The idiom cannot see the forest for the trees means that a person or organization cannot see the big picture because the focus is too much on the details, it is when one does not or cannot understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it.
This is the kind of problem that ‘Big Thinkers’ and ‘Visionary Leaders’ get frustrated by all the time. They see the big picture, the grand vision, the horizon full of possibility, while some among their ranks only see what’s in front of them. But what happens when we allow the idioms of the world to determine the values of the Kingdom?
But what happens when we allow the idioms of the world to determine the values of the Kingdom?
not all have 20:20 vision
According to the ‘All About Vision‘ website, the majority of adults need some kind of eye correction. Having less-than-perfect vision isn’t as uncommon as you may think. About 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction, according to The Vision Council. About 64% of them wear eyeglasses, and about 11% wear contact lenses, either exclusively, or with glasses.
The most common types of vision issues are when a person is either short or long-sighted. Some can see well up close, but things far away are blurry, while others have the opposite problem, up close looks great but they can’t see anything clearly that is too far away.
A Kingdom of body parts
Paul taught that the Church is the Body of Christ, and like a body, the Church is made up of many different parts that have different functions that all serve one another and are dependent on one another. Read 1 Corinthians 12:14-27
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
If you are a ‘hand’ in the kingdom, chances are you have a gift of service and you like to get busy helping, serving, building, or something similar. But not every ‘hand’ will express their gifting the same way, that would be boring and narrow. If you are a ‘mouth’ in the body then you likely have a gift of speaking, but there are many different contexts within which you might speak. Some may speak to the lost, some may speak to new believers, some may speak prophetic oracles, others may speak doctrines to thousands while another speaks to groups of 5 and 6. The same is true for the eyes.
more than one type of sight
Not all ‘eyes’ in the Kingdom have 20:20 vision, in fact, I am often convinced that there are few, if any, that do. Some are short-sighted and others a long-sighted. Some see the details up close and give their time and attention to what they see, while others see the horizon in blistering detail and call everyone to pursue it!
Just as the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, the long-sighted eye cannot say to the short-sighted eye, ‘I have no need of you’.
Eagles and Bats: do you see what i see?
The eagle soars high above the drama of the dusty ground, rising effortlessly on the thermal wind he appears to hover without breaking a sweat. Majestically the eagle floats, looking far into the distance with perfect vision. The eagle sees the horizon like we would if we had a telephoto lense, they zoom in and see clearly what is ahead, despite being far from it.
Bats on the other hand are considered ‘blind’, hence you have ‘eagle eyes’ if you have great sight, or you might be considered as ‘blind as a bat’ if you have bad sight. But the bat sees the world differently as you likely know. Using sonar, bats ‘see’ the world with built-in radar, they can fly in pitch-black darkness and know exactly where they are and what’s in front of them. They don’t float like eagles do, they flap like a toddler drinking Redbull, and they can’t see the horizon like eagles, but they can navigate with ease through dark nights and deep caves.
run, look up, run, look down!
Last year I started running again, trying to rebuild my fitness and get healthier – I’m loving it. There is a trail right near my house that runs through the bush behind the sand dunes of a local beach. The trail is a combination of gravel roads, sand tracks, and large rocky paths. About 3km from the start of my run is a steep sand hill, I can’t see anything beyond it, it’s a straight path all the way there and it looms in front of me, daring me to climb it. While that is where I am headed, to run with my eyes fixed on the horizon would lead to an almost immediate injury. There are so many large rocks, puddles, potholes, and tree roots to navigate that I really need to be focused on every single step as one foot out of place could leave me in a whole lot of hurt. There are sections of the trail, however, which are flat, even gravel with no obstacles, and it’s when I am on this section of the path I can look up to that distant sandhill and remind myself where I am going. I need to look up at my horizon, then look down at my feet.
float & flap, look up and down.
The body of Christ needs both Eagles and Bats, we need ones who can see clearly the horizon of the promises of God, calling the church to faithfully pursue the Lord, to not give up, to live with courage and passion despite all of life’s obstacles. We need eagles to prophesy about the Kingdom that is coming and lift our eyes to see Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. We need eagles to remind us to look up, ride the thermals, and rest in the presence of God.
We also need bats. We need those who see differently from the eagle, those who see in the dark. We need those who have the capacity to ‘see’ the obstacles right in front of you and help you navigate them. This for me is like looking at my feet while running, I need to give my next step my immediate attention. My focus during the sketchy sections of the path needs to be fixed on my present, not on my future, I need to see where to place my foot more than I need to see the horizon I am heading towards. But if I don’t look up occasionally, I might go off course, get lost or just get overwhelmed by all the obstacles. I still need the eagle to remind me not to stay focused on the rocks.
Eagles are great at pointing forwards and calling us up. Bats are great at helping us navigate the immediate obstacles, especially in the dark.
chickens on the line
Have you ever seen a chicken that appears to have its beak glued to the ground? Well, if you draw a line on the ground, then force a chicken to put its beak on that line, it will stay there. It’s called Chicken Hypnotism, you won’t be able to do that to an eagle! But chickens do make great pets, they’re excellent for the garden and they can provide you with a lot of eggs, eagles won’t do that!
The Pharisee trait that we all struggle with is pride. Thinking that we’re better than others because, basically, we’re pretty amazing, and we find it hard to think that other people can see the world so differently to us and still be right. This is the flesh trying to rear its ugly head and get back into the limelight of our lives, it’s this ‘old self’ that constantly needs to be ‘put to death’.
The problem most eagles have is that since they have such a high perspective, seeing so far and so clear ahead of them, is that it’s all too easy for them to look down on those chickens pecking in the dirt or those bats hanging upside down in a tree or a cave. Why be a chicken when you could be an eagle? they think to themselves, not realising that the body has many parts and not all the parts function the same way. Chickens on the line certainly need to look up, get their beaks off the chalk and get back to doing what chickens do, but expecting a chicken to fly like an eagle and see as they see is like asking a hand what it can hear, or a foot what it can taste.
All the chicken sees is the rocks on the path, the gaps between pavers, the weeds, the pebbles, the slugs and the grass. They see the day-to-day challenges and obstacles of life, but they get on with it, they peck up the weeds, they add manure to the soil to improve its health, then they produce eggs which provide a great source of protein. Eagles don’t remove the weeds in the garden, even if they can see them clearly, they don’t get involved in turning over the soil or reviving the ground, they’re busy floating, looking ahead, as they should be.
Jesus, our king chicken
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Matthew 23:37
Jesus, when he was soon to be approaching the cross, expressed his desire to comfort and nuture Jerusalem like a brooding hen would gather her chicks under her wings. Jesus could see the pain and fear in the people he loved and he longed to comfort them, to protect them and give them the peace of his covering presence, but they would not have it.
Jesus is meek and mild, the good shepherd and savior of the church. He is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah, a Warrior and Great king! Yet when he looked at the backslidden, broken and beaten up hearts of Jerusalem, his desire was like that of a hen. Chickens don’t just peck in the dirt and turn over the weeds, they provide warmth and security to the brood. They characterise the mercy and compassion of Christ towards his people. Eagles on the other hand are known for pushing their young out of the nest; it’s tough love on the mountain tops.
The church needs chickens. People who are undistracted by the distant horizon and are committed to improving the soil, removing rocks and weeds and thorns that strangle and pull on the lives of believers. All they see is what is in front of them, and they work hard to bring the kingdom of God into the small, shallow depth of field vision that has been entrusted to them. These chickens will occasionally look up and heed the call of the eagles, but then will stay in the muck, eating scraps and turning it into amazing compost that will revitalise the soil so a better harvest can come in the next season.
The eagle sees the next season on the horizon, they call down to the rest of us, pointing towards it, telling us not to live in disappointment and defeat, but to be fueled by God’s glorious promises of a new day, of the eternal day! They challenge us to get up and look for ourselves at all that God has planned and be filled with hope and perseverance. They see the Kingdom coming, they see the bride preparing herself and rejoice at the sight of all that is to come! The eagle sees a future full of potential and pours her heart and soul into trying to motivate those on the ground to come up higher into the thermals of God’s grace.
Meanwhile, the bats are with us, although often unseen, they’re helping us navigate through the seasons of trauma and heartache, the dark days and darker nights in the valley of the shadow. They journey with us offering guidance and wisdom, helping us identify the blockages, hurdles and pitalls of life. These bats are at home with poor and destitute, they serve the broken and damaged, the abused and neglected, leading them with mercy and compassion to the exit of the cave. The chicken is unimpressed by the eagle, and can’t imagine living in the dark, so he just gets busy on the ground, improving the soil and nurturing the young brood. We need them all, and probably more.
Ministers of a feather shouldn’t just flock together
Birds of a feather may flock together, but Christians – especially leaders – shouldn’t. If everyone in the room thinks and sees things the way you do, that’s not strength in numbers, that’s an echo chamber of narrow mindedness. That’s a body full of eyes that has no ears and cannot speak.
God has made apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, and evangelists (Ephesians 4:11-16), and he has gifted all believers with all kinds of expressions of his love and power; gifts of mercy, leadership, generosity, administration, speaking, helping, and others (1 Cor 12, Romans 12).
Too often though, we the church prefer to be like the birds looking for thier own flock of like-feathers, whereas God has chosen for us to work together with those unlike ourselves. Our differences are not meant to create a pecking order, they are meant to strengthen and unite the body so that all would be equipped for the work of the ministry.
Our differences are not meant to create a pecking order
The eye can’t say to the hand, I do not need you, the eagle cannot say to the chicken or the bat, you should be more like me, nor should the chicken tear down the eagle for not spending enough time in the dirt nor the bat get mad at those who don’t dwell with those going through dark days. We need each other, we need what makes us different.
Too many Chickens have been mistreated and belittled for not having high enough vision and high enough perspective, while too many eagles have had their tail feathers pulled out by ground dwellers who don’t understand or appreciate the eagle’s role in the sky. Not all are eagles, not all are ground dwellers or night navigators, so instead of expecting everyone to be the same, we need to celebrate our uniqueness and learn why God has made us so different so we can work together more effectively, love each other more authentically and build the glorious church that Jesus is coming back for.
Eagles, Bats & Chickens… we are the Church.
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