Perspective

 August 18, 2020

Perspective is everything. In the Biblical story of the Exodus, we see perspective playing out. Pharaoh didn’t want to lose the people on whose backs his wealth and empire were built (Exodus 14:5), while those same people wanted their freedom. Those two perspectives were irreconcilable. In the Gospel of John, we read of the High Priest frantically searching for a way to have Jesus killed, fearing an uprising that would take away his power and their place in the land (John 11:48). From his perspective, Jesus was the great danger to the Jews, while the Roman governor Pilate found no fault in him (John 18:8). 

The interesting thing about these perspectives is that both Pharaoh and Caiaphas the High Priest thought they were protecting their respective domains, only to discover too late that their actions were actually dooming their people to destruction. They chose their respective institutions over the people and lost both. Moses and Jesus put the people first, especially the powerless and the voiceless. 

We would do well to examine our perspectives carefully. Whenever we choose the institution over the people, we run the risk of losing both. Only when we choose the people is there the possibility of saving them, and perhaps...just perhaps, the institution, too. We are living in an era where in the guise of saving the people, we are choosing the institutions. The people are getting lost in the shuffle, which bodes ill for both the people and the institution.