See

How do we see people? And, how often do we even attempt to see people the way that God does? More specifically, how do we see the people that irritate us the most? That friend who continues to make poor choices that result in his persistent state of poverty--spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and financially. The son that decides that a life without your values is a life well spent? That sister who has the same conversation with you over and over about the guy that she knows and you know she should break up with. (I know, I know, Christians never get irritated with anyone. So, for those of us who are Christian, let's pretend that we sometimes get frustrated.)

At what point do we lose hope for the people we love the most that show no signs of changing trajectory? My experience is sadly showing me more and more often that this state of despair for others exists in the Kingdom more frequently than we would like to admit.

I spoke with another Kingdom person a while ago who may relate with many of us in similar situations. Though she verbally asserted that she had not lost hope in the person we were speaking about, she simultaneously affirmed, "I want to believe them ["Them" and "They" are being used to maintain anonymity], but they have made it such a lifestyle that it's hard for me to accept." Certainly many of us have friends or relatives that we have seen that repeatedly make debilitating choices. At some point, it's easier to give in and assume that change is impossible than to continue to employ the emotional energy required to maintain hope for that person. It hurts when we hold out hope for someone we love just to watch him throw his life away again and again. It tears at our souls, grips our hearts, and crushes our spirits. When hope dissipates, despair sets in. Isn't it great that God never loses hope in humanity?

God's answer for humanity was to be the ultimate relater, to step into human history, take out as many barriers as possible, and engage humanity from a human level. He is the best at empathy, for he emptied himself so that he could take on humanity to give us a glimpse of what the Kingdom Identity looks like if each of us should choose to embrace it. In the midst of His humanity, he demonstrated how it is possible to live in this present reality in light of eternity. Could it be that for those who have stepped into the Kingdom that they too have the ability to live in this present reality in light of eternity, because God has now stepped into them, making such a feat not only possible, but actual? Could it also be that much of our struggles as Kingdom people revolve around our inability to grasp this? If God chose to empty himself, step into human history, and empathize with us from our vantage point, how much more should we empathize with one another due to our Kingdom status?

What seems to happen more often than not is we become the arbiters of morality. We decide that our friends/relatives/roommates need someone to tell them that they are messing up and we are just the person to tell them! We are the ones that should let them in on reality, holding them to a ridiculous standard that even we could not attain to. We should also discuss the motivation behind our judgment. Most often, it seems that our motivation lacks compassion. Instead, it is replaced with self-righteousness couched under the "authenticity" card. We tell them that we "are just being real", which gives us licence (apparently) to say whatever comes to mind--unfiltered. How many hearts have been crushed by the unfiltered words of a reckless parent? "You're worthless!" "You'll never amount to anything!" And even after you begin to do better, all you hear is, "Well, how long before you mess this up?"



Hope



Without it our souls drown in despair. How many people have we withheld hope from that desperately needed it? Last week (12.4-12.10.06), a guy that I knew from way back when (about six years ago), I'm told, decided that the gap between who he longed to be and who he actually was, was too great. He tragically ended his life.

The logical end of a life filled with despair and overrun with hopelessness is most often suicide. There is a person that God longs for each of us to be. We know who it is. It tugs at our hearts, ignites our souls with passion, moves us to compassion, drives us to leave the world better than when we entered it, warns us of the person we long to become yet lack the ability to attain on our own. But how often does our identity get defined by our parent's longing of who we should be? Roommate's? Bestfriend's? Husband's, wife's, BF, GF, etc.?

How often have we passed up the opportunity to speak into someone's life and give him hope? How often have we carelessly told someone they will never amount to anything? How often have we passed by the person on the street whose face screamed out for someone to acknowledge their existence? And how long will we close our eyes to the scenery of each soul that God longs to impact through us? When will we pray for His eyes in us and begin to act through the reality He has revealed us to be?

Jesus told the disciples, "Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." Prophets waited for centuries to see the Kingdom of God. They waited to hear the good news,

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn ... to bestow on them ... a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Anyone who has stepped into the Kingdom now has Kingdom eyes that have seen what prophets longed for and righteous men dreamed. The metamorphosis that has occured within those of us in the Kingdom is not there simply to terminate on itself but to be extended to all. Will we choose to see with God's eyes looking through us and carry the good news to those who desperately need it? Or will we "let someone else take care of telling" our family, co-workers, and friends? It's part of who you are now as a Kingdom person. You are an includer. Our identity implores us to invite others to step into eternity. Fighting that urge numbs our souls to the pain of a world looking for God and to the lives He has created us to live.