Blinded but Not Blind
Letter from the Editor – Ron Barnes
A number of years ago I arrived at my destination in Asia and sat at the airport waiting for my ride. Quite often I am not exactly sure who I am meeting, but usually someone is holding a sign if we haven’t met. I walked around trying to make eye contact with people in the arrivals lounge, hoping that someone would match my gaze with a clear “you must be Ron” look. But after two hours of this, nothing.
I logged into my phone that had all the contact information for my host and even rechecked our correspondence. Everything seemed to be lined up and it appeared that both sides knew the arrival information. So, I attempted to make a call, only to be sent repeatedly to voicemail. In desperation, I left multiple messages, wrote a few emails, and sent some texts. After another half hour went by with no reply, I hailed a taxi and had him drive me to the closest hotel, and then to the next nearest hotel that wasn’t super sketchy.
Finally settled in my hotel room, I was just about asleep when, five hours after I had arrived, I received a phone call, with an incredibly apologetic missionary on the other end. He had apparently sent an email letting me know that he and his family had come down with the flu and gave me the information for a hotel and how to get to it. Unfortunately, in his sickness and haste to write me that email, he failed to notice he forgot to send it. He set up the reservation, gathered all the necessary information to make my arrival go smoothly, wrote the letter, corrected his incorrect grammar, formatted it, double checked that all the information I needed was in it, then neglected to send it.
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord … 2 Corinthians 4:3–5 NKJV
Inseparable from the word Gospel in verse 4 is the “messenger or herald” in verse 5, identified as we who “preach,” who deliver that Word, who are commissioned with the message of salvation.
Printing in 120 languages… what would be the point to print and store them on our shelves in our warehouses? The potential in those lessons is not them falling off a shelf, hoping the wind might catch them, then they float across seas and oceans, picked up off the shores of foreign and distant lands, to make their way into the hands of those whose eyes are blinded to the Gospel. The only hope, whether in printed form or in word, lies with those who can deliver it.
Paul challenges these Corinthians with the indictment that yes, there are some who won’t respond to his message, which his critics have charged him with previously. But more concerning is that those who don’t respond are not blind, but blinded, and potentially left in that condition by messengers who haven’t delivered the light.
Romans 10:14—How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Brothers and sisters, if we have the message of the Gospel, we carry the obligation to be its messengers as well. We must share the light and make sure its glow is perpetuated.
“The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” –Carl F. H. Henry
So, let’s discuss your light. Is it bright enough for others to feel? Is it veiled? Is your light intentionally and actively carried to those who cannot see?
This Reaper is dedicated to the stories of people whose sight has been restored to the Gospel, from our missionaries’ own personal experiences, who go to the frontlines of ministry around the globe with the Good News.
To witness the blinded see light for the first time is the goal of our ministry and the most exciting part of it. Often it takes years of dedication and commitment to plant seeds and water, and allow the warmth from the reflection of the Light in our lives to draw these people in. It is hard work, but the most rewarding work we could be involved in.
It is our hope that these stories will encourage and challenge you to join us in support and prayer for the SLM work that is going on around the world, and will be a challenge to you as well to be and share the Light with a world that could see if they were just shown it.
