There Must Be Something In Common

1 John 4:5-6
(5) They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. (6) We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

A viewpoint is a framework through which we see and understand. A viewpoint is like sunglasses or reading glasses through which we see the world. If you have yellow sunglasses, the whole world will be yellow. If you have Red Sun glasses the whole world will be red. Two people with different sunglasses see the same world differently. That is how viewpoint changes what we see.

What we are looking at is the same. How we see it and understand it is influenced and affected by our glasses, our viewpoint. We interpret the world around us using our various viewpoints.

Apostle John in this letter to the church makes a very serious claim. He tells the church that there are only two viewpoints. A world viewpoint and a believer’s viewpoint.

If you have a worldly viewpoint you will not appreciate a believer’s viewpoint. Those who appreciate you and those you appreciate are of the same viewpoint. If you do not share a viewpoint you cannot understand each other.

When a person with a world viewpoint speaks, those of the same viewpoint listen and understand. Only those with a worldly viewpoint appreciate and understand. Those with a believer’s viewpoint keep wondering why the person doesn’t make sense. The reverse is also true that those of the world can’t understand the believers.

When we go on social media. We find so many posts shared and updated. Some we don’t even give a chance. Some we follow and subscribe to. Some we are not sure if to follow and subscribe. Others we totally refuse to read, watch or listen to. The chief influencing factor is the viewpoint.

The things you watch, listen and read daily are those you share the same viewpoint. The people whose works you keep reading and following are those who share the same viewpoint. Something in common is the viewpoint according to the Bible.

The music and movies you love share the same viewpoint with you. Apostle John says we tolerate those with who we share the same viewpoint. Your friends on social media are those who share the same viewpoint.

Apostle John tells us that if we had a different viewpoint there are people we will not tolerate nor will they tolerate us. We enjoy books that share a similar viewpoint. This is what is in common between the content creator and followers.

The reason we do not make much improvement in life after a lot of reading is because we only read from those we share the same worldview. We consume that which we are already in agreement with. It takes the grace and power of God and our deliberate choice to cross over and consume something different that will change us for the better.

A church with one thousand members will have a social media presence with less than two hundred followers. The members don’t share the same viewpoint with the church’s social media content. The same one thousand church members are all following a politician and secular musician on social media. There must be something in common!

Who do you share the same viewpoint? Whose content do you consume with ease? What category of music and movies do you watch for hours with ease? What social media stuff have you been begged to follow but you just can’t? What do all these reveal about your viewpoint?

If you don’t share the same viewpoint with Christian content isn’t that a problem for you as a believer? If you as a believer enjoy secular books, secular arguments, and secular music, doesn’t that mean that you are actually a worldly person masquerading as a believer? Isn’t that what Apostle John is stating in our text today? Does this reveal to you that you have something in common with the world and nothing in common with fellow believers?

Let us examine ourselves and know our viewpoint. Our viewpoint explains who we actually are. Our viewpoint determines if we belong to God or the world. Our viewpoint is defined by those we listen to and those who listen to us. May God change and refine my viewpoint so that I can listen to and enjoy divine stuff, in Jesus’s name, Amen!

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