Watching the news, listening to the radio and reading newspapers are the main sources of our knowledge about the world, near and far. Our choice of media certainly shapes our views, but similarly our views play an important role in choosing particular TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. We’d like to believe that our views and opinions are impartial and unbiased, but obviously that isn’t true. Our perception of reality is in fact its interpretation, in which we emphasize some aspects regarded as important and omit those considered irrelevant. But someone else can see them in exactly the opposite way. That difference in perception doesn’t necessarily have to be a manipulation; it’s just a natural process of filtering a constant flow of information. Selective perception is the way of preventing our brains from overloading.
There have been some experiments carried out on single individuals locked in soundproof, odourless and neutrally painted rooms, in order to deprive them completely of any sensual input. As their brains lacked any information to process, they experienced hallucinations and other peculiar sensations. Those experiments showed that to function in a relatively mentally healthy way we need a constant and broad flow of information. It comes from environmental, natural elements (like weather), and human input. The former tends to appeal on a very low, instinctive level, while the latter requires more or less effort.
In today’s gospel Jesus appoints 72 people with a special mission, as St Luke explains: ‘Jesus sent them out to all the towns and places he himself was to visit.’ It’s quite a number of people that are involved, roughly similar to our congregation gathered here. Their task is to prepare the ground for Jesus’ visit, to make people receptive to him. In other words, their task is to affect people’s perception of Jesus and his message. No doubt it’s crucially important to do it right; a failure would render Jesus’ visit pointless.
There are a few really interesting aspects in their mission; let’s look at them quickly. ‘Eat and drink whatever they have.’ It’s not just a matter of personal taste, likes and dislikes. Jewish people avoided eating unclean food, like pork. That instruction is clear: adapt to local customs and traditions. Another aspect is this: ‘Let your first words be: Peace to this house.’ They are to carry on a positive message of hope, not ideological war. And the last but not least aspect of their mission: ‘I’m sending you like lambs among wolves’ – or in other words: don’t expect everyone will like and respect you; you will experience hostility purely because of your views, beliefs and opinions.
Currently many Christian churches, their leaders and individuals seem to fight uneven battles against cultural and social changes in our society. They even are clearly divided within, on matters like gay ministers, same-sex marriage or women-bishops. Their high moral grounds are undermined by financial, sexual or criminal scandals. As a result quite a common perception of Christianity is that we are mainly ‘against’, with limited or no positive message to the world. Fighting for keeping the ancient order, demanding Christian values and morality embedded in the civil law, we have somehow missed the central idea of our religion: a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Christianity is not about rules, laws, regulations and so on. They follow as a result of putting Jesus in the centre of one’s life; without that relationship they have no value whatsoever, and even may become an instrument of oppression. The words of Jesus that ‘the harvest is rich’ haven’t expired yet; and there’s still massive need for labourers: people who can present Christianity as an attractive, liberating and fulfilling way of life. Literally: you and me.