September E-Newsletter

Perception is Reality

The teller pushed the button, and the cylinder traveled to the car waiting outside. She watched as the car pulled out of the bank drive-thru and merged into traffic. As the car disappeared from her vision, she turned to the teller beside her. “Have you ever taken care of the guy who just left?” She asked. A wrinkle of confusion creased her brow.

The second teller glanced out at the traffic. “Yeah, I’ve waited on him before. He’s a regular. Why?” The second teller asked.

“Well I just entered a deposit for him, and when I did, I saw that his account has been negative multiple times this month. Isn’t he a pastor?”

“Oh,” chuckled the second teller, “Yeah he’s a pastor all right. Some of the girls call him the pastor of “The Rubber Ball Church.”

“The Rubber Ball Church?” she asked. “Why is that?”

“Because if you’d ever been in one of their services, you’d see that the people that go to that church bounce around almost as often as their checks do,” the second teller chuckled.

The teller looked back out at the distant traffic, thoughtful eyes seeing none of the scene before her. One question passed through her mind, “If he can’t be trusted with money, why would anyone trust him with their soul?”

“That’s what we said,” answered the second teller, revealing that her thought had been breathed aloud.
 

We often fail to see the testimony of our daily lives. Personal behaviors we believe are insignificant are seen by others as though a bright neon sign was hung around our necks flashing, “Character Flaw Here.”

When I began working in retail, a manager took me under his wing and provided me with a nugget of wisdom. The truth of this proverb has been reinforced into my conscience by my every failure to heed it. The word spoken was this, “Perception is Reality.”

The meaning of this proverb is simple yet profound: It doesn’t matter who you are, it is how you are perceived that determines reality. Each person has their own perception of you, and in their world, you are that person.

This proverb can be clearly seen in the story I used to start this newsletter. The man described above could be the most powerful preacher ever known, and the pastor of a church of ten thousand. He could walk on water, heal the sick by the thousands, and his shadow passing by the cemetery could raise the dead. However, the tellers at the bank only perceive him as undisciplined with money, and a liar who writes checks he can’t cover. The tellers’ perception is their reality, and the two realities couldn’t be more divergent.

How do we get to a place in our lives where to some we are mighty men of valor, able to do no wrong, and yet to others, filthy lying scoundrels whose every action bears suspicion? Why is there such a divergence of perception, and in which reality, if either, can the truth be found?

As I was reading through First Corinthians chapter eleven, I came to the verse concerning self examination, and the Lord arrested my mind. I was taken back in my memory to when my wife and I would host weekly gatherings of fun and fellowship at our home.

Most who attended were unaware of the mad scramble my wife and I would perform each week prior to the gathering. Often we would have little time for a proper house cleaning, so instead we would quickly hide things out of sight. We would pile them on our bed, or stash them away in closets.

Just before our guests would arrive, we would lock the door to conceal our mess, just moments before the guests would arrive. People would arrive, and compliments would be given about our “beautiful home.” Our little secret was safely hidden from their sight. By the end of the night, we would sometimes have forgotten about it ourselves. Out of sight, out of mind.

This is where God brought my mind as I read the passage on self-examination. It struck me that this is how we often pray and invite Christ to examine our hearts. We fall to our knees and cry out, “God search my heart. Forgive me of anything I have done wrong, and show me the things I need to fix.” However, we have padlocked the closets shut with doors of intentional blindness and denial. With our issues safely locked away, we feel validated as we pass God’s inspection once again.

This is the heart wrenching aspect of the inspection. The truth of the matter is that the only person blinded to my faults, is me. “Perception is Reality,” and my self-blinded perception has become my reality. Sadly, my self imposed reality may be the furthest from the truth.

The apostle Paul quoted Ezekiel when he penned to the church in Rome that it is those who are called by God’s name that have given the Gentiles (the unsaved) the proof and ammunition to speak badly about God. (Romans 2:24)

Our lives are often the best example of what God is like, and at times the worst. I could list off trait after trait that we might keep hidden: a critical spirit, a spirit of pride, a spirit of rebellion, manipulation, or malicious talk. However, countless others could be hidden instead.

If we truly desire to be all that God has for us, we must be willing to step from the comfort of our self imposed reality, and into the harsh light of God’s. We must be willing to see ourselves through the eyes of others, and see the faults that we have allowed the enemy to use against them. We must see these neon signs being used as an excuse to not follow God and remove them from about our necks.

We must make our lives a daily testimony of the goodness, kindness, and mercy of God.

Are we willing?