When you look at the picture below, I’m guessing your first though isn’t “Whoa, that is crazy awesome!”
This probably doesn
However, when you see this same exact artwork from the right perspective, I guarantee it will blow your mind! You see, without the proper perspective, you are robbed of the right outlook. Without the right perspective, the most beautiful, inspiring things can become boring, irrelevant, or even dangerous.
Let me just show you what I mean with this same exact artwork from a different perspective:
Now that is cool!
Did that just blow your mind a little bit? I told you it would! How awesome is that?!
This is whats called 3D Pavement Art or Sidewalk Art. These particular photos were done by a man named Edgar Müller from Germany (check out more of his artwork here).
I’m fascinated with this form of art. The only problem is that if you don’t view it from the right perspective, you don’t get the full beauty of the work. In fact, if you’ve never seen this type of art before, and I told you how fascinating this work of art was and all you saw was the following picture, you may be inclined to call me crazy.
You
But if you saw the picture the way I saw the picture, from the proper perspective, it would make sense.
Now that is awesome!
The same is true with Christianity. There are many people in this world who have a wrong perspective of Christianity. Some of them even consider themselves Christians, yet have a wrong perspective! This wrong perspective has tainted and warped their view of who Jesus is.
What is perspective?
Here are a few definitions I pulled straight from the dictionary:
per·spec·tive [per-spek-tiv] (noun)
- a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface.
- the state of one’s ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship.
- the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship.
For the purposes of this post, here’s how I’ve summed it up:
Perspective is how we see something in relationship to all the relevant information we have. All the relevant information that we have is called context.
Perspective is gained through context.
So many times, the reputation of Christianity and Jesus Christ has been muddied due to something being taken out of context. When referring to God’s word (the Bible) it is not only foolish, but dangerous to take things out of context.
Every single cult of Christianity that exists today is a result of misunderstood, manipulated, or maliciously twisted context. You remember what happened earlier this year with Harold Camping and his followers. That’s just one of the more recent examples of someone taking scripture out of context and deceiving many.
How about the Church of God cult that believes God is a woman, and that Jesus returned in the late 1940′s as a cloud and a fig tree. Yes, true story. I’ve talked with these people multiple times.
Both Harold Camping, the Church of God cult (along with many others) have one thing in common: they have a false perspective of who God is because they have been given twisted, manipulated, or flat out wrong context.
We all need to make sure we understand context in order to gain the right perspective. Only when we gain the right perspective can we properly give it to others.
con·text [kon-tekst] (noun)
- the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: “You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.”
- the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.
When you are reading your Bible, be sure to gain the proper context of what you’re reading. Some practical ways of doing this are:
- Read what takes place before and after the specific passage(s) you are reading. Sometimes you’ll only need to read a paragraph or two; other times you may have to read a chapter or two to really know what’s going on.
- Find a credible commentary by trusted Bible scholars. You can use sites like MyStudyBible.com, or read blogs like theResurgence.com.
- Take some Bible classes. One great resource is Mark Moore’s website. He is a professor at Osark Christian College in Missouri and he offers his lectures online for free here!
- Ask lots of questions! (Obviously you’ll want to ask credible people who know what they’re talking about.)
If you take the time to understand the context of what you’re reading, you will reap the benefits!
Have you ever seen the consequences of taking things out of context? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I LOVE this post!…and the visuals are amazing
It totally makes sense to me. It’s so crazy how people continue to take scripture out of context…I think their perspective is self-serving and completely demonic most of the time (obviously I’m referring to cults and the like). I know that I have taken scripture out of context before and was so thankful when I was called out on it…after the fact of course 
Great stuff! I love the way you explained perspectives!
Thanks Brandon!
con·text [kon-tekst] (noun)
the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: “You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.”
the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.
Great definition! Also, it is sometimes easy to take Scripture out of context. That is why it is important to dig into the actual meanings of the words in the verses…
Or if you’re bold enough, to research the Greek/Hebrew word(s) it was translated from will really give you some insight! Have you ever tried that?
Yeah. That’s what I mean by digging into the meanings of the words. One example:
A lot of people think that Jesus literally meant that it was as hard as a camel going through the eye of a needle for a rich man to go to heaven. Although it is meant to be taken as impossible, the “eye of the needle” was actually something more of a small door. If you look up the Greek for it, it will show that it is not a literal needle’s eye.
…Still means thre same thing, but the meaning for the needle’s eye is totally different.
Very interesting!
The first time I saw pics of 3D street art, my mind was blown. I don’t think I’ve seen any in real life, though. It’d be interesting to view it from different angles.
Your thoughts on context were spot on. I don’t believe I’ve ever had theological disasters happen to me personally because of incorrect context, but quite often I read passages in a different light when you know the context. It’s interesting to not only think about the context of the text but also other contexts: historical, cultural, governmental, etc.
Right on Loren! I’ve never seen any 3d street art in person either, but I would LOVE to watch it unfold live.
Have you ever taken a Hermaneutics class?
I’ve never taken a formal class, though I’ve read a fair bit!
Dustin, I love this post!
Perspective truly is extremely important in the area of theology and bible interpretation. When I speak at places I love to point out the effect perspective has on our every-day lives: Experience, believes and expectations are just some of the factors that determine if we are hopeful or depressed, anticipating or afraid, excited or worried and so on.
A friend of mine (Steve Backlund) once said “Every area in your life, that’s not filled with glistening hope, indicates that you’re believing a lie.”
I think the devil is so scared of the potential the Body of Christ has (greater things then He did can we do), that he majored in the area of deception and lies. He knew he could never steal our authority as sons and daughters of God, but he knew we’d never use it if we weren’t aware of it.
So I think a very interesting question to ask is: After we made sure our theology and bible interpretation is accurate, how do we know translate this knowledge into an awareness we can actually reflect in every-day life? What do you guys think?
Those are the kind of questions I try to answer on my blog and in my daily life. It’s the super-exciting walk of a Christian
Thanks for the awesome feedback Daniel! Love your site.
I think if we truly have the right perspective of Gods word, and are open to His leading in our lives, the fruit will manifest itself naturally. There are practical ways of working through what it looks like, but that is often more difficult to grasp for most. It is a question that needs to constantly be pursued!
Thanks man! Love yours as well!
Yes. “His leading” is part of Holy Spirit’s job in our lives. He leads us into all truth (Joh 16:13). The greek word alētheia in that verse can be translated as truth or “reality”. It seems like we can choose which reality we live in, by choosing who we listen to: Holy Spirit’s voice of truth, or other opinions about who we are and what we’re capable of.
There’s always been a battle over our perspectives. Gideon thought he was the most insignificant guy ever, until the angel showed up and told him heaven’s perspective on him: “Gideon, You strong and mighty warrior”. That’s something I’ve experienced over and over again in my life as well. Choosing to believe him more than my experiences, circumstances or fears always blew it up haha
Thanks Jesus!
Can’t wait to read more from you, Dustin!
Thanks again Daniel!
Hi!! I am an artist and I am a magician. I have an unusual passion for illusion. I create this kind of artwork. God has givin me magic and art as talents for a reason, I COMPLETELY agree with everything you are saying! Perspective is also VERY important in magic. It can also be used to explain how we can not see what God sees. We have to meet God where he is before he will allow us to view the big picture of our lives at the right angle. I LOVE this post!!! Thank you sooooo much for sharing
And thank you Josh for sharing also! I’d love to see some of your work!
http://magic-of-josh.deviantart.com/gallery/
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!
It’s awesome to see some of the artwork these artists do. I have seen videos of people who thought they where going to fall into giant sinkholes an artist had chaulked all because it was done from the right perspective yet when the camera was moved around the hole the illusion was destroyed.
I’ve also seen people pick and choose verses from the bible to support their arguements with a complete lack of regard for the context for which they were written. Many churches even use this practice when it fits their needs of course most of those churchs don’t last because God has a way of seeing to it that His children are shepherded wisely.
Great blog as always Dustin!
I wish it was true that churches who teach the word or out of context (or even falsified context) don’t last. But unfortunately, there are some rather large ones still miss-teaching many. TBN alone is full of Joel Osteens.
Sadly true. That’s why I said most. We live in a time when money can buy you just about anything. But it can’t buy you everything and in the end we are all responsible to know the truth. And if you can’t see a used car salesmen selling you a lemon when it’s that obvious than all we can do is pray for ya
Yes, indeed.
You have some serious creativity. The pictures with the article are brilliant. Nice job.
Thanks again Jonathan! Glad you like it!