I have a love-hate relationship with photo filters. Growing up, Instagram was still emerging, and I was pretty excited when I discovered the filter feature. All of a sudden the somewhat (very) awkward selfies of my early teenage self were graced by a level of sophistication they had never had before. As the years passed though, I became disillusioned with filters, primarily because of a single thought, “What if I’m setting people’s expectations too high?” In other words, I became afraid that my real appearance would not be able to live up to the image other people saw through the filter I was projecting to them on social media.
Beyond affecting my teenage anxieties, filters play a role in each of our lives.
All of us have filters (biases) that affect (for better or worse) the way in which we see the world.
One of my favorite thinkers, John Mark Comer, teaches that the factors that shape us are our habits, environments, experiences, and our relationships. Put another way, what we do regularly, the people and spaces in which we surround ourselves, and the lessons we learn, form our characters and our filters. This is very intuitive to most of us, as I think we have all experienced the way in which the influences that surround us mold the way in which we see ourselves, others, and our world.
Now more than ever, in light of all the events that have taken place in the last few months, we as followers of Jesus must check the filters through which we see life.
“. . . Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me . . . If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” - Mark 8:34,38 NIV
Here Jesus makes a clear invitation to all of us: “If you want to be my disciple [apprentice, student], you have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” In other words, He calls us to question and let go of our natural way of living, seeing the world, relating to others, and every other part of our lives. For Jesus, it is all or nothing; He is either the Lord (the Master, Teacher) of our lives, or He’s not. There is no in between. He wants all of our lives. How we treat others, what opinions we accept, what we post or don’t post on social media, our lifestyle—He wants to influence all of it. His invitation is optional and can only be freely chosen . . . “Whoever.” In other words, “If you want to.” But if you want to, He tells you how in this invitation.
I’m not telling you what to think, how to vote, what cause to support, or what influencers to subscribe to. I am challenging each of us to question ourselves and our filters. Helpful questions can be:
Where is my opinion on [fill in the blank] coming from?
Is what I think on this issue informed by my political party or by the values of Jesus?
Is how I’m treating someone (in person or on social media) being determined by what I heard on the news, or by the way of Jesus?
I want to make it clear that the first person who has to do this . . . is me. It’s not easy to question our way of seeing the world because it opens us up to the possibility of change. But I do believe that this reflection is what Jesus is calling me, and calling you to. Not reacting as others in our culture do, but to individually and as a church, seek to respond in the way in which Jesus would—in the way of love.
HOW
Putting this into practice is not a mathematical formula, it’s a journey with Jesus—one I’m inviting each of us to step into.
Take 20 minutes to reflect this week (more effective if you write this down)
What does it mean to deny yourself and follow Jesus in this season of your life?
What things (whether actions, or thoughts or opinions) is He asking you to challenge?
Are your views on your life, others, and society being influenced primarily by your own thoughts and feelings? The news? Other people? Or by the teachings of Jesus?
What would it look like in your life to see yourself, others, and what’s going on in our country through the lens of the words of Jesus?
If you want to continue this conversation, have some questions, would like to study the words of Jesus with others, or simply want someone to pray for you, feel free to email me at ianreyes567@gmail.com, or another member of the Canyon Creek Project team at hello@canyoncreekproject.com.
We’re in this together,
-Ian