Reorientation

Back in college, we didn’t have things like Google Maps or Waze in our cars. I was coming home from New Hampshire and had driven the route many times, so I mostly did it by memory. As I was getting on Route 89, I had this quick moment of panic: which way do I go? I had a choice—left would take me to 89 North and right would take me to 89 South.

In that moment of panic, I chose 89 South. Since I was north, the idea of heading south from New Hampshire to Syracuse made sense. The problem was that I really needed to head north first, then east, and then south—as roads go, you know.

So I got on 89 South and started traveling. After a few exits, I thought to myself, “This isn’t right. I’m not headed in the right direction.” I got off at an exit, pulled a map out of the glove compartment, and realized I needed to reorient myself. I needed to head north to head east to head south.

In life, I think all of us need times when we need to be reoriented. Ultimately, I think that’s what God does. God reorients us. He reorients our passion, our vision, and our purpose.

One of the greatest reorientation stories ever told is that of Saul of Tarsus becoming the Apostle Paul. Saul had this sense that the church—known as “the Way” in Acts 9—was heading in the wrong direction, so he was trying to shut it down. But then he encounters Jesus, and Jesus says, “I have a new life for you. I am going to reorient your purpose, your vision, and your passion.”

This happens in several different ways. In Acts chapter 9, we see Paul go from someone threatening the disciples to becoming an instrument God uses to build a diverse church—not just for Jews, but for Gentiles, Greeks, slaves and free people, men and women. He gains a new vision of what it looks like to be fully human, all because of his encounter with Christ.

So Paul has a different purpose, and the same thing happens for you and me as we engage with God. God reorients our purpose, and our purpose becomes something in which we become reflectors of grace, hope, and love. That happens in the midst of our everyday lives.

Our lives no longer become simply about building a company or being successful. They aren’t about getting everything we want. Rather, our purpose becomes living as full human beings who reflect faith, hope, and love in the world.

That’s a change in purpose.

The other thing God reorients is our vision, and this happens dramatically for Paul. He goes from seeing the church as a threat to seeing it as the future. He goes from seeing Jesus as wayward to believing Jesus is God—that He lived, died, and resurrected, and that He is the one who gathers and renews all things in the fullness of time.

Paul begins to see everything through the lens of resurrection.

I like to look at NASA’s Photo of the Day every once in a while because the images are breathtaking, beautiful, and almost magical. It’s amazing what you can see when you put a different lens in front of something. Things that were once unseen can suddenly be seen.

I think one of the ways God wants to reorient our vision is to help us see through the lens of the resurrection.

When we look through that lens, it transforms all kinds of things. It changes how we look at the past because the past is no longer just a collection of successes or mistakes. Instead, it becomes part of our story that shapes us to become more like Christ.

It changes how we look at the future. The future is no longer simply full of problems and challenges. It becomes a future in which God restores all things, and so there is renewal for us to look toward. There is hope.

It changes how we see ourselves. We become willing to offer ourselves grace and mercy while also being honest about how we need to grow and change to become fully human.

It changes how we see others because we begin to see them as image bearers of God. We recognize their sacredness and look deeply at them.

I recently read a book called Theo of Golden, and it’s going to inspire our next series here in June. It’s a great story about someone whose vision has been reoriented and whose way of seeing people, the world, and himself is transformed.

So let me ask you: What do you see right now? Are you looking through the lens of the resurrection, or through the lens of the world as it is?

When we look through the lens of resurrection, we have hope, purpose, and meaning. But when we look only through the lens of the world as it is, there can be pressure, anxiousness, and a kind of dreariness to it all.

So what is it that you see?

God reorients our purpose, our vision, and our passion.

Saul was a passionate person—passionate about Judaism, passionate as a Pharisee, passionate about protecting the temple and the Jewish way of life. That passion is reoriented when he sees Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. He becomes just as passionate about building the church and spreading the good news.

In this way, we see passion reoriented.

For each of us, misplaced passion misshapes our lives. In America, we often become passionate about prestige, power, or privilege. Yet none of those things is meant to be the primary object of our passion.

When we put everything into those things, our lives become misshapen because we are chasing something counterfeit.

But when our passion is about being fully human, following Christ, and becoming people of faith, hope, and love, then it transforms the privilege we have, the power we have, and the prestige we have into tools for being agents of hope.

So reorient yourself. Ask, “Where are my passions, and are they properly placed? Or are they placed somewhere else?” Because ultimately, misplaced passion leads us away from life that is truly life.

I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend. I hope that as we’ve traveled through this book of Acts, it has encouraged you. And I hope you take a couple of moments this week to reorient yourself—to reorient your purpose, your vision, and your passion—so that you might experience Christ in the fullness, joy, hope, and peace that come with that.

Have a great week, and I’ll see you soon.