A Leader’s Filter – A Damascus Road Encounter?

Like Saul on the Damascus Road, we sometimes lead through filters that cloud our vision and harden our hearts. When God replaces old filters, we can see people as He does through eyes of truth, grace, and compassion. This Damascus Road encounter demonstrates how leaders can examine the lenses we lead through and embrace growth beyond our blind spots.

Filters. We all have them, and they quietly shape our daily decisions, judgments, and reactions to others. They decide how we interpret someone else’s choices and how we justify our own. Too often people think, “If I were in that situation, I would have…” The fact is, we were never in that situation, and we do not know what we may have done. Most of the time people lack the full picture, lived experience, or wisdom to completely grasp what another person has endured. Still, this does not stop people from offering their “expert opinions” without any credentials, experience, or even compassion.

Our filters along with our biases and blind spots become the very lenses that distort our reality. Sometimes filters protect us, but just as often they create barriers that can keep us disconnected. Not long ago, I was at dinner with a colleague when a sensitive topic arose. Not being one to shy away from difficult conversations, I engaged. Since we both professed faith in Christ, one might assume the conversation was simple and aligned. It wasn’t.

What made the difference?

Our filters. Each of us had lenses shaped by our subjective experiences and convictions. We could have easily built a wall and retreated to the familiar escape plan, “We’ll just agree to disagree.” Instead, we pressed through the awkward moments. I listened. I questioned. I gently challenged assumptions. In return, my colleague did the same. In the end, we found common ground not because we forced agreement, but because we sought to anchor our thinking in truth and facts, rather than our own filters.

Our exchange reminded me that honest dialogue with patience and noble intent can transform division into deeper understanding and mutual respect. I thought about Saul of Tarsus, a zealous Pharisee who persecuted the early Christians in the name of righteousness (Acts 9:1–6). From his perspective, he was defending God’s truth. Actually, he was rejecting the very God he claimed to serve without knowing it.

Saul’s filters included his religious pride, cultural traditions, and misapplied zeal for a so-called righteous cause. All of these blinded him to the truth, and I wondered how many times he ignored God’s warning signs to reconsider his views? How often did Saul justify his violent attacks and sanctioned persecution against the same people God chooses to love and redeem?

Then came his Damascus Road encounter when God stepped in. It took divine intervention to strip away Saul’s filters. When Christ confronted him directly, Saul’s vision was literally darkened before his spiritual eyes were opened. Only then did he become the Apostle Paul, a transformed leader proclaiming grace, truth, and righteousness through Christ. Later in his ministry, Paul was able to acknowledge his limited perspective when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (NLT)

Reflection

Here’s the leadership lesson: We all have filters that present the same struggle Paul had to overcome. No leader sees every matter clearly all the time. Our filters can distort truth and build barriers without just cause. Unless leaders are willing to examine assumptions, we risk confusing internal voices, or worse our enemy’s voice, with the voice of truth. Leaders should be cautious not to make the truth an enemy.

Paul’s story shows what is possible when truth and compassion are our filters. Lives are redirected and leadership becomes a tool of empowerment. So, I leave you with this reflection:

• What filters surround your workplace, relationships, or ministry that keep you from seeing clearly?

• Where might your assumptions or judgments create barriers instead of building bridges?