Who Are The People You Meet?

How do you see people?  Do you see people?  Do you see people like Jesus did?  Seeing people in their true condition is a difficult thing to do.  We tend to look at the outward appearance or listen to the words a person says, but many times that doesn’t paint an accurate picture of what is going on in a person’s soul.  In fact, we have become masters of disguise, putting up so many walls and defenses that it is almost impossible for the casual observer to see into our heart.  It makes it extremely difficult to reach out to others at their point of need. 

To further complicate matters, most of us are just too busy to bother with really trying to see people.  It’s no wonder that God cannot use us to work miracles in the lives of those around us.  In a recent sermon I was listening to, the pastor said that in order for God to use us to do miraculous things, we must look at the condition of our heart. Matthew 9:36 says of Jesus: “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” Note the order of the words here.  Jesus feels compassion first because he noticed that the people were distressed and dispirited.  The NIV says they were harassed and helpless.  Does this description describe the people we encounter each day?  Does it describe you? 

I teach GED classes two nights a week for the state of Georgia.  When I first started teaching I had the incorrect assumption that my students would be a bunch of punk kids that dropped out of school.  I expected thugs sent to school by their probation officers and kids whose parents were forcing them to be there.  I was surprised to find that only a handful of students fit this demographic.  Almost 80% of the people I teach have come from another country, learned English and are now pursuing their GED so they can go on to further education.  If I judged on outward appearance and demeanor alone, I would have never met the guy from El Salvador who drives a semi truck and has a wife and two kids.  I wouldn’t have gotten to know the young lady from Japan who married a Navy man and moved to Georgia by way of Hawaii.  I wouldn’t have gotten to know the lady from Germany who rides a unicycle, is married to a guy from Baton Rouge and wants to do a Christian game show for kids.  I haven’t performed any earth shattering miracles in front of my class, but it may be a miracle for them to see a Christian each week who lives what he believes and genuinely cares for them. 

While I have far to go to be like Jesus, I do try to see these people with compassion.  Like the people Jesus encountered in the Matthew, the people I meet are distressed and dispirited.  Life has a way of making us feel harassed and helpless.  To the people that we encounter each day, we may be the only slivers of light that they see for days at a time.  As followers of Christ, we have an obligation to see people with compassion.  We have to walk with them, talk to them, and show them the love of God through our words and deeds.  After all, Jesus did.  How can we do any less?