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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Johnathan Hernandez and Gary Schick.
Gary Schick
Well, here's a question, actually, it's one that came to you, Jonathan. Which, I just think you've come up with some really great questions and our people have too. This has just been a fun fall, I think, in terms of some of the questions we've had.
Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, I have a friend that I rely on sometimes to get some questions to me if I can't think of things.
Gary Schick
Really? Well, I don't know who this friend is, but keep the questions coming. They're good ones. So here's the question, "but the Lord said to Samuel, 'do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him.' The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV. How can we see people the way God does?" Great question!
Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, that could be a very tough one, right? In our flesh, we'd like to see people the way we think they're acting, or that we think that they're doing something. And so we want to look at them that way. "Oh, these people are evil. These people are mean. That person's amazing, that person's great." So sometimes we want to see people in the light of our carnal mindset. And I think for us to be able to see people the way that God does, it comes with us being in a relationship with God. I am not going to see people the way God does if I have no relationship with God. I want to see them the way that my mindset sees them or how I see them, or how the world sees people. And so I think the first step for us would be, Hey, we need to be in relationship with God. We need to be in that relationship with God to have that mindset that he has towards people and how he sees people. And that all comes through our devotion life. If we don't have our devotion life in place, that's reading the Bible, praying, those type of disciplines. If we don't have those in place, we're not going to see people the way that God does. And so that's the first thing, is we have to make sure that we have that relationship with God. And then I'm not going to see people the way God sees them either if I'm not willing to be in relationship with them. I can have my own mindset towards somebody, but until I've interacted with them, until I've been active in their life, then I can see through the things that I think the world is saying of them. So those things are important to have, but it all comes down to how is God seeing them? If my identity is wrapped up in the world, I'm going to see everybody else's identity wrapped up in that. Gosh, we just need to get back to being people of the word. Getting back to that, my mind can't pull that scripture into my head. But we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, right? Ephesians, "we don't wrestle against flesh and blood." That's not what we're wrestling against. We're wrestling against the principalities, the powers of this dark world. And so when I see somebody and I don't see them the way that God does, I need to check myself and say, "okay, is my devotional life in place?" And if it is, then "okay, God, how are you seeing this person? Because you see this person as your son, as your daughter. You see this person as loved and as cherished." And so if my thought process of that person has anything other than that, then it's like, "Ooh, I need to get myself back in order." I need to line myself back with Christ. And a lot of us in our different workplaces, we deal with a lot of different people. And if we see these people as useless or worthless, then how are we ever going to help serve? I mean, gosh, Jesus was here and he served. He didn't come and say, "oh, well, this, this, worship me." He didn't force things; he served. And that was an example for us. How can I serve other people? And if I see them as useless or me above them, I'll never be able to be humble enough to serve them. And so my mindset wherever I go, "how can I worship God in what I'm doing now? How can I worship God in serving other people? How can I see these people as priceless? As sons and daughters of Christ?
Gary Schick
And I think it goes back, really, to a question you brought us a couple of weeks ago as we were approaching Thanksgiving, "how can we be the hands and feet of Jesus?" It starts with having the eyes and the heart of Jesus. And really it kind of reminds me in terms of that little tension between the way we see others and the way Jesus does of what happened the day that Jesus fed the 5,000. It's getting to be supper time, and the disciples are like, "Lord, send them away. Send them to the surrounding countryside in the villages so they can get some food." But what does it say? Jesus' response was, even when he first saw the crowd. It said that Jesus, when he saw the crowd waiting, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And the Greek word for compassion there, basically it's translated in the old King James, "bowels of mercy." He felt it in the gut. And so it really does. It brings us back to that question that you had. Well, how do we get the eyes and the heart of Jesus? The other thing that reminds me of is back when I was in my first pastorate, a little Catholic hospital was nearby St. Mary's Hospital in Sparta, Wisconsin. Shout out to Sparta. And it was just a teeny hospital. Really, all the serious work got done down at St. Francis down in La Crosse, Wisconsin or Gunderson Lutheran. Those are the two big hospitals. Excellent places. But anyway, one of the reputations that they had was just such tremendous care, and there's nuns working there. And so somebody asked one of the nuns, "well, what's different about the way you, why do you treat the patients the way you do?" And they said, "well, we are taught right from the beginning of our becoming people who are---women who are dedicated to Christ as nuns, to treat everyone that we see and to care for everyone as if we were caring for Jesus." And part of me would go, "oh, that is so cool that they do that." Then I got to thinking, wait a minute. This isn't just something for Catholic monks and nuns. This is actually pretty biblical. Remember Jesus in Matthew when he's separating the sheep from the goats? He says, "you know what? I was hungry. You fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me a drink. I was a stranger. You took me in. I was sick. You visited me. Wait a minute. When did we see you, Lord? When did we do these things for you? Well, when you did it to the least of these...and then the goats, you're out of here. I was hungry. You didn't give me anything to eat. I was thirsty. You didn't give me anything to drink. I was sick. You didn't visit me. I was naked. You didn't give me clothes. Well, Lord, when did we neglect you? Well, when you neglected the least of these, you were doing it to me." So very biblical. And for all Christians, it starts with seeing others not only as Christ would, but as Christ himself. And so I just kind of want to wrap up with three things here. Three keys. I think number one: love. Let's remind ourselves as we, and I know people are honking at you as you're going down the road or whatever it is. It's so easy to get frustrated, especially in the chaos of this month leading up to Christmas. But love, remember whoever they are, however annoying or whatever the issue is. This is someone Christ died for, just like they died for you in your sin, in your less pretty moments. Respect. This is somebody that was made in God's image. Every human being was made in God's image. Now, that image has been distorted by sin. It's a fallen nature. But, the imago dei, the original image of God, it's still in there. He's got his fingerprints all over, each special creation, each person. Hope. Hope is important. We don't give up on people. That's something that our kids have watched in us over the years. We don't give up on each other. We don't even give up on our pets. Your story isn't written yet. And by the way, neither is the person across the table or across the room or down the hall. Their story isn't complete. No, this may not be a great chapter, but the story's not done. The ink isn't dry. If God can take an apostle Paul who's out there hunting down and persecuting and dragging off Christians, be stoned to death and thrown in jail, then He can turn around that person. What did it take for God to turn you around? And then faith. God is big enough to conquer any soul, but what a beautiful thing. He uses you and me and the process. Just as we wrap up, 1 Corinthians 13:13 comes to mind, "but these three remain faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these, of course, is love." But those are words not only to memorize and to ponder, but to live by and live out toward others.