JESUS SAW PEOPLE
I’ve decided that if I had not become a Christian before the invention of social media, then I probably wouldn’t be a follower of Jesus today. It’s very early in the morning as I write, and I’ve just been surveying some ‘Christian’ comments made on Twitter and Facebook. People are arguing about a particular theological issue, and there’s fighting talk involved. I’m ashamed as I read it. While we should be free to differ and debate issues vigorously, it strikes me that there comes a point when we forget that we are talking about people. In our passion for truth, we treat them as an object and just argue about ideas.
Right now Christians are arguing a lot about human sexuality. Here is not the space for me to delve into that conversation, but I wish we could remember that this is not just an issue, a subject for discussion - people, human beings that God loves, are involved and deeply affected. That truth should influence the tone with which we speak. Jesus saw people in dire need, and healed on the Sabbath, because people mattered more than pharisaic principles that weren’t even biblical. Jesus ‘saw’ people. People matter.