Does it frustrate you when you try to explain a spiritual truth to someone, but they just can’t “see” it? I think it’s so interesting we use the concept of “sight” when we’re discussing the process of understanding. I’ve been called “blind” a few times over the last year, and to be fully transparent, I’ve shaken my head a lot over people I would consider “blind” to what’s happening in our world.

These words are biblical. Jesus talked about “the blind leading the blind,” referring to the hypocritical Pharisees who practiced religious tradition but were far from God (Matthew 5:1-14). The danger of following a blind person (one who “appears” to know what they are talking about, but in reality, are just as blind as you) is that you both will fall in a pit!

All men without Christ are blind. God prophesied this particularly about the Jewish people who rejected God’s authority over their lives in the Old Testament (read Isaiah!) and Paul confirms it in 2 Corinthians 3. God has placed a metaphorical veil over the spiritual eyes of all those who reject Jesus, so they cannot understand the gospel. It doesn’t make sense; they just can’t “see” it.

What’s the answer?

Fortunately, it’s not to do what I’ve often seen people say on social media when posting a meme they agree with: “Say it louder for the people in the back.” Raising our voice and being more emphatic is like talking louder to a person who doesn’t speak your language, thinking volume leads to comprehension.

The Bible tells us to do the exact opposite. The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

We pray for God to grant repentance.

Repentance is simply seeing our sin from God’s perspective and turning away from it. It is to recognize that we are in need of salvation, that by our own sinful choices, we are separated from a holy God and unable to change our situation. It is accepting the reality that the payment for sin is death – either our own spiritual death (eternal separation from God) or the death that Christ paid in our place on the cross.

Repentance is a gift, and when God allows you to see your sin for what it is, and you turn away from it, you turn to the Lord. Only then is the veil over your understanding taken away.

But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16).

You know this is true. What is the first step to understanding someone else’s point of view? We have to humble ourselves and consider that we might be wrong. We have to open our hearts to the possibility that our thinking is incorrect and that we don’t have all the information. We have to “repent” of our stubbornness and be willing to listen.

Do you look at Christianity and the Bible and shake your head in disbelief at those who accept its truths? Can you just not see it? You’re not alone; it’s the human condition.

What do you have to lose? Ask the Lord to grant you repentance. Stop walking around in the dark, following the teachings of those who are as blind as you are. Ask God to show you the truth about your spiritual condition. Your eyes will be opened, and you will see.

And if you know Christ, don’t expect others to understand until God grants them repentance. Keep speaking truth in gentleness, kindness, and patience, and pray for God to do what He can only do for them. After all, that’s what Jesus came to do!

Luke 4:16-19 – And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”