Yesterday Lauren and I along with a few other Flooders had the awesome privilege to meet a wonderful man named John. He was very smart, sweet, kind, greeted us with a smile on his face, talked about how he loves to read…but John is a homeless man who lives under a bridge in downtown New Orleans. He isn’t homeless because he was lazy, a drug addict, alcoholic, or because he chooses to be. He is homeless because six months ago he lost his job and he has no family left to help him. He only receives seventy five dollars a week in unemployment and that is just barely enough to get him food for the week. Most people’s first thought when they see a homeless person is they think they are lazy and are just trying to scam you out of a few bucks, but in reality we are no better than they are. The only thing that separates us from them is our circumstances. John mentioned to Lauren and me that most Christians he encountered weren’t as nice to him as we had been. When I heard those words come out of his mouth my heart sunk. That is exactly what Paul is warning us against in chapter ten.
Paul says in verse seven- “You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do” We are all equally undeserving, yet receiving, of Christ love and mercy and no one is better than any other- Christian or not. Lauren prayed the sinner’s prayer with John as I prayed along with him. John is now our brother in Christ and although the world may look down upon him, he’ll be standing side by side with us as equals in heaven. Let’s all remember we’re all the same in God’s eyes. God doesn’t see the material things that we have, all He sees is our hearts and willingness to serve Him. Just remember the next time we see someone that may not meet social norms or standards, that he or she is loved just as much by God as we are.
Love you all!
Laura
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