"Blindfold Theology"
or in Laymen"s Terms
"See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil"
or "No Monkeying Around Theology"
by Daniel G. Garcia
Text: ___________________ "So what if I tell John, that he is to sit at my right hand, you don't become too concerned over that, what does it matter to you? New Testament
"Though a 1000 fall to my right and to my left, I will follow you.. Psalmist Speaking.
A blindfold: An instrument critical for Christian Growth
With a blindfold over your eyes, you cannot see. You have to depend on your other senses to guide you and you have to depend on others to guide you.
Who in the world would ever want to be blind? Answer: Christians.
Witnessing and Walking with a Blindfold:
- Hebrews: Faith is the certainty of that which you cannot see. ("Blindfold Theology") Certainly not something anyone in their natural mind can comprehend, yet critical for Christians to have Faith...certainty of that to which they are blind.
- I Corinthians 13: Chapter of Love: Now we see through tainted glass...but someday we will see him eye to eye.
- Jesus said, I cannot tell you everything; you would not understand. Deliberately, intentionallly being kept in the dark...being blinded...so to speak, deliberately being blindfolded.
Which category are we in? Which category am I in? Those that insist in
walking by "sight" or those that walk by "faith".
Our eyes deceive us...misguide us...when we rely on them...
Eve saw (there go the "eyes" again).... that the fruit was good....
She had heard what God had said...but when she depended on her eyes, she was led astray...she seemed to have forgotten what God had said...
One three sins of the Garden of Eden:
The sin of the eyes... the sin of lusting for something which could not and should not be had..
The sin of relying on "sight"...Peter sinking in the sea...
So what is a person to do...
Jesus said, "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out!" That is what in the English Language is called a hyperbole! The extreme way to illustrate something!!! Exageration to stress a point.
To illustrate walking by faith...witnessing by faith...being blindfolded is our hyperbole for the moment...
The Blindfold today is such an illustration. No one in his right mind wants to be blind...but in the Christian walk we must be!!!
- When we visit...we must not see the color of the persons skin...or sometimes we will hesitate in sharing the Gospel...
- We must not see ....the circumstances under which people live...in poverty...in sickness...in bondage..to alcoholism... because when we do...we "see" how much God has to do to bring about change...and we just "can't see" it happenning....at least not now..and sometimes discouragement sets in...almost an unwillingness to try over powers us...and we seem so inadequate for the task...
But when we "see" by faith "blindfolded" and we focus on God, and no the problems of the people around us, we understand perfectly well what only He can do...we reaffirm our faith in his power...in his strength...and not our own...
- We must not look around allowing our "eyes" be our guides...because then we become fearful of our surroundings...we become afraid...the neighborhood may not be the safest...the people may not be the friendliest...the task seems so daring...
- When we come to church, we must not allow our eyes do the "worshipping" setting them on who came and who didn't and point fingers...when we come to worship...with Blindfold Theology...we do not see what the music leader is wearing, what color of attire our neighbor is wearing...who came with who, instead we hear God's message no matter who might be next to us.... Worship becomes an experience between you and God alone..as if you were the only one before one in worshipful adoration...
- When we sit on a pew, we must not set our eyes on the color of the skin
of the person next to us...we must not set our eyes on even our own deficiencies..but on Him who is capable of transformation...transfiguration...if you will...transportation...from one kingdom, the kingdom of darknesss to the kingdom of light as described Colossians 1:13...all the blinking of an eye or less without having even left our surroundings...recognized, experienced, acknowledged solely by faith.
Summary: With a blindfold... You see no evil... That is to say...You Focus on God...Not Evil... Evil may be all around us...but yet we See the Mighty Hand of God at Work in the midst of it all...and evil seems to tiny that it is does not compare to the Mighty Hand of God... When you focus on God... You cannot help but be a conquerer....
Paul said it best: We are more than conquerors...
With a blindfold...you hear no evil...You don't hear the words of Satan calling... You shut his voice out...and you hear God's call...his call to ministry...his call to worship...his call to fellowship...his call to service... his call to prayer...his call unto salvation..
Jesus said it best.."My sheep hear my voice..." Though we do not "see " him, we hear him, though we cannot touch him, we know he is there. If you are one of his sheep, you will hear His voice...daily, nightly...continually... As someone who listens to Him, when a person passes you by or comes near you...You'll hear God tug at your heart telling you...
Witness.... to Him, or Her...
Tell Him, I love Him...
Tell Him...I want to adopt him...
Tell Him, I want him to be part of my family...
Tell Him...I want to come into his heart and dine with him...
Tell Him...Tell Him....
With "Blindfold Theology" you see people in need of Christ, though no one is beside you...
With "Blindfold Theology" you see people across the world in need of Christ, though you've never met them...
But when you open your eyes......you see a man/a woman...next to you...and fear grips you..and you cannot speak... then is the time...to close your eyes, and pray to God for Strength, and put on the blindfold so that the surroundings don't scare you, so that this person in front of you does not intimidate you......and say...Could I please take a moment to tell you something? (You see.... my Lord hearkens me...and I hear his voice...and I must tell you what He wants me to tell you...
Faith comes by hearing ....and hearing by the word of God...
Your faith comes by hearing the still small voice within your heart...
His or her faith will come by hearing God speak through you...through His Word, salvation comes....
With a blindfold...You will speak no evil... because you will not see evil...or hear evil.. You will speak God's word...Evil speaks loudly...But God speaks loudest...
You will speak that which is noble... Oh how hard it is not to speak evil....having seen it...having been a witness...having been hurt...having been injured...the tendency is to lash back.... strike back... with speaking evil...and then it comes back to haunt us...to harm us instead of helping us...
We help no one by speaking evil...
Paul said it: Let no man speak evil of his brother....
Three little monkeys...sitting on a stump...See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil
This my friends is a "No Monkeying Around Theology"
Can we grasp it? Can We Live it? Can We Hear it? Can We Speak it?
January 22, 1998
A New Vision for 1998 Series
