With Eyes Wide-Open

Josh Bell is one of most renowned violinists in the world.  Several months ago he dressed up in street clothes and played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes in a busy Metro station in Washington D. C.  During that time only 6 people stopped to listen to him play.  No one knew that he is one of the top musicians in the world.  Or, that he played the six pieces on a violin valued at over 3.5 million dollars.  Or, that two days earlier he played to a sold out Boston crowd where seats averaged $100.  They just didn’t notice.  But, they caught the train on time! 

I wonder if we think about our life together in Christian community after a similar fashion?  Someone remarked the other day, “I think a lot of believers have reached critical mass in how they think about their faith – how they see themselves and those who are in journey with them.  We have developed a line of sight and a range of hearing that has reduced our vision of who we are in Christ down to something very predictable and ordinary. And, our lives look like it.” 

I want to encourage you to so something right now:  Read Ephesians 2:14-3:11.

The truth?  There is a fair amount of distance between how we typically think about the church and the vision of the church Paul describes in the book of Ephesians. 

Living with focus, zeal and courage is essentially a matter of “seeing” the church in the right perspective.  Can church become a drag?  Yes.  Is it hard sometimes.  Yes.  We’ve all had moments when we wanted to run for the hills.  We listen to the news, see brokenness in the streets and wonder if anything we do matters.  Pretty soon we just focus on “catching whatever trains are in our daily routines” and we miss the bigger picture of what is right in front of us. 

I need to be reminded that God is working through the church to demonstrate what reconciliation looks like and what a community of “rescued, healed, and Christ-formed people looks like as the Holy Spirit is able to do His work in our lives.  I need to be reminded that our word of faith and lives of faith matter because God is working through us to advance His purposes in our faithful moments.    

This past Sunday I preached a message from the Ephesians text I referred to above.  At the conclusion of the message I asked everybody to recite the following words with me. 

Today I am a participant in God’s magnificent work in Christ.

As such my life is a witness

…to the truth and sovereignty of the gospel,

…to powers both visible and invisible,

…and to every human being I meet.

Consequently, I will honor the believing community

by giving them my love, respect and service to the best of my ability.

This is my privilege and my calling.

Just imagine what our lives, families, leaderships, congregations might look like if we would intentionally reflect on these words EVERYDAY and make a concerted effort to embody the message they convey?  How would it transform how we see life in general? What would happen in our conversations?  What attitudes would prevail in meetings?  How would it change our congregations?  It’s truly fantastic because it puts “us” in the right perspective.  We would actually meet each day with our eyes “wide-open” to the truth that God is working His purposes THROUGH US.  Hallelujah!



Father, thank you for these words from the book of Ephesians.  We want to live awake in the Spirit and alert to what you are doing in the world through the gospel and through your people.  May we be carriers of this kind of faith everywhere we go.  Because of Jesus who has made all things possible….Amen 

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas