On
June 8, I shared the
story of how a person, who may have been an angel transformed my
attitude toward poor people. I met a man who seemed to be lying to me
in order to gain my sympathy so that I would give him some money. And
the man proved to be telling the truth. I failed to mention how I got
to know the man in the process of helping him repair his vehicle and
get on his way. When I regarded the man's humanity, my attitude
toward him changed.
Jesus
defended Himself for healing a woman on the Sabbath by telling those
who would accuse Him, “this woman is a daughter of Abraham.”
(Luke
13:16) He constantly forced people to look past the ideology of
their religious and secular positions to the human consequences of
their judgment. Jesus reclined at
supper in the house of Simon the Pharisee and while Simon was judging
Jesus for letting a prostitute touch Him, Jesus was considering the
woman. He knew Simon's mind and although Simon correctly knew who and
what the woman was, Jesus asked him to go beyond his judgment and
said: “do you see this woman?” (Luke
7:44)
Jesus
taught us a new way of perceiving one another. He taught us to look
at people as individuals and see their needs instead of judging them
by our own worldview. We can get so caught up in our own perceptions
that we forget what it is like to be someone who is different.
As
a child, I developed my love for reading through the autobiographies
of some of our nations great leaders. One of the most poignant
stories I read was Benjamin Franklin's. Franklin let this axiom guide
his life, taken from a Native American proverb: “Never judge a man
until you walk a mile in his shoes (moccasins).” Understanding
people comes from knowing their story. And the story transforms us
from judgmental to loving Christians.
When
I regard the marginalized in our society, the minorities, the
majority, the poor, the rich, the right, the left, the undocumented,
those with different gender identities, and every one else who is
ostracized by one group or another I remember that every one of them
has a story that has shaped their lives. And my first allegiance is
to the Kingdom of God and the King calls them “neighbor” and
“brother/sister.” I/we must do the same.
