Loving people is hard. Loving messy people is even harder.
But God’s greatest demand is that we “Love God and Love people” and his claim is that EVERYTHING (the law and prophets) hinge on this. The Barna Group recently did a study on the attitudes and actions of Christians and whether they look like Christ or the Pharisees. Sadly, we’re not keeping in step with the man we claim to follow. 86% of Christians have the attitudes and actions of Pharisees. Whereas a whopping 14% have the attitudes and actions of Christ.
Why is this?
We’re forgetting how Jesus sees people. And often times I want the fame. I want the prestige that comes with being a follower of Jesus. Or I just ignore the messy people around me. But the call of Blind Bartimaeus still echoes throughout our society: “Have mercy on me! Just notice me!”
Will we turn a blind eye? Or will we choose to serve and love our neighbors?
Scripture Used:
Mark 10:33-52
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Now, I’m looking at this from a different perspective. What does this teach me regarding my ministry to the community?
I am thinking now that my teaching on Sunday mornings should be directed more to the “crowd” as an evangelistic approach. The teaching can be for the crowd and the disciples at the same time.
The teaching I give for the crowd can be useful for the disciples, but the teaching intended for the disciples may not be applicable to the crowd.
So, I need to teach for the crowd and the disciples on Sunday morning and have different teaching options for the disciples. I can give them deeper teaching at another time.
What do you think?