Occasionally while touring the countryside, the road we travel passes through a tunnel. These tunnels are usually rather short and well lighted, but as one enters a long, unlighted tunnel, the light diminishes rapidly to total darkness. If it were not for the headlights from the car, it would be impossible to proceed. As you drive along you feel all alone in the darkness which surrounds you, and you wonder what would happen if the headlights went out. That happened to me once when my lights malfunctioned on a dark mountain road. It was a frightening experience. While you are pondering these thoughts, suddenly out of the blackness ahead appears a small pinpoint of light. It is impossible to judge the distance, but you recognize it as the light at the end of the tunnel. From there on that light is the focus of your attention; it gets larger and brighter until suddenly you emerge into the brilliant sunlight of the outside world. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the brightness, but you proceed on your way rejoicing in the light.
Such a tunnel experience is temporary, but there are individuals who have what is called "tunnel vision," and this is permanent. This condition, known as glaucoma, is caused by an elevated internal eye pressure, and, unless it is treated, can cause total blindness. The pressure inside the eye forces the aqueous fluid in the front part of the eye to intrude between the retina and the underlying choroid layer so that the blood supply to the retina is cut off. This results in the permanent destruction of the optic nerve cells. The effects of glaucoma are progressive, and the first symptom is the loss of peripheral vision. This can seriously interfere with activities requiring side vision, such as driving a car.
We are told in Scripture that we all suffer from varying degrees of spiritual blindness. Some suffer from spiritual cataracts so that the vision is blurred, and there is not a clear picture of the truth. This condition can be caused by lack of education, by deception, by a film of false doctrine or tradition, by believing a lie or a "cunningly devised fable." These defects can distort our picture of God "like a cloudy picture in a mirror." Some may have developed spiritual glaucoma so that the vision is focused on a particular doctrine or belief to the exclusion of the big picture. This results in fanaticism; we have in the church today justification fanatics, sanctification fanatics, legalism fanatics, grace fanatics, health fanatics; all of these fanatics have tunnel vision. If we are to have good spiritual vision, we must keep our eyes focused on the heavenly light at the end of the tunnel of this dark world, and someday soon we will emerge and be bathed in the glorious light from the face of Jesus, and there will be no more "tunnel vision."
