Seeing People the Way Jesus Sees People

As we read through the New Testament it becomes obvious that Jesus did not merely look; He saw. Jesus saw Crowds weary from travel, hungry from listening to a lot of preaching, beggars, the marginalized, the sick, and the lost were all embraced in His sweeping gaze.

Take a look around you.  Think about all the people that need Jesus.  Think about people that you have some influence with, not just the people in your household, but people that you come in contact with throughout your day to day life.  It does not matter if you like them or not, just look at them. Now stop looking at them with your eyes and try to look at them with God’s eyes.  Try to see them the way God sees them.  If you could have the same way of looking at them as God, what would you see?

Too often, the busyness of our lives removes from us the possibility of truly doing the latter of the two. We look at an accident on the interstate, but do we see the damage to the people involved?  We look at a husband and wife straining to appear normal, but do we see the widening gaps in the marital foundation?  We look at the backward girl in the middle school assembly, but do we see the bullying she’s enduring at school?

Looking takes but a moment; seeing requires us to process information, connect dots, sympathize, and understand.  It also requires action.  All around us are people who need Christ.  Do we see them? All around us are believers who are struggling to walk with Christ.  Do we see them?  All around us are believers desperately wanting to be connected, but are entrenched in loneliness.  Do we see them?

A survey once found that 74% of Protestant churchgoers feel they “have developed significant relationships with people at their church.”  Yet, the same survey found that only 53% of the same group are intentionally trying to meet new people at their church.  Nearly half of our people are looking without seeing.

To help more people along the path of discipleship means that first, we must see them.  If we’re going to follow Jesus, we will need to notice how He lives, what He notices, how He sees—and let that transform the way we see as well.

Following Jesus will help you:

1. To see people for their needs, not your inconvenience. (See Acts 3:3-5)

Do you see broken people as an annoyance or an opportunity to be a blessing?  Most churches have some kind of greeting time during the worship time.  These are good as far as they go, but have inherent limitations. It tends to be loud. People are moving around.  There is an expectation of a handshake, a “good to see you,” and not much else. It’s like speed dating for visitors.

Rather than the greeting being the end, make it a means.  Teach people to identify someone to catch up with at the end of the service to engage more fully.  The first time may not be the right time for a small-group invite, but it can be the right time to start remembering a name, a face, the family structure, or get contact information.

2. To see people for their potential, not their problems. (See Acts 3:6)

Are you ever tempted to define people by their brokenness?  Some religious people have raised this to an art form.  The Pharisees did it often:

     a. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

     b. “I thank you that I am not like this tax collector.”

     c. “If he were a prophet, he would know what sort of woman this is.”

In our culture, we have plenty of radio and TV commentators, talking heads, and politicians who make their livelihood debating who should take the blame for the brokenness in our world. (These folks come in Democrat, Republican, and Independent versions!)

But if we are to follow Jesus in all our values, we’re going to have to choose a different attitude. Don’t define people by their brokenness, sin, and past—define them by their Savior!  As the old saying goes,

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

3. To see that every broken person has the potential for healing. (See Acts 3:7-8)

Gut check: Do you believe God can heal (either physically—or emotionally or spiritually!) that person you have passed by a thousand times?  It’s of no use for the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to notice broken people if deep inside we are unconvinced that grace can transform them!

Often in the gospels, we are told that Jesus had compassion on a certain group of people.  This usually led to an action on His part, like healing the sick or feeding the crowd.  Seeing with Jesus’ eyes is directly tied to compassion.  As we see with Jesus’ eyes, we will experience compassion as He did and be moved to reach out to others both inside and outside the family of faith.

4. To see that every broken person has the potential for influence. (See Acts 3:9-10)

Have you heard the phrase “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”?  I’d like to propose a different version:  “The worse they are, the more glory God receives when they are transformed.”

The needs are great, so much so that Jesus turned to His disciples and said “the harvest is much, but the workers are few.”  How tragic! So many hurting people—so many needs and so few workers.  For this reason, Jesus challenged the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.  This is not casual prayer, but heart wrenching prayer.

This describes the prayer of a leper who fell on his face before Jesus pleading to be healed. “…a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." (Luke 5:12)

“Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.” (Luke 9:38) This is the prayer of a father whose only child was oppressed by an evil spirit.

If we can learn to see people the way Jesus sees people, maybe we could learn to pray with this kind of passion for workers in the harvest.

 

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