The False Elephant

What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." ...  (1 Corinthians 1:12) The Son is the reflection of God's glory and the exact image of his being.  (Hebrews 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; John 1:14). Thoughts:  A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. In the case of the first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said "This being is like a thick snake". For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear. This is a famous parable began in the first millennium BC on the Indian subcontinent- popularized by Buddhism and claimed by Jainism and Hinduism.  John Godfrey Saxe popularized it in America by a poem describing religions- pointing out that no one really knows God.  But there is a real problem here (that Leslie Newbigin and others have pointed out).  The problem is that we think we see the elephant.  We easily put ourselves in the position of someone who knows better than all the blind people and we can see they only see a part of the story- while we see the whole thing.  Thus, instead of helping, we are only creating another viewpoint.  Truth is, we all are blind to God and we need God to reveal Himself to us- to open our eyes.  We do not deserve such healing, but God is gracious.       Christians believe in Jesus- the Word made flesh.  He came to help us see who God really is.  He is, as scripture says, "The exact image of the invisible God."  He is the Word made flesh.  God did not leave us in our blindness, but in love came down so we could see what He is like.  He would have us point others to this healing of the eyes of our soul.        Jesus shows us that the creator of our eyes is also able to open the eyes of the blind.  The Apostle Paul knew this and changed from a persecutor of the church into its biggest advocate.  As John Newton put it- "I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see."  Prayer: Open my eyes, Holy Spirit, to yourself.  Help me to humbly and graciously grow in knowledge and love for you.

By Illustrator unknown - From Augusta Stevenson, Children's Classics in Dramatic Form, Houghton Mifflin (Boston), From Charles Maurice Stebbins & Mary H. Coolidge, Golden Treasury Readers: Primer, American Book Co. (New York), p. 17., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4581188