I went to a meeting thinking I was going to take care of a ‘problem,’ but I left the room praying for a person! Before I spent time with him, he was only a name on paper, his situation just another one of those issues that needed to be cleared from my calendar. We need to remember that behind all the descriptive words we use, there is a person whose life is a tapestry of successes and failures. That rich dude, poor soul, smart gal, tall kid, black man, white guy has a name, a background, an experience, and real value as a person whom God loves.
If we desire to love as Jesus teaches, it will demand that we give names to faces, that we care about people more than programs, that we let ourselves be touched. It so easy to thunder against some sin in theory, but what a difference when that ‘sin’ is attached to a person in pain. For example, the Scripture is clear that God loves life and as the Creator gives dignity to every person including the unborn. That conviction makes me solidly against the practice of abortion. However, you will never find me screaming at a young woman outside of a clinic. Why? Because she is not just an object aborting a baby, she is a person in crisis. Does that make her choice less sinful? No! But, it demands a different response from me, a willingness to reach out with care, not condemnation.
On Sunday nights on CBS there’s a program named, “Undercover Boss.” A high level executive in a large company, often the owner or founder, takes an assumed identity and spends a week working at the front line level. Often the executive is moved to tears when he realizes how company policies are making life difficult, how little changes could make a real different for the people who are doing the job. He cares when he gets to know the real people that were just numbers on a spreadsheet in his office.
So, disciple, it’s time to meet people! You matter to God. How much? Jesus said "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Luke 12:7, NIV) What? He’s just saying, God knows you very well! And, He loves you. So, do others matter to you? Do you love them enough to make them people about whom you will care, with whom you will become involved?
Here’s the word from the Word. It’s familiar, but take time to read it thoughtfully. Then, go love that person that yesterday was just a problem!
"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is." (1 John 3:1-2, NLT) "If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead." (1 John 3:14, NLT)
"Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions." (1 John 3:18, NLT)
_______________
Using Things And Loving People
Using things and loving people
That's the way it's got to be
Using things and loving people
Look around and you can see
That loving things and using people
Only leads to misery
Using things and loving people
That's the way it's got to be
Being loved is in the giving
All we have is what we share
Loving life is for the living
You have to have a heart to care
And loving things and using people
Only leads to misery
Using things and loving people
That's the way it's got to be
So put your hand inside my hand
I don't know where the road will lead
We may not find the things we want
But we will find the things we need
And all we need is love
Using things and loving people
Brings you happiness I've found
Using things and loving people
Not the other way around
'Cause loving things and using people
Only leads to misery
Using things and loving people
That's the way it's got to be
For you and me
Written by: Hal David & Archie P. Jordan
No comments:
Post a Comment