“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’…” (Matthew 25:40)
The other day, an acquaintance on Facebook shared a meme demanding that the U.S. have a 3 strikes and you’re out policy when it comes to giving Narcan to addicts who have overdosed. I thought about it for a while before messaging them privately about it. I asked her: “If you saw an addict lying on the ground dying, and you were the only one who could save them, would you just walk away rather than inject them with Narcan?” She said no. I said, “Does your answer change if you knew this was their 8th time overdosing? Could you still walk away rather than inject them?” She said no, she couldn’t.
Her anger about the issue was clouding her mind to seeing the humanity of the addicts. They stopped being people in her eyes and instead were a drain on resources. I’m glad she and I were able to talk about it – it helped her work through her anger and helped me focus on how I can do better when my anger clouds my own mind and I stop seeing people as human beings who God loves.
There is so much anger in the world right now and it’s leading people I care about to say some pretty ugly things. I’ve done the same – said things I really regret in my own anger.
If a person I couldn’t stand with all my heart was lying on the ground in front of me, dying, I couldn’t ignore it. I would have to help him, no matter how angry I was.
Christ calls us to love everyone – to treat everyone as we want to be treated. That’s a really difficult challenge. Especially now with all of us practicing social distancing. We don’t have one on one interaction with people so we get our news from social media or tv stations. People become less REAL when we are only viewing them through a tv screen.
In those moments, I ask myself, “What would Jesus do? What would Jesus want me to do?”
He tells us over and over.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Why is it so hard for us to do that? Why can’t we love each other? Why can’t we respect the humanity of each other? Why can’t we see and respect that every single human being on this planet is a child of God?
There is so much anger and hate right now – and I’m lumping myself into that statement. Even if I think it’s “righteous anger”, that doesn’t make it any better.
We have to love each other. We have to stop allowing others to push us apart. Even if my view of God is different than yours, it doesn’t make you better than me or me better than you. All that matters is that we love God with all we have and show that love to the world around us.
I admit I’m pretty passionate about this subject, in case you couldn’t tell. *grin* I love you all so much and it hurts me to see us divided in so many ways.
What can we do?
- Treat each other with kindness
- Assume ignorance not malice
- Don’t attack each other
- Help the poor – give money to your local food bank
- Show compassion to all
- Give God all the glory and honor in everything you do.
I like to imagine Jesus is standing next to me – it helps me when I have tough decisions to make. If Jesus was by my side when I saw someone needing help, would I still be willing to walk away? If Jesus was looking at email with me when a plea for help came from the Akron Canton food bank, would I still click “delete”?
If someone was in line at the grocery store and their credit card was declined, what would I do? If Jesus was next to me, I’d pull out my own card and pay for their food for them.
Knowing that Jesus is by my side constantly has changed how I act and react to situations. How does the thought of that change you?
Live as ambassadors to Christ. Every moment of every day.
Amazing God, thank You for the reminder that everyone is worthy and deserving of your love. That no matter our beliefs, we are all Your children and need to respect that in every interaction we have. Help me reflect Your love back on the world in everything I do. Amen.