Issues that divide us seem to be increasing by the day. Passions run high in so many areas. Whether it is climate change, racism, women’s rights, Brexit, or independence from the UK, there seems to be no shortage of topics that consume us, and make us unable to see the proverbial wood for the trees.

In the heat of the European referendum, I was aware that I was beginning to see so many issues through the lens of Brexit. “If only we had independence”, I thought, “we could fix this, or that, issue”. It didn’t last too long, to be honest. On the night before the results were announced, I felt I was able to hand over the outcome to God, and trust that he would be in whatever came about. I felt at peace, even whilst thinking the vote would very probably go the other way.

God-given vision

Vision and passion can be a very good thing – particularly if they are God-given. They can provide a drive to help us get things done, things that can make a real difference in whatever sphere we are working.

The child that God had given him was the central and intrinsic part of the vision God had given him – yet Abraham was willing to lay that down as his trust in God was so strong.

Many of our most loved Bible characters had visions. Abraham was willing to give up everything he knew, and, along with his wife and nephew, travelled a long way to the place that God had called him. It was a vision that God had given him, of being the father of multitudes – even though he had no child. Despite mistakes along the way, his faith in God was so strong that he was even prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac (whom he knew was a gift from God), with total trust that God would make it right somehow (which he did by personally intervening at the last minute – God has never required child sacrifice!) The child that God had given him was the central and intrinsic part of the vision God had given him – yet Abraham was willing to lay that down as his trust in God was so strong.

Paul’s vision of Jesus and the gospel was enough for him to lay down everything he knew to become a travelling evangelist – enduring imprisonment, beatings and danger to fulfil the vision that God had given him. The gospel of Jesus consumed him so much that everything he did was for God. (2 Cor 11:23-27)

A distorted vision

Without a vision, the people perish, the Bible says. (Proverbs 29:18) But what if the vision we strive towards is not of God? What does it become?

I’ve been contemplating recently the sin of idolatry. The fashioning and worshipping of a golden or wooden idol is not a common practice nowadays; it’s fair to say that it is not a problem we have in the Western world. But there are other forms of idolatry. I wonder if in our day and age, one form of idolatry might not be the viewing of everything through a certain lens, one other than our faith in Jesus.A lens can affect how we view things, both positively and negatively. What lenses are affecting your spiritual vision? Image by Lars Nissen

If our faith is meaningful, like a lens, it colours how we see everything It affects our view of people, whom we understand to be lovingly created in the image of our beloved God. It affects our view of world events, as we weigh up how they can be seen in the light of God’s word. It affects our view of love, and life, and death, as we see them in the light of eternity.

At times, other passions can have this effect, but in a less positive way.

Passion colours our understanding

It is notable that when people get stuck on a particular idea, then everything begins to relate, in their minds, to that cause or idea – shoehorning any facts to fit their narrative. You could see it on both sides of the Brexit debate. Many thought disaster would occur if Britain left the EU – and then every good news item in the media following the referendum began with, ‘Despite Brexit’. I know people on Facebook who regularly post dire warnings and scare stories about our decision to leave, latching onto every possible issue. They may well have had good and sensible reasons to have wanted to remain in the EU – good reasons most definitely existed. But for some (again on both sides), this became an all-encompassing obsession that altered how they viewed other people and other issues, even affecting who they would befriend or fall in love with (families fell out over this one issue, for example, and dating profiles would signal which way they wanted responders to have voted).

Some of the Scottish Nationalists appear to me to be one of the worst current examples of this. In my opinion, the SNP has made so many things worse in Scotland because they seem to be focused on independence to the exclusion of all else. The issue of independence has so consumed some of them, that their failure to address the legacy of the highest level of drug deaths in all of Europe has not even seemed to concern them. Education has gone from being one of the best to one of the worst in the developed world. The economy has taken a catastrophic beating from the lockdowns and Covid pandemic, just like everywhere else; yet all they seem to talk about is independence. Independence has become a god to them: this could be idolatry. They defend it from all criticism, and see it as the answer to everything.

Real, important issues which need addressing are turned into all-consuming passions that remove all sense of perspective.

For some race campaigners, too (not all), everything that happens is seen through the lens of racism. They are completely unable to see that sometimes other issues are at play. For some trans campaigners, everything is about transphobia. Similar heightened opinions on vaccines have recently divided entire families.

The really sad thing about this form of idolatry is how damaging it is. Real, important issues which need addressing are turned into all-consuming passions that remove all sense of perspective. Rational thought, and the careful weighing up of differing ideas and competing priorities, go out of the window.

Taking the plank out of our own eye

Before pointing the finger, we need to look at ourselves. Christians can be guilty of this too. As 2 Kings 17:41 says, “Even while these people were worshipping the Lord, they were serving their idols.” We need to ask ourselves, is there something that we are passionate about? Great, that is fine. There is nothing wrong with that, in itself. Next, is it something that colours how we see life? Is it something that we would be willing to sacrifice things for? What are we like when we meet others who don’t share our passion or belief? Does it affect how we interpret things we read in the news? Does it affect how we live our lives? Is it a lens through which we see everything? Does it affect how we treat people? And do we place our trust in it (Ps 31:6)?

What are we like when we meet others who don’t share our passion or belief?

If your consuming interest – and the way you see the world – is a passion for God, and for the gospel and the vision he has given you, then wonderful. If it is anything else, then beware. It may be become an idol in your life – and a snare to you (Ps 106:36).