47. The Third Lens (w. thanks to Joel Rosenberg)

What I have written below is greatly influenced by Joel C. Rosenberg's best-seller “Epicenter 2.0” (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2008) which I highly recommend. Still, the words below are my own.

As I watch the news programs on TV, I gravitate toward the conservative shows and commentators, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Greta van Susteren, Karl Rove, Dick Morris, and Newt Gingrich. And yet, I am aware that the main advice and counsel that they give has been generally only viewed through what Joel Rosenberg calls the two lenses of politics and economics. We could call the view “two-dimensional”.

Many such commentators may have Christian moral principles, and may in fact be Christians. But for reasons known best to themselves and to the networks that employ them, they rarely speak about the Biblical view on their shows or on their commentary. They might say that is not their purpose.

By way of comparison, have you ever watched a 3D movie where special glasses were required? Regardless how long you watch it without the 3D glasses, it just doesn’t look like it is supposed to. Watching a three-dimensional movie with only a two-dimensional setup is confusing, as well as unreliable, and even deceptive. (Addition: post-Avatar 5/05/10 10:05 CDT): For example, I saw "Avatar" in a 3D theatre -- and during the showing I took off my special glasses a few times, just to see what it looked like in 2D. It was difficult to watch, and it didn't clarify anything.

It takes adding the third-dimension to make the viewing of the movie trustworthy and accurate. And this also applies to the world of politics and economics. It takes the Bible to add a third-dimension to provide clarity, perspective, reliability and true understanding to the 2D-lens view that most commentators use.

Such TV hosts and commentators usually realize that there is a “problem” that needs to be solved, but rarely is that problem denounced for being evil. Some of the commentators do not have the imagination to see something as actually evil, and not just (1) impractical, or (2) inconvenient, or (3) exorbitant, or (4) against the Constitution. When we add the third lens of scripture, we are able to add the perspective of ‘evil’ vs. ‘godly’ to comments, arguments, events, and proposals.

We need to remember this: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the dark powers of this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms…" Eph 6:12

And this is why in my blogsite profile in the left column, I state that "I have long been convinced that the most reliable guide to what the future holds is the Bible." It gives us the extra insight we need to discern which side of local, national, and world issues we should be on, and how best to fight the battle.