FIRST GLIMPSE: Kaleidoscope

Mickey has red shorts?!

My family couldn't help but laugh at my incredulous reaction.

After 46 years of red-green color blindness, my wife recently purchased corrective glasses for me as a gift. And what a gift! I discovered a “whole new world” as I flipped through a children's book with suddenly brilliant Disney characters—Goofy's green hat, Daisy Duck's purple smock, Nemo's reef, and yes, Mickey's red shorts. Who knew?

Over the next few days, I confess I held my breath while I watched my first sunset in full color and enjoyed twinkling Christmas lights for the first time. Perhaps the most startling colors appeared during my first drive through the rural Tennessee countryside. Previously drab farmhouses and cottages tucked unobtrusively between hills and swales suddenly glowed like gaudy rides at a county fair. Red roofs. Green roofs. Orange roofs. Unbelievable!

Intrigued, I began to research my “miracle” glasses. I discovered scientists question the new technology, insisting color-correction lenses don't really heal the condition but simply accentuate colors seen already. They compare it to turning up the brightness and contrast on a television for a better picture. Not a bad thing, if you ask me. They hold out hope for a “real” cure within the next few years, after successful long-term therapy replaced the missing L opsin gene in two color-blind monkeys, interestingly named Dalton and Sam.

While I'm no scientist, and I don't understand all the technical jargon, I can tell you with assurance I am enjoying more colors than ever before. The world is a much brighter place at full spectrum!

Reminds Me of the Church

Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church makes it clear their congregation had placed a high value on a few specific positions and gifting within the church. They exalted individuals to an unhealthy level. Paul admonished the Corinthians, reminding them the Spirit has gifted every member of the church for the common good (12:4). He compared the church to the human body: one member the eye, another the foot, still another the hand—right down to the “uncomely” or “less honorable” features. All parts serve a particular and important function. And the body cannot function properly without all of its parts.

God help us to avoid the failure of the Corinthians, limiting the “spectrum” of the church and presenting a drab and lifeless picture to the world around us. Instead, let us embrace God’s kaleidoscope and become the church in full color. May we encourage and build up one another as we work together to build His Kingdom into a mosaic of His grace.

Struggle with colors? Ever wondered if you are colorblind? Visit https://www.colour-blindness.com to take the Ishihara Color Test for a quick self-diagnosis.

About the Columnist: Eric K. Thomsen is managing editor of ONE Magazine and president of the Evangelical Press Association. Email: eric@nafwb.org.