REVOLUTION, PROPERLY PERCEIVED

“Did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?” — Train, “Drops of Jupiter”

Luke 12:22-31
Matthew 16:24-28
Matthew 26:36-46 (esp. 39,42)

We came to know that the earth orbits the sun through a revolution of thought. Before that revolution completed itself, the proponents of such preposterous thinking found themselves excommunicated, officially ostracized from the church. Copernicus and Galileo paid a hefty price for correcting the larger world’s self-centered understanding of the universe.

Looking down on that time from our scientific mountaintop, we see irony in the treatment of these men. They revealed truth, right? Why such enmity toward them?

But how much has really changed? Copernicus and Galileo merely hoped to point out that despite apparent signs to the obvious, the earth did not sit at the universe’s center. Whenever someone attempts to point out a blemish in my life, I reject the claim, slander the individual, and continue in my higher view of myself.

Thomas Kuhn explained the above in “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. Paradigms do not immediately shift when confronted with contrary evidence. The problematic data challenging the established worldview usually finds itself excluded rather than considered. Do I not do the same to others when their beliefs don’t square with mine, specially this one about my centrality?

From birth, I’ve believed the world orbited around me. I would never come out and say this, yet I live as though it were true. A witness could testify to as much. As a child, I was fed, clothed, bathed and cared for by others. When I cried, they came running. When I messed myself, they cleaned it up.

I grew shrewd in keeping others in my orbit as time passed, throwing various fits when I didn’t have my way. Still, hearing “no” to my will frustrates me; I neither expect nor enjoy this response.

But to properly understand the universe and my place in it, I need proper perspective. The stars may appear to move around us in circles, but in fact we move while they remain stationary. So with God. I revolve around Him, despite my desires to have Him bend to my will like Aladdin’s Genie.

My desires and perspectives matter little when it comes to God’s place, and if I cannot rightly understand His place, I’ll face a great deal of frustration when life steers off my script.

Around what does my life revolve?
How does Jesus understand life’s center? (Matthew 23:9; Matthew 26:39; Matthew 26:42; Luke 11:12; John 5:19; John 5:30; John 8:28)
Would I try to put God before myself? Why or why not?

Adam