Acts 9:18-19 says, "Immediately, something like scales fell from Paul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength." This event occurs right after someone sent by God comes to restore Paul's sight after the incident on the road.
The concept of scales falling from the eyes is something mentioned in the Bible to represent a spiritual awakening. We have all heard the phrase, 'I was blind, but now I see.' This is nothing less than the account of Saul becoming Paul, and moving from persecutor to prophet. It was a radical, life altering change.
Likewise, I believe the world we live in needs an awakening sometimes. My favorite author and philosopher C.S. Lewis warns that when it comes to seeking God, we are often sheep among wolves. It is a confusing world out there, for both the young and old - and there is no shortage of scales covering eyes. There are groups of people doing whatever they want to do, regardless of what God said or did.
I have found that there are typically three large obstacles that can block our way toward a life worth living in Jesus. I often hear people mention these things when they tell me why they don't attend church regularly.
First, I have to be honest - we live in a cynical culture when it comes to the things of God. The Bible says that people will sometimes mock and test God, in an attempt to rail against Him. And when we look around, do we not see this very thing? There are outspoken people in every part of the world, ready to slander Christ at a moment's notice. It is hard to listen to, and even harder to digest.
With an increasingly widespread unbelief permeating much of academia and the workplace, it isn't uncommon to come up against this hurdle on a daily basis. Mix this together with a universalist view of spiritual matters (everyone goes to Heaven no matter what), and we get a kind of pantheistic philosophy that says it's okay to accept any and all types of behavior. There is no such thing as sin, and no such thing as a sinner.
The second hurdle I see relates to church conflict directly. Take for example, the recent discord within one of the largest denominations in the United States. Two very distinct factions have emerged over a disagreement as to the proper interpretation of the Biblical viewpoint on human sexuality. Now imagine for a moment, that you are a prospective parishioner, trying to decide whether or not to attend one of these churches on Sunday morning. Would it give you pause for thought before walking through the front door? If the leadership of any organization is in distress, then that anxiety will trickle down to all areas of said organization, and this includes churches. At best, it may be a difficult sale for the spiritual seeker out there, looking for a church family and a place to call home.
Another aspect of church conflict relates to the people who attend regularly and have come to represent the religious view in the community. If these folks happen to be kindly, loving, and caring - then we don't have an issue. If however, people occasionally act as human beings do, then we can have mixed results. When someone walks into a church on Sunday morning, we prefer a handshake and a greeting ... as opposed to someone reminding us how long it has been since we last visited. The first reaction elicits a feeling of welcome; the second creates a kind of guilt-ridden discord that a prospective member might remember for years to come. If fact, some research indicates that people make up their mind whether or not to come back to a church within the first thirty seconds. Talk about some pressure!
Finally, the last hurdle I have noticed is simply a difficulty when it comes to trusting God. Faith is hard sometimes. It makes demands on us. I don't blame people for trying to control everything in their lives themselves, rather than handing over the reins to a Heavenly Father figure. I have often caught myself attempting to solve a problem on my own first, rather than going directly to prayer. Only after weeks or months of failing to fix something do we hit our knees and offer up our difficulties to Jesus. Assuming you can get past the pride of admitting that you cannot control everything in your life, the penitent believer must then also acknowledge that sin has separated them from a Holy God, and they need a savior to step in and make amends. This isn't exactly the easiest thing to do.
So, if we live in a cynical world that often consists of people behaving badly, and a culture that tells us we always need to be self-sufficient and never ask for help - it doesn't take long to figure out the dilemma we are in. It would appear that meeting God in our modern world can be difficult, to say the least. The temptation exists to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, and who needs God anyway.
Now here is the good news. God loved this difficult world enough to send His son, such that we might have a real relationship with him (not just a religion), in a meaningful way that sets us up with supernatural guidance.
The Gospel of John in fact, tells us that if we know the Son, we also know the Father. A real relationship with Jesus grants us the ability to become one of God's own; set aside for good works and faithful living. Not only can you meet God here and now, but you can know what it is that He wants from you during this short life here on Earth. The Old Testament contains a record of God taking great pains and thousands of years in an attempt to pound into the Israelites just who He was and what He wanted. The New Testament records God sending us the Messiah, who would take our place as a sin offering and allow himself to be crucified so that you and I would never need to feel alone or lost again.
Fight past the cynicism and unbelief around you, persevere through any conflict you may perceive inside the church, and don't be afraid to trust the only being who might just love you unconditionally.
Allow the Father to remove the scales from your eyes - you didn't need them anyway. How much brighter the world looks once we can see things clearly. Rest assured, if you know Jesus, then you also know God.
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