Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Fake it 'til you make it? Nah. Not today. Our Verse of the Day is going to actually put that phrase into perspective.
It comes from Romans chapter 12, verse 9. Paul writes, "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good."
If we're honest, it's a lot easier to connect with and love on the people who look like us and think like us and have similar experiences. I don't know if you've ever been to a dinner party before, and you've never met the people you're going with. It can feel really awkward. If you're like me, there are times where I will find a nice little corner to myself and just sit there and wait for some dishes to clean up because I have to do something. If I'm in a room and I don't know how I fit, I just have to do something.
Forced Out of Our Corner
This Scripture actually kind of forces us out of our corner and into active engagement with people. I was having a conversation with someone the other day, and it was in passing, and they were talking about how the city that we're in right now has just been so taken over by things that felt dark and oppressive, and they'd been here for a while. I was asking them, "What's something about the last season of life here that spurred hope for the city in you?" This person looked me in the eye and directly said, "There is no hope." Then, they began to talk about how they wished everybody who moved here would move away, and it would just go back to the way things were.
That hit my heart. I know that there are people here and around the world who see darkness and rush into it to make a difference, and that's where I'm convicted, because I don't do that all the time. Maybe you're nothing like me, and you're rushing right in to get to know people that are unlike you. But for me, I struggle. When I find common ground, I run to that thing and I stay there with somebody. It makes me feel safe.
This Scripture Doesn't Change
What this Scripture is pointing to is there are going to be days where you're surrounded by people who are nothing like you, who may not even believe in Jesus, who are living in other religions or other faiths. This Scripture doesn't change. It says to not be fake and to really love someone.
When I think of how Jesus looks at me and He looks at a world full of sin, what does He do? He acknowledges that sin is the problem, but He doesn't look at someone for their sin. You see the woman caught in adultery, people threw her at the feet of Jesus, and they said, "Look at what she did. Look at who she is." Do you know what Jesus says to her after everyone leaves? He says, "Woman, where are your accusers?" He doesn't look at her for her sin. He looks at her through it. He sees a need for hope.
Hold to What is Good
What if we did that? What if when we're surrounded by people we were not expecting to be surrounded by, in an environment that feels different than what we're used to, we look at the person through what they've done, and we do what's at the very end of this Scripture? We hold to what is good. What would it look like for you to find common ground with someone who thinks nothing like you?
Jesus does this quite a bit. Actually, it's very confrontational. He sits down and has dinner with sinners, and all the religious people walk by the door and look in, and they see Him sitting with people who steal, people who sleep around, people who do things that according to the Word of God are not right. They judge the people and they judge Jesus. But what does Jesus do? He sits with them. He loves them and He eats with them.
Build the Bridge
Today, I hope this stirs something in you. I hope it challenges you in the same way that it's challenged me to not just look at people for how different we are, but we search for the common ground, ultimately to build the bridge that hope can cross over. Maybe you can invite them to come with you into a relationship with Jesus.
