Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees People
As we read through the New Testament it becomes obvious
that Jesus did not merely look; He saw. Jesus saw Crowds weary from travel,
hungry from listening to a lot of preaching, beggars, the marginalized, the
sick, and the lost were all embraced in His sweeping gaze.
Take a look around you.
Think about all the people that need Jesus. Think about people that you have some
influence with, not just the people in your household, but people that you come
in contact with throughout your day to day life. It
does not matter if you like them or not, just look at them. Now stop looking at them with your eyes and
try to look at them with God’s eyes. Try to see them the way God sees them. If you could have the same way of looking at
them as God, what would you see?
Too often, the busyness of our lives removes from us the
possibility of truly doing the latter of the two. We look at an accident on the
interstate, but do we see the damage to the people involved? We look at a husband and wife straining to
appear normal, but do we see the widening gaps in the marital foundation? We look at the backward girl in the middle
school assembly, but do we see the bullying she’s enduring at school?
Looking takes but a moment; seeing requires us to process
information, connect dots, sympathize, and understand. It also requires action. All around us are people who need Christ. Do we see them? All around us are believers who are struggling
to walk with Christ. Do we see them? All around us are believers desperately
wanting to be connected, but are entrenched in loneliness. Do we see them?
A survey once found that 74% of Protestant churchgoers
feel they “have developed significant relationships with people at their
church.” Yet, the same survey found that
only 53% of the same group are intentionally trying to meet new people at their
church. Nearly half of our people are
looking without seeing.
To help more people along the path of discipleship means
that first, we must see them. If we’re
going to follow Jesus, we will need to notice how He lives, what He notices,
how He sees—and let that transform the way we see as well.
Following Jesus will help you:
1. To see people
for their needs, not your inconvenience. (See Acts 3:3-5)
Do you see broken people as an annoyance or an
opportunity to be a blessing? Most
churches have some kind of greeting time during the worship time. These are good as far as they go, but have
inherent limitations. It tends to be loud. People are moving around. There is an expectation of a handshake, a
“good to see you,” and not much else. It’s like speed dating for visitors.
Rather than the greeting being the end, make it a means. Teach people to identify someone to catch up
with at the end of the service to engage more fully. The first time may not be the right time for a
small-group invite, but it can be the right time to start remembering a name, a
face, the family structure, or get contact information.
2. To see people
for their potential, not their problems. (See Acts 3:6)
Are you ever tempted to define people by their
brokenness? Some religious people have
raised this to an art form. The
Pharisees did it often:
a. “This man
receives sinners and eats with them.”
b. “I thank
you that I am not like this tax collector.”
c. “If he were
a prophet, he would know what sort of woman this is.”
In our culture, we have plenty of radio and TV
commentators, talking heads, and politicians who make their livelihood debating
who should take the blame for the brokenness in our world. (These folks come in
Democrat, Republican, and Independent versions!)
But if we are to follow Jesus in all our values, we’re
going to have to choose a different attitude. Don’t define people by their brokenness, sin,
and past—define them by their Savior! As
the old saying goes,
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
3. To see that
every broken person has the potential for healing. (See Acts 3:7-8)
Gut check: Do you believe God can heal (either
physically—or emotionally or spiritually!) that person you have passed by a
thousand times? It’s of no use for the
Holy Spirit to give us eyes to notice broken people if deep inside we are
unconvinced that grace can transform them!
Often in the gospels, we are told that Jesus had
compassion on a certain group of people. This usually led to an action on His part,
like healing the sick or feeding the crowd. Seeing with Jesus’ eyes is directly tied to
compassion. As we see with Jesus’ eyes,
we will experience compassion as He did and be moved to reach out to others
both inside and outside the family of faith.
4. To see that
every broken person has the potential for influence. (See Acts 3:9-10)
Have you heard the phrase “The bigger they are, the
harder they fall”? I’d like to propose a
different version: “The worse they are,
the more glory God receives when they are transformed.”
The needs are great, so much so that Jesus turned to His
disciples and said “the harvest is much, but the workers are few.” How tragic! So many hurting people—so many
needs and so few workers. For this
reason, Jesus challenged the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to
send out workers into His harvest. This
is not casual prayer, but heart wrenching prayer.
This describes the prayer of a leper who fell on his face
before Jesus pleading to be healed. “…a
man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with
his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can
make me clean.” (Luke 5:12)
“Teacher, I beg you
to look at my son, for he is my only child.” (Luke 9:38) This is the prayer
of a father whose only child was oppressed by an evil spirit.
If we can learn to see people the way Jesus sees people,
maybe we could learn to pray with this kind of passion for workers in the
harvest.
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you
to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace
with God.
