When someone has a vision, he has a mission. And when the vision for that mission is in focus, all the pieces of a life come together.
Then that life becomes authentic, and has a coherent aesthetic to it.
So authenticity involves more than just being true to where you come from; authenticity involves being true to where you are going.
If you have a vision of where you are going, there is beauty in the furnishings of your life. But if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll need a lot of cosmetics, possibly even costumes, to make up for your lack of beauty.
The problem with most of us, and I would say the problem with our country presently, is that there is no mission. Because there is no vision. And it is not a beautiful thing. It is not even a pretty thing.
It says somewhere: without vision, the people perish.
Jesus had a vision for his mission: he was headed towards Jerusalem. Jerusalem meant suffering and death. But it also meant resurrection. It meant a mission that ultimately restores not only the Jewish nation back to God, but also fulfills God’s promise of restoration and blessing, through Abraham, to all the people of the world.
Jesus’ vision, then, allowed him to sort out two unnecessary diversions. One was to not be affected by detractors. How he responded to the immediate insult, to the daily offense taken by others against him, was weighed in light of the mission itself. Jesus’ disciples wanted to take revenge against people along the way who were unkind to them. But Jesus would have none of it, and actually rebuked his disciples for their attitude.
The other unnecessary diversion was admirers. Now, it is one thing to be disliked and turn the other cheek. It is quite another to be liked and still turn away. But Jesus' vision for his mission gave him discernment into the shapes of people’s souls. Are they really ones that can follow on this mission? Or are they just attracted to some temporary thing about you, something ultimately that is for themselves, be it position, a life work? All good things, but in light of the vision itself, a distraction.
None of this meant that Jesus himself was rude. He healed and restored many on his lonely way.
If you have a vision of where you are going, there is beauty in the furnishings of your life. But if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll need a lot of cosmetics, possibly even costumes, to make up for your lack of beauty.
Logos2Go
Proverbs 29.18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.
Luke 9.51-62 [51] When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. [52] And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; [53] but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. [54] When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" [55] But he turned and rebuked them. [56] Then they went on to another village. [57] As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." [58] And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." [59] To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." [60] But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." [61] Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." [62] Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
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