There are times in a Sozo session when I am led to have the person ask the Holy Spirit, “Is there a lens through which I view situation, life and people?” A lens is basically a mindset…paradigm…filter….through which we view life. We filter our experiences through this filter and come to certain-sometimes inaccurate-conclusions.
Some people have a lens that they must take care of themselves….no one else will. So, in a crisis, because this is their filter, they often don’t ask for help because they believe no one will care enough to help anyway. They often appear to others as independent, strong, not needing help.
Some have grown up being controlled and now view many situations as actually another attempt to control them. For instance, if they talk to their child’s teacher about him repeatedly getting into trouble and they are asked to attend family counseling….and that the help the school gives is contingent upon that, this person sees that as control and often turns away from it. Without this filter, it often can appear a legitimate request. But, with a lens of control, the conclusion is different.
Racism is another filter, I believe. Suppose a young black man was repeatedly stopped by cops. One time, he’s driving with traffic, and he is the one who is pulled over. Another time, he is leaving a town, is fairly close to the increased speed limit sign, believes he can increase his speed legally, and a cop stops him because he has exceeded the speed before he reached the sign allowing an increased speed. Then, not much later, he is at a red light and wants to make a call. He picks up his phone….initiates the call..then remembers it’s illegal to make a call. So, he puts his phone down. The phone call never even went through. He is still sitting at the red light. But, a cop stops him for talking on a cell phone. Then, a couple months later, he is stopped for not wearing a seat belt. His seat belt is broken and he hasn’t had a chance or finances to fix it. If he had a filter that said cops are racist, he would come to the conclusion that all his tickets were concrete evidence of racism. He was targeted because he was a black man. But, all these scenarios did happen, but not to a black man….to a blonde haired, green eyed Caucasian young lady. Considering she is not African American and doesn’t see life through the filter of racism, she blamed it on something else…..possibly the result of her filter.
I’m not saying that people aren’t controlling….some are. I don’t believe everyone is trustworthy….some are not. I am not concluding that racism doesn’t exist….I believe it does. I’m not saying that whatever lens or filter someone views life through are not accurate conclusions sometimes. The problem is that often we are not making an accurate judgment because our filter already has determined our judgment. We spend our lives wearing these lenses, making conclusions based on what we view through them, and all of life confirms what the lens says is true….even if it isn’t actually true. What we see often confirms what we already believe…..when we are using a filter.
One problem with our filters is that repeated conclusions based on them carry the potential to turn us into the very person we think others are. Someone who sees others as controlling…and views many situations as an attempt to control them….will control their lives….and become controlling. Those who view situations through the lens of racism….become racist. They judge the motive of a person’s heart based on their skin color. If the person is white, it’s racism; black, it must be something else.
Another problem with filters is that they can be passed down. Parents who view life through lenses often raise children with the same lens. A child may encounter racism….or may not…but if his parents believe many are racist, the children automatically believe the same thing. If a parent is controlling, views others as controlling, their child will grow up with the same lens….intent on not being controlled…and the cycle repeats. We need to be certain that our responses to life, situations, or people is not controlled by a filter….a lens.
For so long, I wore the lens of self-protection. I must defend myself….no one else will. Many situations reinforced that conviction. It created a woman with walls around her heart….tough exterior……and, unfortunately, a need for others to defend themselves against her. When I remove the lens and replace it with the filter that God is my Protection, my Defense, I can respond to situations with more grace and gentleness. I no longer need to defend myself…take care of myself. He will. Now, because I wore the lens for over 4 decades, I find myself at times putting them back on. But, it’s easier for me to recognize now that my old filter is back…..I need to remove it.
So, are you wearing a lens through which you view life, situations and people? Do you have a filter that all you encounter goes through? How do you know? Ask the Holy Spirit. Pay attention how you respond or react to situations. Do you find the same thought rising up in you? Do you see the same inclination to respond in similar fashion? Do you come to the same conclusion in many situations? If we are going to become Christlike and respond in a godly way to every situation, we need to remove our lenses. We need to discard the filters we use.
Oh, and when you do….ask God what He’d like to replace it with. He always trades up.