As He Sees Them
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:35-36
We are all one body in Christ. God does not see color. There is only one race: the human race. These are commonly used phrases when one must deal with the topic of race. Let me be the first to say these are phrases that I have heard most of my life, and for a while, I felt comfortable not only hearing them but also using them. Before I make my next statement, let me say that we are all created in God’s image, and as such, worthy of love, respect, and warmth just as He has given us. However, we need to face a very honest reality. We are different. Not in the sense of unequal or one is better than another. Instead, we all differ when it comes to our color and race, and all are to be heard, understood, and celebrated as individuals. It is perfectly all right for you to see me as your brother in Christ. However, if you do not see me as your Black brother in Christ, you are missing a lot. No one would ever state people are the same. Each has different experiences and encounters different situations that are unique to each gender. As a Black man, I like many things that Asian, white, Hispanic, and other nationalities and races enjoy. But here is where you know there is a difference. As I explained to a fellow white Christian, you could say the word ‘lynching’ to any Black person, and while the responses may differ, the feelings inside are both universally the same and almost unique to Black people. If you do not see color, you are not colorblind. You are entirely blind because while you may see them as a child of God, you do not see them as God sees them.
God made us different so that we could better see His work in all of us. The reason I mention our differences is not to further separate us. It is to simply acknowledge that we must work to understand each other better. I have heard numerous times people be called ‘evil’ and ‘demented’ simply because they are ‘different.’ This was on my mind when I read today’s verses. Because someone is different from us, we separate ‘them’ and often see ‘them’ as the enemy. The initial thought was that Jesus was focusing on who are enemies were and how we respond to them. The truth is so much deeper than that. Jesus wants us to focus on our hearts, and here is why it makes sense. God created man, and thus, we are His. There is no distinction between who is or is not. We are all His. Yes, we can get into who is truly His in another conversation, but initially, we all have this one connection. As such, any individual who we may encounter is either a current brother or sister in Christ or a potential one. We cannot distinguish between who is or is not. That is why Jesus said to love your enemies, and note, He did not say it calmly. He put emphasis on it because He realized something I have come to believe. If you can love all, no one is truly your enemy. If we work to understand someone, then we know them, and if we know them, it becomes far more difficult to say they are our enemy. I am not saying to trust everyone you see. I would not dare trust my youngest daughter with my car 😊 What I am saying is we should be present for anyone who needs God’s love, and even when we do not know them, we can listen, appreciate, and understand them. Only then can we truly be followers of Christ.
God’s unconditional love goes beyond all barriers. Whether it is race, gender, country, or religion, we can overcome our fears and biases simply by diving in with the love God has for us. We are far better to say I love you and would love to hear about you than God loves you and He wants to hear about you. You see, God does not want to be used to make disciples. He chose us to be His representative. So let us be willing to see each other not just as equals but also people willing to see each other as David understood us to be in Psalms:
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. (Psalm 139:13-14)
How can you better see others outside of your own view? What steps can you take to better see others as God sees them? My prayer is that we overcome our challenges by trusting our love for God to see others as He sees them. Amen.