us years to work this through. I had 29 years of singleness under my belt before our marriage and I had, over that time, developed certain habits that were consistent with bachelor life. I kept three piles of clothes of my floor: clean, dirty, and once worn. I knew it was time to do laundry when the 3 piles were reduced to one. Dirty dishes were left to “soak,” and then ultimately thrown away once mold appeared. Bedding was never washed or made (why?). Toilet paper only needed to be close by; there was no need to put it on some fancy holder. I was content with messy.
When I got married, my bachelor friendly ways of living needed some adjustment. I discovered the toilet paper needed to be placed on the holder so that it goes over the top of the roll; that dust ruffles and duvet covers were real things; and that dirty dishes could be reused once they were cleaned. But it took us a while to get me to “see” messy the same way she did. She used to be so hurt because our definitions of “messy” were different. She was convinced that I would come home and notice the mess of our house and just assume she would take care of it. I tried to convince her that my “messy” radar wasn’t quite calibrated to her frequency and that dirty dishes were not the first thing I looked for when I walked in a room. I told her didn’t see “messy” the same way she did.
She remained unconvinced. So I did what I thought was reasonable. I asked for a to- do list.
She wept.
I’m not kidding. She cried and through her tears said, “I want you to be the kind of husband who doesn’t need one [a to-do list.]” I couldn’t win! She wanted me to see “messy” like she did and do something about it like she would.
Learning to love and serve my wife required a new way of “seeing.” This is true of any relationship. We learn to “see” things from another’s point of view. We begin to make sense of another perspective. The biblical concept of “faith” is a similarly relational concept. Faith is a new way of “seeing.”
“Seeing” is much more than learning new information. Learning to see something this way is akin to learning to see in agriculture, business, art, or sports. I have played and coached football. When I watch a game with my wife, she and I see it differently. She sees a bunch of men running around banging away at each other while I see audibles, adjustments, schemes, and strategies. The reverse is true with basketball. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what counts as offense in hoops, but my wife watches a game and comments on the various plays the teams run. I have to take her word for it because I don’t see a thing.
We constantly find differences between what experts see and what the uninitiated observe. I look up and simply see wispy puffs of white, but a meteorologist sees stratus, cumulous, or cirrus clouds. I go to the zoo and see cats, monkeys, gorillas, and reptiles, but a zoologist sees each animal in particular and can tell you the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. I see a field, but a farmer sees the crop, notes its variety, and assesses its health.
When we step fully into the Christian story, we receive eyes to see. When we accept and participate in that mercy, our eyes are opened to categories of creation, sin, world, reconciliation, kingdom of God—the categories by which we see reality as it really is. This is anything but natural or automatic. Rather, learning to see reality this way requires induction and immersion into a culture.
The Bible is full of people who misread the “signs” of God’s presence. There are many examples to choose from. Eli missed God’s work in Hannah (1 Samuel 1); the Jews didn’t recognize God’s work in and through the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2); and Naaman didn’t recognize God’s work to heal him (2 Kings 5).
John records an instance when a voice from heaven accompanied some of Jesus’ words.
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. (John 12:28-29)
Two groups of people hear the same thing. Some hear it as thunder; others hear God’s voice speaking. What separated one group from the other? Two groups see a woman dump an expensive jar of perfume over Jesus’ feet. Jesus sees the act as “worship,” while the disciples see “waste.” What distinguishes one view from another?
I want to suggest that in each of these instances, what separates the two groups is something Paul calls “the eyes of their heart” (Eph. 1:18); and what Jesus calls “ears to hear.” Or what the writers of the New Testament simply call “faith.” Faith is an inner disposition or willingness to “see.” It is a willingness to move beyond “sight” (what we see and perceive with our senses), into the “assurance of what we don’t see” (Heb. 11:1). Faith is a way of seeing the world; it is a way of reading the signs of the presence of God. This is what so often separates those who see and hear and those who don’t.
Growing in faith is growing in the ability to learn to read God’s signs. Reading “signs” is something we’re all familiar with. We learn to read traffic signs in order to drive; we learn to read the nonverbal cues (signs) of other people that show us what they might be feeling or thinking; we study economic forecasts looking for “signs” about which way the economy will go. We can learn “sign” language in order to communicate with those whose hearing is impaired. In this sense, we can learn how to recognize the “signs” of God’s work.
Mike Erre is the Lead Pastor at EvFree Fullerton in Fullerton, CA. A graduate of Talbot School of Theology, Mike speaks at universities and conferences around the country. Author of Astonished, his fifth book. Mike is the husband of Justina, the dad to Nathan, Hannah and Seth. Website/Blog: subversivekingdom.com | Twitter: @mikeerre.
