Seeing is Believing
Imagined Rehearsal
Korean-American pro golfer Kevin Na just won his 3rd PGA tournament, the Colonial at Fort Worth, Texas this past weekend. Before he started the final round on Sunday, Kevin walked by the wall of champions and visualized his name on the wall as the 2019 champion.
He states, “On the first tee, I saw that wall, looked at the names, right below Justin Rose (defending champion), and in my head, I engraved my name on it. I was just trying to visualize success before I teed off."1 Kevin Na is not the first athlete to use visualization as a tool for competitive success.
For example, James Nesmith was your typical, average golfer. He belonged to a country club and practiced a fair bit, but he could never score any better than low 90s. Mr. Nesmith also happened to be a soldier in the US Army.
Eventually he got sent to the Vietnam War and soon after was taken prisoner. Locked in a small cell all by himself, James quickly realized he had to do something to maintain his sanity. So every day he’d play a round of golf in his head. He imagined getting dressed in the morning, driving to the club, warming up and then playing all 18 holes. In real life a round of golf takes around four hours. In James’s head it took four hours as well. He’d picture hitting the ball from the tee and then in his mind he’d walk every step down the fairway to where his ball lay. He’d take a club from his bag, feel it in his hands, make a few practice swings, then hit the next shot. Since he was playing in his head, he didn’t hit any slices or hooks, nor did he miss a lot of putts, so his imaginary games went quite well.
After seven years of this practice, Major Nesmith finally got out of prison. When he returned home, one of the first things he did was go to his club to play a real round of golf. Despite the fact that his body had deteriorated considerably due to the time spent in his tiny cell, that first day he shot 74—roughly 20 strokes better than what he used to shoot!2
Many professional athletes use “imagined rehearsal,” which is known widely in sports as visualization training. South Korean Olympic gold medalists Jang Mi-Ran (weightlifting) and Yuna Kim (ice skating) have utilized the power of positive visualization in training for gold.
What about us as Christians? What is the significance of visualization, or how is it a significant part of the Christian life? The apostle Paul calls upon all Christians to “walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). A life of faithfulness to the Lord means that we should not look at the things of the world, but rather to the glories of heaven. But before we dive into the meaning of walking by faith and not by sight, let us examine the important verses that sandwich verse 7.
Body and Soul
Many Christians use the passage of 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 in order to justify the belief that when a person dies, their “soul” leaves the body and returns to God in heaven. “6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
I attended a funeral the other day, that was presided by an evangelical minister. I expected him to share the idea of the deceased person’s soul having left the body upon death, but was surprised to hear him share the idea that upon death, the body mysteriously loses 2 ounces of weight. Thus, referring to the soul leaving the body and going to be with the Father.
A closer study of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 1-11 shows that Paul is not describing what happens to a person’s body upon death. As explained by Dr. Angel M. Rodriguez, the passage of Paul to the Corinthians is describing the glorious future of God’s people. Paul states in verse 6 that to be “at home in the body we are absent from the Lord” means that we are currently living on this earth and not in the presence of God in heaven. Paul wishes that he could be with the Lord in heaven in verse 8, but that is clearly at the resurrection, not upon death. That’s what it means to be “absent from the body.”3
So the next time someone uses 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 to support the idea that the soul goes to heaven upon death, please explain the passage to them in true biblical interpretation. (Go to the link to view the full exegesis by Angel M. Rodriguez).
Sight Determines Destiny
We often knock down Thomas for not believing that the Lord had resurrected from the tomb until he had seen with his own eyes. “Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe (John 20:24-25).” Only after seeing the nail scarred hands and feet, and feeling the side where Jesus was pierced with his very own eyes, then doubting Thomas believed that it was the Lord, and not a ghost.
But notice what Jesus says to Thomas, and to the other disciples who were there with him. “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (vs. 29).” The words of Jesus are strikingly similar to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, where Paul shows us that while living here on this earth, we can walk with the Lord, and that means living by faith, and not by sight.
Is it possible to believe without seeing? Many atheists propose that since you cannot see God, there is no god. Our God tell us to live by faith, and not by sight. Our God tells us not to look upon physical things, but rather things that cannot be seen, like faith, hope and love. The world encourages us to look at things that can be seen, touched and bought. Place your hope and love upon these “things.” For they will bring you security, love and safety. Jesus says, “close your eyes, now dwell upon these things that are not of the world.”
Paul advised the Philippian believers, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).” Notice that the things Paul calls us to meditate upon are ideas and concepts, not tangible things. To meditate means to visualize in your mind. To visualize something, you must create a mental picture. It sounds like Paul is calling us to meditate upon Godly things of divine nature, for these items mentioned by Paul are only of heavenly origin. Our thoughts can only be formed by what we see. It is impossible to form a thought unless we visualize it first in our minds.
Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” So it goes like this:
seeing >>> thoughts >>> actions >>> habits >>> personality >>> destiny
Oh be careful little eyes what you see; it can become your destiny. Why not spend a few moments each day in the Word of God? Why not spend a few moments each day, meditating upon Calvary, and what took place there. Was it not for you and I? Did not our sins place Him there? By beholding we become changed. The question is what are you beholding? How much time are you spending on your little handheld device? How much time are you engrossed in the Word? Set your timer and compare, you might be surprised.
Ellen White also wrote about meditating and beholding on that which is pure and true. “It is the law of both the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence.”4
Can you believe that you have the power to shape your destiny? What you behold plays a huge part in that. Why not use imagination rehearsal each day to place yourself at the foot of the cross. It could change your destiny forever!
Paul wrote to the Corinthians about being transformed into a better image. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).” It was on the Damascus Road where Saul was met by a bright light, that being Jesus the Lord. Saul was blinded by the light for 3 days, being led by hand. He fasted and drank no water for 3 days. When Paul writes about being transformed due to beholding God, he speaks from personal experience. But in order to see the glory of God, he had to first experience physical blindness. In order to see the true kingdom of God, Saul had to be blinded to the physical world around him.
Saul believed that he was a good Adventist christian, going to church every Sabbath, studying the lesson study, giving 10% and eating a vegan diet. However, he could not see how he was hurting the Lord. He could not see how he was damaging the kingdom of heaven. He could not see that he was in fact a terrorist to the true people of God. It was only by being blinded that Saul could behold the glory of God. Then his destiny changed. Could God be trying to blind you to the world, but you insist on keeping your eyes on the movie screen, on the computer screen, on the phone screen? Could God be trying to change your destiny toward heaven, but you are turning your eyes away from Calvary?
Positive Delusion
A number medical studies of patients with cancer and AIDS have shown that those who expect their illness to get worse actually decline rapidly towards death. However, those patients who claim to have unrealistic and optimistic illusions of their condition actually maintained their health and did not decline. This phenomenon is called Positive Delusion, where the patient sees their condition in far more optimism than their actual state. A case of negative delusion would be the following story.
Nick Sitzman was a strong young man who worked on the local train crew. He had good health, a great family and friends. However, Nick was a worrier and always had a negative outlook toward every situation.
One day, Nick accidently locked himself in a refrigerated boxcar after the crew had all left for home. He panicked and banged and yelled until his fists were bloody and his voice was hoarse. No luck, no one heard him and he was all alone. “I’ll freeze to death in here,” he feared. Wanting to let his family know what his fate would be, he found a knife and etched his last words on the floor of the boxcar. “These may be my last words. It’s so cold that my body is getting numb and I’ll just go to sleep.”
The next morning the crew members opened the doors of the boxcar and found Nick lying on the floor dead. The autopsy revealed that every physical sign of his body indicated that he had indeed frozen to death. Yet the refrigeration unit of the car was inoperative and turned off. The temperature inside the boxcar indicated 55 degrees. This unfortunate man died in the same way as he imagined himself dying. 5
Are you also trapped in a spiritual boxcar, believing that you will not make it? Are you looking at all the signs of the world, denying the power of God in your life? Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full into His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace!
1 http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/26827643/na-shoots-66-cruises-4-shot-colonial-win
2 https://www.waterlookungfu.com/power-of-visualization/
4 White, Ellen G.; The Great Controversy, 555
5 Park, Jung H.; Look Beyond and Rejoice, 44, 45
Note: this article was made possible with excerpts from Look Beyond and Rejoice, by Dr. Jung H. Park.