Befriend those who need it most

By Nathan Meno

How do you feel about the people around you? Not just the people in your social circle or the people across the hall. What about those people you see while walking to class? What is your thought process like?

The truth is, we focus on physical appearance, social status and the manner in which a person is represented. Not one of us can truthfully say we are not guilty of judging a book by its cover.

A homeless man lying on a street in Chicago with a sign in his hand asking for help is immediately dismissed. Why? If we give him money, he’ll just use it to buy drugs and alcohol. The more logical choice would be to take this man and buy him lunch. We tell ourselves that if we weren’t in a rush, we’d do exactly this. Not today, we’re running late. Somebody else will do it.

What about that person on campus who is socially ostracized because nobody will take the time to get to know him or her? It’s much easier to conform – to point and laugh. After all, what would our “friends” think if we were to take time out of our day to help this person feel welcome?

Many of us claim to be of Christian faith by name. The number of Christians who practice by example are significantly less. In His teachings, Jesus tells us He is within the poor, the less fortunate. He tells us He is within that person in class who sits by himself, and He is within the atheist who does not believe in God.

If we turn our backs on these people, if we point and laugh, we are turning our backs on Jesus. However, if we take time out of our day to spend with these people – if we lift them up by actions – then we are indeed lifting up Jesus.

It’s not a challenge to socially accept the beautiful and the rich. We’ve already done that by human nature. What is a challenge, however, is to befriend the disheveled, the poor and the unbelieving. These are the people who need it most.

Many Christians go out to collect the confessions of those they feel should repent. We as Christians must realize we are the ones who should be asking for forgiveness.

We have not accepted people for who they are. We have not shown unconditional love as we should be doing. We need to ask for the forgiveness of the unbelieving; those who view us poorly because they feel we impose our views upon them. God loves them just as much as He loves us. Instead of imposing our views, we should lift these people up by example.

We also need to ask the minorities, those of other religions and homosexuals for their forgiveness. God loves them just as much as He loves us. We have not shown them the unconditional love our Lord provides for everyone. We have not lived up to what we have set out to be.

It does not matter which corner of life a person comes from. We all are deserving of God’s grace, mercy and love. Let’s hope we remember that each day of our lives.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.