Discovering Your Blind Spots

Honest and life-giving conversations 

about blind spots will lead to transformative

change and spiritual growth

To the outside world, examining and exposing your own blind spots can be viewed more as a weakness than a courageous step toward change in your life and relationships. However, true transformative change starts when we finally face our weaknesses—and we all have them. Uncovering our own unseen areas for spiritual growth is impossible without the help of God and trusted individuals. What does Jesus see that we tend to miss, and what does he think about the threats that blind spots pose?

With the release of their book, Blind Spots: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You (New Growth Press/July 29, 2019), authors Tim Riddle and Fil Anderson discuss Jesus’s primary mission to expose the deadly nature of blind spots, sharing how he alone has the cure. They urge followers of Christ to engage in honest and life-giving conversations about blind spots: what they are, why they exist, how to identify and remove them, how to keep them from returning, and how to point them out in others.

The authors define a blind spot as anything that stands in the way of being all that God has intended for our lives. In introducing the book, Riddle and Anderson write, “Yes, many of those blind spots are sins, but others are rooted in ignorance, immaturity, circumstances, and sometimes the sins of others against us. Sometimes, they are things we don’t see because God has not yet revealed them to us. But blind spots of many kinds may fuel our fears of stepping out in faith to use the talents and gifts God has given us.”

The inspiration behind Blind Spots came as the authors were reflecting on the challenge of spiritual growth. As they looked at their own personal lives, they realized obstacles in their own growth were usually due to a blind spot. Both consider coming together to write the book as being one of the most rewarding things they have done. In the process they have become each other’s blind spot partner and have developed a safe place to freely talk about potential blind spots they each may have.

Through sharing their own stories to uncover blind spots, the authors demonstrate how spiritual growth only happens in the context of seeing and acknowledging our own flaws. While Riddle and Anderson note the importance of community in dealing with blind spots, they emphasize the lasting, gospel change of the Spirit. By exploring the different ways we unknowingly sabotage ourselves and our relationships, Blind Spots guides readers toward depending on the Spirit for help.

“The Holy Spirit is the revealer and healer of our blind spots,” says Riddle. “In this book, we talk more in detail about the work of the Spirit and how the Spirit may work through others to help identify our blind spots.”

“The goal of the spiritual journey is the transformation of our self,” says Anderson. “This requires knowing both our self and God. Both are essential if we are to discover our true identity as those who are in Christ, because the self is where we meet God.”

The authors’ hope in releasing Blind Spots is that readers would see beyond the challenges preventing them from living fully and freely. Both know this is a journey that requires a combination of humility, trust, openness to change, and a willingness to submit to the Holy Spirit.

Tim Riddle, author of Blind Spots, is the CEO of Discover Blind Spots whose mission is to help leaders of corporations, churches, and non-profits address blind spots within their organizations. DBS provides help with direction and strategy, clarity in marketing and messaging, and alignment in staff, which leads to a healthy organization and effective leadership.

Previously, Riddle was the Executive Pastor of St. Mark’s Church in Burlington, NC, for thirteen years.  He used his leadership and strategic gifts to lead the staff and ministry of SMC. He also enjoys preaching/teaching and continues to speak at SMC. Prior to SMC, Riddle was the founder and CEO of Riddle & Company, a specialty textile company in Burlington, NC. 

Riddle is a graduate of Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, and Fuller Theological Seminary.  He and his wife, Stacy, live in Burlington, NC, and have four children.

Learn more at www.discoverblindspots.com, on Facebook (Discover Blind Spots), Twitter (@TimRiddle_dbs), and Instagram (@timriddle_discoverblindspots).

Fil Anderson is executive director of Journey Resources, based in Greensboro, NC. He’s a frequent conference speaker, spiritual director, and directs retreats and workshops nationally and internationally. Anderson is a member of the teaching team at Potter’s Inn Soul Care Institute. As a member of the pastoral staff of St. Mark’s Church, he provides on-site soul care to their staff and volunteers. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.

In addition to Blind Spots, Anderson is the author of Running on Empty and Breaking the Rules. He also contributed to Transformation of a Man’s Heart and is a regular writer for InTouch Magazine and various other publications. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Fuller Theological Seminary, Anderson also completed the Graduate Program in Christian Spiritual Guidance at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He worked with Young Life for twenty-five years, serving as Area Director and Regional Director before becoming National Director of Training.

Anderson and his wife, Lucie, live in Greensboro and are the parents of three adult children. Avid beach lovers, they frequent Wrightsville Beach, NC, as often as possible.

Learn more at www.filanderson.com.

New Growth Press publishes gospel-centered Christian books, small group, and children’s Bible resources for discipleship, biblical counseling, and missional ministry. For more information about Blind Spots: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You and other releases from New Growth Press, visit www.newgrowthpress.com.

Blind Spots: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You

By Tim Riddle and Fil Anderson

July 29, 2019 / Retail Price: $15.99

Print ISBN: 978-1-948130-59-2 / E-book ISBN: 978-1-948130-60-8

RELIGION/Christian Life/Spiritual Growth