If you talk to most Christians they will tell you that they
want to save the poor, the drug users & dealers, the prostitutes, the
suicidal, the broken & the tormented. Yet, when they encounter the sins of
these people they become appalled and run as far as they can. I too am guilty
of this. I am often impatient, judgmental and intolerable. But in these people I
see myself. I see myself before Christ.
And then God reminds me of how he has changed me…
It was not long ago that I was the hurting person that hurt
people. For so long people had sinned against me and made me so cold to any
form of love or compassion. I, in turn, sinned against others and against God.
The weight of it all was so much to carry. I carried around painful memories
that would rear their ugly heads to torment me. I carried around the wrongs
that I had done to others and the conviction that I was a bad and harmful
person. Every step of the way I lied, cheated and did what I had to do to
protect myself and survive (if you want to call that surviving). And in the end
I was an empty, hollow shell of a person who could not love myself or allow the
love of others. When you are in that kind of pain you don’t think of right and
wrong- you do what you have to do to make it to the next day. Until one day you
are so fed up with your life that you don’t want a next day, you don’t even
want a next hour.
Sometimes, as I drive down the freeway I look at the flood
of cars all around me, and I wonder how many of those people feel the way I
described above. And it makes me want to cry. It brings me back to a time when
I was hopeless and I so desperately needed Jesus.
So many people around us need Jesus. Yet, we look at their
sin with disgust and contempt. We compare their morality with ours and
determine that they are “bad people”. But the Bible says that we ALL sin and
fall short of the glory of God. It is so humbling to know that a Holy God
looked at me, in my sin, and sent his son to die that I might be able to have
life with Him. And he didn’t just do it for me. He did it for that person that
I work for that lies and cheats everyone around him, he did it for the girl who
uses her body as a tool to financially survive, for the drug addict that
steals, for the man that abandons his kids. God loves those hurting people that
hurt people. He wants to heal them and give them new life.
I have had people ask me how it was that my life changed- my
answer is Jesus. There was no 5 point plan or program or prescription. There
were some believers who loved me and showed me a God that loved me. They showed
me a God that loved me just as I was, with no string attached. They showed me a
God who saw my potential and that had a plan for my life. And once they showed
me all I had to do was surrender. Some people hear the word surrender and think
“that’s all I have to do?” But complete surrender is no easy task. It requires
that you give up everything. And by everything, I mean everything. You let go
of all control and trust God with your life.
When I finally surrendered to God I was to the point where I
could not live life on my own anymore. And that is often the point where we
need to be. Most of us are stubborn, selfish children who think we can manage
all on our own. It is not until we have royally screwed up everything that we
finally commit to letting God have control.
As I look around into the eyes of people on the streets, in
my workplace and driving in my car- I honestly feel that there are many people
that are to the point of surrender in their lives- they just don’t know what to
do. So many people are hurting and overwhelmed and just waiting for an answer. The
answer is the gospel! It is our jobs, as those who Jesus has saved, to show the
love of Christ. This love should be patient, unconditional and unfailing. It is
only through the love of Jesus that we will be able to reach the hurting people
who hurt people.
