Don’t be deceived my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who doesn’t change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
-James 1:16-18
I graduated from college with a degree in Music Education. When I graduated, I was certified to teach music for any grade level: elementary general music, beginning orchestra, high school band, select show choir… anything. I was cleared to teach any instrument, voice, or discipline, to any school-aged child, in any classroom setting.
In preparation, I took many classes to become proficient in niche areas of musical study. One of my favorite professors was an eccentric, talented, exacting man named Dr. Doyle. He conducted two of the college’s wind bands. He also taught conducting classes where we learned how to study and prepare a musical score, and how to lead a rehearsal.
As I was studying our lesson this week, Dr. Doyle’s metaphors of ‘eagle vision,’ and ‘chicken vision,’ came to mind. Here’s what he meant. Eagle vision: eagles soar high in the sky. They can see entire landscapes and big stretches of space. Eagles can see for miles. They see the big picture. Now contrast that with chicken vision: chickens don’t soar in the sky. They stay on the ground. They spend a lot of time face down, pecking a few kernels of feed. The chicken sees up close. The chicken sees the little details.
Eagle vision gives us the big picture. It gives us the context; it shows us how things connect. Chicken vision brings us to the details; it lets us wrestle and work out little morsels at a time. A good conductor needs both eagle vision and chicken vision in a rehearsal. There’s a time and a purpose to nitpick individual instruments and parts. There’s also a time to put each part together and hear what a section sounds like in its entirety.
The same is true in studying scripture. We need eagle vision for context. We need to know the overarching message of a passage of scripture. In contrast, we need chicken vision to dig deep and wrestle meaning from the details.
Our study this semester lends itself really well to chicken vision Bible study. We’ve spent the last few weeks studying one or two verses at a time, and there’s a beautiful richness that comes from such focused, detailed study.
But we can’t get bogged down by each verse and lose the forest for the trees, so to speak (I hope I’m not mixing too many metaphors!) We need to zoom out every once in a while, to make sure we’re putting those beautiful details in context.
So, dig deep this week friends. Spend some chicken vision time in our passage. There are encouraging words to find about God’s unchanging nature and His generosity. But after you finish studying, get out a journal and sit with this question for a few minutes:
How do God’s good gifts in v. 16-18 compare to giving into temptation, as described in v. 13-15?
You’ll need some eagle vision to pull these two sections together! God bless your time in scripture, and I look forward to Teaching & Worship.
