"Until I see homeless people through the eyes of Jesus, I'm free to put them in a box and leave them alone. All that changes when God opens my eyes. Suddenly I'm called to compassion (which means "to suffer with"), generosity, solidarity. This is disruptive."
The Colors of Hope (Richard Dahlstrom)
I've been reading The Colors of Hope by Richard Dahlstrom a book that takes Micah 6:8 and breaks down the three commands given by God into a strategy for missional living. It's simple: Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly (with God). These three things are disruptive.
It's easy to be held captive by our own world, our own mind, our own desires. It's easy to see a man holding a sign on the highway and think, "what a lazy bum." You know you've thought it. It's easy to look at them and see sin or "bad." You label them rather than seeing them as a person created in the same image as yourself. You look at them and see sin in
It's not easy to look at them and see someone who needs Jesus just as much as you do. It's not easy to look at them and know that Jesus died for them as much as He died for you. Our assumptions about their intentions could be true. But what do we know? What if the few bucks you have in your wallet could be the only chance they have a meal today? This week or this month? No matter their intentions isn't their life worth just as much as ours?
This isn't just about homeless people. This is about anyone we have put labels on and cast aside. This is about the adulterers, the democrats and the republicans, the drug addicts, the homosexuals, the alcoholics, the murderers, the liars and the thieves. The ones we can easily lump together and assume they all have the same story and the same destiny. We can say that they won't ever know Jesus and they can't ever be saved, so what's the point of trying. The point is that Jesus believed that we were worth it. What makes me so much better than anyone else?
There is sin and there is punishment for sin. A sinful person (read: everyone) must confess and repent of his/her sin in order to be receive the gift of salvation. But that is not the point of this post. The point is that our life and our salvation is no more valuable the next person's. Since that is true, if we sit comfortably in our own salvation instead of reaching out we are not fulfilling our calling to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly (with God).
Are we willing to let God's calling disrupt the lives we have for ourselves? Are we willing to break out of our routine or to see people differently?
This isn't just about homeless people. This is about anyone we have put labels on and cast aside. This is about the adulterers, the democrats and the republicans, the drug addicts, the homosexuals, the alcoholics, the murderers, the liars and the thieves. The ones we can easily lump together and assume they all have the same story and the same destiny. We can say that they won't ever know Jesus and they can't ever be saved, so what's the point of trying. The point is that Jesus believed that we were worth it. What makes me so much better than anyone else?
There is sin and there is punishment for sin. A sinful person (read: everyone) must confess and repent of his/her sin in order to be receive the gift of salvation. But that is not the point of this post. The point is that our life and our salvation is no more valuable the next person's. Since that is true, if we sit comfortably in our own salvation instead of reaching out we are not fulfilling our calling to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly (with God).
Are we willing to let God's calling disrupt the lives we have for ourselves? Are we willing to break out of our routine or to see people differently?
