Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:4-8)
I have a confession: I sometimes have a really hard time seeing people the way Jesus sees them.
I'm not talking about the poor here. Or the widows. Or orphans. I'm not talking about people who obviously need to be shown God's love in a practical way. Granted, I could do more on that score, too, but I don't have a difficult time seeing them through Christ's eyes.
But on the other side of the spectrum, you have the haughty. The proud. The rude. You have people who seem to somehow believe they are better or more important than everyone else. You see people who are selfish with their belongings, refusing to help others. You have people who cut in line, cut you off, look down their noses, judge others. The greedy, the arrogant, the self-righteous.
I confess a difficult time seeing Jesus in some people.
But the more I think of it, the more I think it has more to do with me than it does with them. I have never been homeless or orphaned. I have been proud. I have been rude. I have been arrogant and self-righteous. And, sometimes, I still am.
Maybe I have such a hard time seeing Jesus in these people, because I'm too busy seeing myself.
My Sunday School class is studying CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity" and in that he says about pride:
ReplyDelete"There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others."
When I read that, my reaction was, of course, "Ouch."