Paul's Ministry ManualSample

  

A New Point of View

One of the most interesting things I did in high school was to take a course in mechanical drawing. I learned a great deal in that course; one thing I learned was how your point of view determines how you see something. That was in a literal, physical sense. The Apostle Paul apparently thought that was important in a spiritual sense as well. He writes, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Cor. 5:16). He explains the significance of this in 2 Cor. 5:11-21.

We know how Paul got his new point of view. One day as he was traveling in his crusade to persecute the church he met the head of the church, the living, resurrected Christ. That was the beginning of his transformation. And in the days, weeks, and months that followed, Paul re-evaluated his whole worldview. from that time on he would see the world differently. He would see everything differently, including Christ Himself. Paul puts it like this, “Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” But he would also see people differently, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (16).

How do you see people? What impresses you about people? Are you impressed by their wealth? (“He’s a millionaire, you know.”) Are you impressed by their qualifications? (“He has a Ph.D.”) Or is it their accomplishments? (“Do you know what she had done before she was thirty?”) Or maybe it’s people’s possessions. (“You should see their house.”) There may be nothing wrong with these things, or even with paying attention to them. But there are much more important things.

Do you ever look at people in light of their spiritual state? Do you ever say, “I’m going to spend some time with him; he needs to come to the Lord”? Or do you think, “What impresses me about her is her servant heart”? Do you ask yourself, “How can I help this brother get involved in that ministry? His gifts would fit well there”? Or maybe, “Let me see what I can do to help him”? These are thoughts that come from seeing people from a different point of view. 

In our text, Paul makes this statement, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors” (v. 20). An ambassador sees the people where he lives from a different point of view. He sees them through the eyes of his country, the government he represents. Do we do that? Do we look at people mainly in terms of their relationship to God? That is the most important part of anyone’s life. When we look at the people around us, does that factor into our perception of them? Does that make the strongest impression? 

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the people around me from a point of view that is in line with Your point of view. Help me to see them as You see them. Help me to feel toward them as You do. Open my eyes to this new point of view, and let me be an effective ambassador of heaven on earth.