Focused or Delusional?

Scripture Passage that Caught My Attention Today: John 7:45-52 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” 52 They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

Observation: Many of the authorities had made up their mind about Jesus (in a negative way) and had lost all sense of objectivity. They now had one-track minds.

Application: It’s one thing to be focused. It’s another thing to be delusional. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to tell the difference.

I recently read a very brief autobiographical account by the founder of a vacuum cleaner company. He mentioned how none of the major brands at the time were interested in his idea for a different kind of vacuum. So he ended up making his own. He looks back at all the pitches he made to the various companies which responded with: no, no, no, maybe…I mean no, etc. Now that he’s a billionaire we look back and say that he was focused. But at the time, I wonder how many people thought he was delusional.

There are times, in these accounts of Jesus, when I can understand why some people at the time thought he was delusional and needed to be controlled. But some of the Pharisees and other leaders appear to have been no less delusional themselves. Their one-track minds were closed off to due process and their hardened hearts were not about to soften up. Such an attitude is almost always a recipe for disaster and in such cases someone almost always gets hurt, whether physically, emotionally, or both.

Prayer: Lord, help me have enough focus to be effective, but not so much so that I lose sight of whatever bigger picture you might have in mind. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Kings 23, 2 Chronicles 35, and John 7)