After my preaching lab, my sister randomly found me on Facebook chat this afternoon. She remarked about her professor being very picky and we talked briefly about how school is going for both of us. During the conversation, she told me about a person she had trouble dealing with. I'm won't go into detail, but her solution was to ignore the person.
This made me think of the many ways I often deal with fractured relationships. The people you don't particularly enjoy being around, the types that make you angry because of bad memories, and those strangers you see on the streets that you feel would be a waste-of-your-time talking with. Yes, I struggle with these thoughts constantly. Even today, I saw a man in the middle of the street asking for donations, while driving my roommate to the airport. Even if I was Bill Gates, I think I would have driven past this person ignoring even his existence.
Why do I ignore people? Why is it so tempting to NOT pay attention to other's needs and wants? Why is it that I believe the lie that ignoring is not a sin? Oftentimes, Christians live with a list of DO NOTs in their life. Do not commit adultery...check. Do not murder...check. Do not watch the latest Harry Potter movie...check. When it comes to relationships, we are thinking, as long as I don't kill the guy or do anything too severe, I'm living a godly life. That's why its easy to ignore people. We justify to ourselves, “Hey, I didn't do anything mean. I was neutral.”
But God continually calls us to strive for perfection, not neutrality. He wants us to replace the anger and give us love. He wants to replace our sinfulness with divine attributes through the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 2:3-4 it says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Paul states it so succinctly that the reason we look only to our own interests is because we are selfish and pride lurks in our life. I ignore people's interests because I am focused on my own interests. This is essentially the opposite of love. Whether it is the people you love like your family and/or friends, or the ones you don't particularly like hanging out with, the temptation to ignore presents itself daily.
Jesus distinguishes the faithful and wicked servants based on this characteristic. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus separates the sheep and the goats. One comment that I think sums up the characteristic of the goats succinctly is found in verse 43, “I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” Therefore, Jesus commands the goats to depart into the eternal fire. This should give us cause to ponder over just how deadly ignoring others can be. God commands us to love one another, just as He loved us. And God did NOT show his love through the act of ignoring, but through the act of looking after our deepest needs.
Soli Deo Gloria
PAP
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