Perspective: the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.
Once upon a time the word "perspective" was associated with the telescope. It basically meant to look through or see something clearly. If you pretended that ideas were telescopes I think we would see people looking through telescopes all the time. Imagine the hundreds of people bustling in and out of grocery stores every day, holding up telescopes to pick out their purchases, peering at each other in consternation - trying to make out what kind of person you might be. Take it one step further and imagine entire nations gathered with their telescopes behind one really big telescope, ogling across the pond other nations with their big telescopes and little telescopes and tiny human eyes. We'd be a rather interesting lot!
Of course, all this stuff about telescopes is pure nonsense. But the part about ideas isn't. We carry our opinions and beliefs everywhere with us. They shape the way we see things, the way we treat people, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the votes we cast, the movies we watch, the jobs we take, the moral grounds we stand on. Our perspective on life defines us in the roles we play; our country's perspective on life defines it in the lives it preserves, the lives it takes, the laws it passes, and the wars it fights. Perspective is that important.
The problem is, not everyone has the same convictions. Not everyone has the same perspective on life. And being the generally pompous creatures that we are, each of us is rather convinced he or she is right. Men have died for what they believe, or what their country believes. You may be called to die for what you believe - are you ready to sacrifice everything for your beliefs? With such high stakes it is important that we know what we believe. It is important to know what we do not believe. And it is important to know how to approach those who do not believe what we believe - because someone is wrong.
Someone is wrong. That's a dangerous claim these days. No one wants to be wrong, every one feels entitled to be right. And if you start with thinking that you are entitled to be right, then someone will bring up that it is only logical that they are entitled to be right too - and pretty soon no one knows how to define the boundaries of who is right and who is wrong. There is no reason you should be right over me. Your opinion is no better than mine because there isn't a higher authority to compare with. In the middle of this dilemma we have seen a movement these days to simply say, "Well, we must both be right. You are right for you, and I am right for me."
This cop-out approach actually does work sometimes, as long as the scope of the argument is kept to choosing the best color of sneakers at the local supermarket. Or deciding whether to have chicken or hot dogs at the neighborhood potluck. But what if the neighbors are Jewish? What if you are choosing sneakers to give to your conservative Amish cousin's daughter as a gift? Still quite trivial, but the subtle difference in importance is there. What if it comes to bigger issues - issues like abortion, capital punishment, jihad, bigamy? Someone has to make the laws concerning these - who is right and why are they right? Perspective is incredibly important, it is the single factor which will always shape the next generation.
This attitude has a more official term called "relativism"; basically that ethical truths depend on the individuals and groups holding them. Truth only exists in relation to the person holding it. In actuality, this delegates the term "truth" to the tubs of irrelevant hogwash, negating the very meaning of the word "truth". It might as well mean "untruth" at this point, because truth is defined as "the state of being the case: the body of real things, states, or facts: being in accord with facts or reality." Truth cannot be subjective, it ceases to be truth. We are not talking about random insignificant truths like "If I touch the fire I will be burned". We are talking about absolute truth, truth that people die for, ideas and beliefs and convictions that feed entire civilizations. The irony is that people are more willing to agree on simple truths that lead to minor burnings, than accept greater ones which cause millions to rise and fall in agony or in peace.
To gain relief from this mad idea that truth is relative to each man's own opinions I've turned to someone I find to be supremely relevant - Jesus Christ. Because my perspective is no better than anyone else's I will be wrong the same amount of times that you are. But there is a precious standard given to mankind to lead us in the way of truth, Gods perspective contained in His Word. When I was utterly lost and without hope of finding my way through the muck of this world, Truth found me in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate truth, the only way to the Father. If you have not been struck down with the inescapable light of the absolute Truth, piercing shadows, rending in horror and awe the veil between our coming fate and the mist that hangs before our eyes in this life - I pray He may do so now before it is too late. We only have this one life to live on earth. But our souls will never die, there is a part of me that will go on forever. This is truth. What each one of us does with this truth determines the outcome of every happiness, sorrow, decision, and belief.
And that is why I have created "Perspective". It matters what we believe here and now. And it matters how we communicate with others the Truth we have received. There is a generation of souls being born everyday - and only one way to the Father. The mission of "Perspective" is to challenge ideologies and world views which render the precious Word of God obsolete, outdated and merely relative, when in actuality its fiery relevancy should fill us with trembling at the idea that we may leave it out of any decision we make.
