Every day I stand on the front lines of the American youth. I see their struggles and their pain. I see how much they rejoice in small accomplishments and get embarrassed about things adults would deem as “silly.” I remember what it was like to be a teenager; to feel life was so hard and that ‘nobody really understood’ my situations. As adults we brush off their feelings as little more than lives trivial problems. But to these kids, these problems are real. They affect their mood and condition and can dictate academic performance. It is easy for me to look at my students and not truly see them. I can see them as a number on a seating chart and a grade in the gradebook. But do I really see them; see them for who they have been created to be and all the greatness and power that is wrapped up in them?
It is really easy to not truly see anyone: the kid in the grocery store that is acting up, the homeless man on the side of the street, and single mom who gets drunk on the weekends. Yes, it is so easy to walk by these people, to brush off their pain and insignificance. It is so easy to never see the story behind the face. If I have learned anything while working with teenagers, it is that there is always a story behind the action. For every unruly kid, for every single mom, and every homeless person there is a story to be told of how they got there and why they behave the way that they do.
As a Christ follower, I think it’s my job to see them. It is my job to listen to their story, to feel their pain, and walk along side the broken. Every single person on this planet has a desire to be seen and be known. No matter the race, age, or gender every person has a right to be seen as a person and heard.
We tend to ignore people we disagree with. If people are dirty and messy, we brush them off as if their mess might come onto my clean white holy robe. We cross the street, avoid looking them in the eye, and pass them off as ‘another person’s problems’ as if they don’t exist. But Jesus didn’t do this. He met the sin where it was at with love, gentleness, and grace. I don’t want a clean holy robe, but one covered with other’s grime and dust. If we are to call ourselves believers, a level of interacting with the untouchables is expected.
This is a lifestyle. Going on one homeless outreach or a missions trip doesn’t change a mindset. It is a shift in culture. It requires the mind of Christ to switch up our mindset and become Kingdom minded.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” Isaiah 1:17
