I was sitting here at my dining table just now, having lunch.
As I glanced out the window and caught sight of the bright splash of red from my Hoopes rose, without even realizing it, the song started playing in my head:
“We’re painting the roses red …
we’re painting the roses red …
not pink …
not green …
not aquamarine …
we’re painting the roses red!”
(from Alice in Wonderland)
I didn’t even realize my head-radio was playing … as my train of thought absentmindedly continued to ponder what a strange name for a color “aquamarine” is.
In fact, I’ve always thought the color “aquamarine” to be a strange color. It’s not really true blue … not really. It’s rather a bizarre “wanna-be-blue” that has become the go-to for throw pillows, placemats, and other such decorative what-nots.
As my head-radio continued playing, all of a sudden … it occurred to me!
“Aqua” – means water;
… and “marine” also means water.
(lightbulb moment!)
In a flash I saw the beautiful blue waters off the shores of Hawaii. I have never seen such gorgeous colors of water in all my life! And that gorgeous color was “aquamarine!”
Oh wow! … here I was absentmindedly demeaning “aquamarine” … when in actuality, in real life, it is one of the most gorgeous colors on the planet!
My thoughts continued to absentmindedly wander: What color is the ocean?
I was fascinated where this train of thought led me.
What would you say?? What color would you say the ocean is??
As someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest, my immediate “blink” reaction was: the ocean is grey!
See … here you can see for yourself … the ocean is a steel-grey color.
And see … even off the coast of Southern California … the ocean is a steel-grey color!
Not only that … even off the coast of Florida – see … the ocean is grey!!
And as one final proof … here, off the coast of Hawaii – the ocean is clearly and obviously a steel-grey color. The ocean is grey!
But wait a minute … someone else might claim that the ocean is white!
They have the exact same proofs as I offered, supporting their perspective that the ocean is white. Sure enough! … here off the coast of Washington … the ocean is obviously white!
Not only that … here off the coast of Southern California – there’s no disputing that it is definitely white.
And not only that … here is the ocean off the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The ocean is clearly and obviously white!
The people who have lived in Hawaii all their life disagree! They say that the ocean is aquamarine!
See! Aquamarine!
And see again! Aquamarine.
Just to prove their point … here is the ocean off the northwesternmost coast of Washington. See! Clearly the ocean is aquamarine!
But wait a minute! There’s someone who is claiming that the ocean is a deep burgundy-brown color!
See … deep burgundy-brown!
And not only that … someone else is claiming that the ocean is a brilliant true blue!
See … brilliant true blue!
So … which is it??
What color is the ocean??
“When it comes to reading the Bible, we all come to the Bible with our own cultural backgrounds and presuppositions which we ‘read’ into the text. We assume that our beliefs are universal, that our beliefs originate from the Bible, and that Christians everywhere have always felt the way we feel about things. But they don’t.”
(From: Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes;
By: E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien)
The reason the ocean appears to be “grey” is because of the climate.
In every one of the above examples of “grey” you will notice that the sky overhead is overcast and grey. The climate is influencing the perspective of what color the ocean is.
What kind of “religious climate” did you grow up in?
In what kind of “religious climate” are you in now? What type of “religious climate” is the church in which you worship?
What is the “religious climate” of the books you are reading? … of the podcasts you are listening to?
Your “religious climate” will absolutely affect your understanding of the Bible … and your view of life.
It might be tempting to think that your particular religious views are God’s views. And that anyone who disagrees is wrong! After all … you have verses to back up what you believe! You have proof!
But just like the above examples of the color of the ocean … just because there was proof to back up why the ocean was grey, that did not mean the person who said the ocean was aquamarine was wrong.
Both perspectives were right.
It is possible for someone else with a different “religious climate” to have a different perspective on spiritual matters than you. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that their perspective is wrong. It just means that it is different.
The person who saw the ocean as being “white” … this perspective was due to the water being shallow. As well as churn! … churn from both the force of waves crashing onto the shore, as well as churn from the presence of submerged rocks in the water! For them … yes, the ocean was white. Their perspective was correct!
Spiritually speaking, their perspective is what it is because their understanding of Scripture is “shallow.” Or perhaps because they have a lot of churn in their life! Relational churn! … Job-loss churn! … emotional churn! … health-related churn. Lots of churn!!
It is not right for me to bash on them and criticize them for being so “shallow” (spiritually speaking).
It is not right for me to criticize them that their perspective is wrong, when I have no idea at all of the force of “waves” crashing all over their life! I know nothing of the submerged rocks underneath it all!
To them, the ocean is white. And from their perspective … that is correct.
There is absolutely no reason at all to bash on someone else, or criticize them because their spiritual perspective isn’t the same as ours. God is growing each of us. We all are at a different place in our spiritual growth and maturity. And we truly have no idea what is going on in their life … so who are we to act like our perspective is the only right one.
What about the person who saw the ocean as being a “deep burgundy-brown color” … this perspective was due to excessive runoff from the land. A lot of soil and silt had washed into the ocean.
For this person … yes, the ocean is a deep burgundy-brown color. Their perspective is correct.
Spiritually speaking, their perspective is what it is due to excessive “contaminants” in their life.
We all have “contaminants” (aka: struggles and sin ) in our life. It is not right for me to bash on them and criticize them for having “contaminants” (spiritually speaking), or for having a different perspective than me.
God is growing each of us. We are all at a different place in our spiritual growth and maturity. Just because their spiritual perspective isn’t the same as mine does not mean they’ve “got it wrong”, and that I’ve “got it right.” By no means … no! That’s just flat-out pride.
And speaking of pride … what about those people who saw the ocean as being that gorgeous aquamarine! … or that brilliant true blue!
The person who saw the ocean as being “aquamarine” … this perspective was due to the presence of phytoplankton in the water (which is most likely the case in Hawaii), or else the presence of minerals in the water (most likely the case off the shores of Washington).
The person who saw the ocean as being “brilliant true blue” … this perspective was due to the depth of the water.
Both of these perspectives are also correct.
Spiritually speaking, there is no reason at all to be proud because of our deep understanding of Spiritual things. There is no reason at all to be proud because our life is “spiritually healthy” with phytoplankton or minerals.
The temptation might be to think: “Obviously, this right here is what the ocean should look like. Obviously, everyone should look just like this (spiritually speaking).”
All the different perspectives matter! Every person matters! … regardless of where they are in their spiritual growth or maturity.
The Holy Spirit helps us understand and learn the lessons God has for us in His Word …
… regardless of our “religious climate”
… regardless of whether or not we are “shallow” in our understanding
… regardless of whether or not we have “churn” in our life
… regardless of whether or not we have “contaminants” in our life
… regardless of whether or not we have phytoplankton or minerals
… regardless of whether or not we are “deep” in our understanding
What an amazing work the Holy Spirit does! Across all nations … all peoples … all cultural differences … all societal norms … the Holy Spirit makes the message clear. So that all people, from all cultural backgrounds & ideologies can love and faithfully serve and follow Christ!
Wow! Thank you God!
Thank you that all perspectives matter!
