Seeing As Jesus Sees [Part 19]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

If you can clarify, hey, this is a desire, and it's not yet been met, then you know what it is to yearn, to pray, and maybe to grieve with Jesus, but it doesn't leave you in the lost place of needless frustration and anger that can really hurt a lot of other people. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt sitting with Pastor Alan today with a special series, Seeing as Jesus Sees, How a New Perspective Can Defeat the Darkness and Awaken Joy. And this is a brand new book that has just been released.

It is out now. The wait is over, and we are celebrating it as we go through the themes of Pastor Alan's latest book. And by the way, today we're moving into a new section of the book divided in not just chapters, but also different parts.

And this one is going to be Seeing the World, so we'll dive into that in just a moment. But I do want to let you know that if you get the book and let us know that you have already purchased the book, we're happy to send you a wonderful bundle free of charge. Free gifts like the daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course. All is our way of thanking you for supporting the launch of Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees. All of this is over $100 in value, and it's yours simply when you order the book, buy it right now, and then let us know you've done so at this special website, seeingasjesussees.org. That's seeingasjesussees.org or pastoralan.org.

Our website that's been there for a while. You know how to get there, and you can connect that way as well. Pastor Alan, it's good to be with you again, and I'm excited about turning the page and moving into this next section. Well, Daniel, I love these conversations in studio where we get to give little pieces of insight from the book. So much more in the book, of course. I wish we could talk about all of it, but that's why the book's there.

You can get it and read it. But yeah, to turn to what in the book I label a new section and a whole new part of this, and that is seeing the world through Jesus' eyes. We've talked about seeing ourselves, seeing others, but what about this big and often frustrating, scary, broken world?

How does Jesus see this fractured planet? Any of our listeners could list a whole litany of the painful stuff. A pandemic killed over six million, contention over everything during that, polarizing over masks and vaccines. We had the George Floyd killing, the heightening of racial tension, storming the Capitol, Russia invading Ukraine, inflation. And, you know, just even, Daniel, while writing the book 65 times, while just in the period of writing the book, I was awakened to a news report of a school shooting.

One was in our own hometown. And on and on the list goes, it can feel so hopeless. It can feel so frustrating. It can make us feel really angry. And then you add to that all the, for us as Christians, evangelical Christians, where there's traditional views of marriage and gender and sexuality have shifted, showed dramatically and all kinds of shifts and values that are completely non-biblical. And we see all that. And it's enough to make us wonder, how are we supposed to see this world? Well, that's where we turn our attention in this whole section of the book and our conversation today.

How does Jesus see the world? And I look forward to talking about it because I'll give a sneak preview. It's a lot more hopeful than our normal view. And we've just come through a section of seeing others. And so would you say that it differentiates itself because the world you're talking more about culture as a whole?

I don't know about culture as whole. I'm talking about the things that seem so out of our control, the storms of life, both literally and metaphorically that come along our way. The things that make us sometimes fearful about uncertainties of everything that's going on in the cosmos. How does Jesus see all of that?

Well, I come into this program with lots of excitement because the next topic we have to go to today sounds like a downer. It's about weeping. But really, this is transformational when we look at culture. And what you're suggesting is that we see the world not with rage, instead through the tears and suggesting that that's the way that Jesus sees it is through great compassion. So let's think about the world that Jesus lived in when he was on earth, this Roman Empire.

As author Philip Yancey noted, scarcely a day passed without an execution under Herod's regime. The political climate at the time of Jesus's birth, Yancey said, resembled that of Russia in the 1930s under Stalin. You know, I've been Daniel over to Pompeii, which is a fascinating place near Rome that suffered this cataclysmic sudden kind of covering of ash from a volcanic explosion. And so that it's a first century, a first century Roman Empire community that was suddenly frozen in time and the dig that they've had there unearths what really life was like.

And one of the things I remember visiting there was like, it's just horrific. The there's there's like in everyday homes, they were be pornographic images up on the walls and they do mosaics and they had and this was a Roman Empire also that by by most historians account, male sexual abuse of underage boys was acceptable. And in other words, this was a tyrannical and immoral and in most ways, corrupt society and culture in which Jesus lived. So we can't say, well, yeah, but he would look at our world, you know, because it's harder.

No, it's it's it's it was just as immoral and broken as what we see. So what did what happened with Jesus? Well, was he as angry as we are?

Not really. Now, he did get angry. And he overturned money change. But he normally was angry at religious hypocrites. But with regard to the world, he more wept. And it's worth thinking about what was beneath those tears of compassion on the week of his death. Why does he enter Jerusalem with such a soft heart rather than a clenched fist? And I really thought about that. And that's worthy of consideration because maybe we are more angry because we are camouflaging some of our grief.

That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Wondering what you need to do to find more freedom, wonder and joy? What if you don't need to do more as much as see more? What if victorious breakthrough and enduring transformation comes not by striving, but by seeing? For years, Pastor Alan Wright has been practicing a new spiritual discipline, a simple prayer. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's brief enough for a single breath, but deep enough for lasting life change. It's a prayer Christ loves to honor because the Savior came to open blind and blurred eyes. Jesus is after all, the light of the world. In his new groundbreaking book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, Alan Wright leads readers into a fresh kind of Bible study where they're invited in close side by side with the Savior to see themselves, others in the world through Jesus's eyes. There's good news on every page because divine revelation and spirit-filled living is a reserve for the spiritually elite.

Every Christian can live with wide-eyed wonder and spirit-revealed vision. For a limited time, when you order the book from Amazon or your favorite retailer, you'll receive over $100 of bonus resources. To order the book, visit seeingasjesussees.org or come to our website, pastoralan.org, and you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan.

So place your order today with your favorite online book retailer and visit our website for instructions on receiving all the extra resources. Christ's Call to Discipleship isn't an invitation to strive to do what Jesus would do, but to come and see what Jesus sees. So pre-order your copy of Alan Wright's newest book and discover and start seeing yourself, others, and the world through Jesus's eyes. The book is Seeing as Jesus Sees. And today in the new section, Seeing the World as Jesus would see it and specifically the chapter on weeping. By the way, if you are able to get the book wherever you find good books, whether that's in a store or buying it online, as long as you get the book and then just let us know that you've done that, we are happy to send you, as our way of saying thanks, a video series that we'll send that right out to you, along with a study guide and a daily reading guide, as our way of saying thanks for helping to support the launch of this book. It's been out for several days now and it's available wherever you find good books. But let us know that you've done that at seeingasjesussees.org, seeingasjesussees.org, or pastoralan.org. And we're spending some time today in the studio, really just diving through some of the pages of the book. And as we said, it's not a full discourse on the book.

You're going to find so much more when you read it. But Pastor Alan, as we're talking about seeing the world around us in culture and society through tears, is that enough? Is compassion enough? Or do you find that that's going to change the way we even act?

Well, okay. Let's just think about Jesus as He looks out over Jerusalem. And as He makes His way on a donkey down from the Mount of Olives, up to the lion's gate of old Jerusalem. And Luke 19 tells us, when He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, the emotion that rose on in His heart.

It wasn't just for an individual, it was for a whole community. It was mourning the senseless loss of what the world was created to be. I think part of this, Daniel, is that He made the world. He knows what it's supposed to be. And He's not so much just angry at individuals who have made the world what it's become.

He is mourning the senseless loss of what the world was created to be. I tell a story in the book about when I was in second grade, and I got a new leather peewee football for Christmas. I don't have a lot of early memories from my childhood, but I remember the feel of that ball. I remember the smell of it. I was going to have the best football in the neighborhood. I loved that football.

And I think it was the very first day, the very first time we took to play with it. We were playing, I remember we were across the street at my buddy Bob's house in their front yard playing some three-on-three football. And in the middle of the game, one of the kids bobbled a pass reception and the ball just rebounded into our usually quiet pine top road, but with terrible timing. A car was coming in that exact moment. And it sounded like a loud firecracker, like a big pop. It just popped. It just popped the poor football. And I retrieved that flattened ball. And I remember just standing there and my friends, everybody in silence. And it looked odd because the leather was still brand new, but the laces and the laces, it just popped. And other kids started saying, sorry about that, Alan. I wish we could fix it, you know, but there was no fixing it. And I remember I was just a kid.

I might've been six or seven. And I just slinked back over to my house, went to my room and cried. And the more that you feel ownership of something, the more you grieve. So my friends, like the footballs, I was sorry about that, Alan, but it was my football.

So my grief ran deep. And I think that Jesus saw Jerusalem from the Jerusalem for what she was designed to be. He saw the world when it was brand new, before it had been run over with sin, you know, and, and Jesus made it all. And I just think that that's part of it is that if we can get more his eyes, we, we see the world through its tragedy and sort of like with my football, who's to blame for that, right? I mean, was it the person, the kid, why didn't you catch the ball? Well, why did the quarterback have to throw it over there?

Or even myself, why do we have to use my new football for the, for the pickup game? But I think when Jesus looked at the world, partly he grieved because it was broken and it wasn't so much about this one thing or this one person or this one institution that's ruined it. It, it was what he made was so, so beautiful.

It was a, it was a tragedy. And I think in some ways it helps to dilute our frustration and anger. If we will allow ourselves to see what Jesus, and instead of having misplaced anger, we experienced the authentic grief of the world is not now what it was designed to be. And we, in that sense, weep with Jesus and experience his comfort in the midst of it. But if all we do, Daniel, is go around in frustration and rage against the world, it just leaves us not only angry, but empty and sometimes can lead us down a terrible path of destruction. So Jesus saw the world through tears. You mentioned in this chapter in this chapter also that it's much like a parent.

You come at it from a parental point of view and think about, okay, any good, any good parent, non-abusive parent is going to approach even discipline, hurt. You talk about even administering good medicine to a sick child is something done with great compassion and tear, not beating them over the head with, with a lesson. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, I think that Jesus is as, as, as, as perfect compassion and love, because God's love is perfect. Jesus has a love for all, and he has a huge desire for all to be saved. 1 Timothy 2, 4. And he desires for all to love him, but he's not really, though he's sovereign. He's not forcing.

He's not force feet. And I tell a story about in the book when Bennett was little and he, he was just a toddler and he got diagnosed with an ear infection and the doctor gave us an oral antibiotic to give them, you know, with a medicine dropper. And, uh, maybe some other parents can identify with this, but it was the first time we'd ever, the first, his first ear infection. I guess the first antibiotic we'd had to administer like this. Well, he despised it so much. He wouldn't swallow it. He just would not swallow it.

He would spit it out and he would gag on it. He would, so he wasn't getting the medicine and his earache was raging on. And we call the doctor said, what are we going to do? And doctor said, I tell you this, but you've got to pin him down, hold his nose and force him to take this medicine, which sounded like child abuse, you know? And, but I remember that awful moment. We just pressed him to the floor and I pinched his nose and, and my, and my wonderful, and she's fighting back the tears, you know, and she squirts the antibiotic in and he has to swallow it and he swallowed it. And I'll never forget. I'll never forget this little toddler. He, he soon as over, he cried, he looked straight at us and he said, do you think that made God happy?

I guess by age three, he'd figure out the most important question in our home. What makes God happy? And, and, and the question is kind of complicated, you know, because it makes God happy for this good medicine to heal this boy.

Doesn't make him happy that, that Bennett was sad about it. But I think if we can begin to look at the world through Jesus' eyes, that we'll realize that though no one wants to be sad, grief is better than rage. There's a balm for sorrow. Blessed are those that mourn. They will be comforted. But when we mask our grief with anger, there's not much solace for that. And so we're joining in with his, his, his tears, and we're joining in with his yearning, yearning that any parent would feel if their child were wayward yearning that leads us into prayer and yearning that joins us with Jesus. I think in interceding for this world, that's a better place to be than just lost in, in anger. Pastor Alan Wright, our good news message from our talk today in the book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, and the chapter we've been diving into is the one simply titled, Weeping, How Jesus Sees the World.

Hey, stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me here in the studio sharing his parting good news inspiration to see as Jesus sees in just a moment. What a victorious breakthrough and enduring transformation comes not by striving, but by seeing. For years, Pastor Alan Wright has been practicing a new spiritual discipline, a simple prayer. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's brief enough for a single breath, but deep enough for lasting life change. It's a prayer Christ loves to honor because the Savior came to open blind and blurred eyes. Jesus is after all the light of the world. In his new groundbreaking book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, Allen Wright leads readers into a fresh kind of Bible study where they're invited in close, side-by-side with the Savior to see themselves, others in the world through Jesus's eyes. There's good news on every page because divine revelation and spirit-filled living is a reserve for the spiritually elite. Every Christian can live with wide-eyed wonder and spirit-revealed vision. For a limited time, when you ordered a book from Amazon or your favorite retailer, you'll receive over $100 of bonus resources. To order the book, visit SeeingAsJesusSeas.org or come to our website, PastorAllen.org, and you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan.

So place your order today with your favorite online book retailer and visit our website for instructions on receiving all the extra resources. Christ's call to discipleship isn't an invitation to strive to do what Jesus would do, but to come and see what Jesus sees. So pre-order your copy of Allen Wright's newest book and discover and start seeing yourself, others, and the world through Jesus's eyes.

Right now with Pastor Alan and his closing inspiration directly from the new book, Seeing as Jesus Sees. When we see the world around us in this broken culture through the eyes of Jesus, we don't excuse it. We don't ever excuse sin. Jesus never did. But I do think that through Jesus's eyes, while we might have more sorrow, we'll also understand more.

And part of the reason Jesus came to be human is to understand us. I tell a story in the book about Dean Smith, the hall of fame basketball coach from my own alma mater. So I'm a little biased, but the coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for so many years was known for his care that he showed to all his athletes. I've heard a lot of personal stories about Dean Smith and the way he cared for his athletes. But maybe my favorite story about coach Smith was shared sometime recent years by Kenny Smith, who was a former UNC star who turned to TV announcer. During the late 1990s, there was a power forward named Moktar Njai transferred to Carolina for his final two seasons.

He was from Senegal and he was the first UNC player from African continent. And one day Moktar just didn't see himself at practice. And afterwards, Dean Smith approached him and the conversation was sort of like this. Moktar, are you okay? And Moktar looked at the ground and mumbled, yes, coach. Coach Smith, Moktar, look at me.

Are you sure you're fine? Moktar keeps looking down. Coach Smith, Moktar, please loop me in the eye.

Is everything okay? Finally, Moktar speaks again. Coach, in my culture, it is considered a sign of disrespect to look someone in the eye. Well, the next day, as the story goes, assistant coach Bill Guthridge was not at practice, nor the next day and the next and the next.

And nobody knew where he was. In fact, Guthridge missed a whole week of practice and no one knew why until Moktar received a call from his mother in Africa. She said, there's a man here at my house and he claims to be one of your basketball coaches.

Is that possible? He said that coach Smith sent him here to learn about our culture. Well, if you really care, you want to understand. And Jesus traveled much farther than coach Guthridge to understand what it's like to be human.

And I guess I'd like to leave our listeners with this thought. He understands your frailties. He understands human weakness. And on one horrid, miraculous day, he even understood what sin and guilt feel like as he drank the cup of suffering to the dregs and absorbed the poison of sin into his own being so that he could offer us life. If you are frustrated with this world, Mrs. Folly, and maybe feeling irate, just ask Jesus how he sees the broken planet.

And maybe it'll help you. He doesn't excuse the ills of the world, but he does understand. Jesus sees. Jesus weeps. Jesus yearns.

Jesus understands. Listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.