We are ALL Needy, WIL 16

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer" (2 Cor. 5:14-16).

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend my Saturday evening cooking, serving, cleaning up a meal for Seattle's Central District's People in Need. In about an hour, we fed 125 people, some of them twice and thrice. My guard was halfway up, heightening my senses and reactions. I haven't served at this location before. You never know exactly what you'll encounter.

Programs specializing in People in Need must have strict rules of conduct, to keep the peace. I was very impressed with this Operation; how orderly the clients were - they knew the drill, they complied in exchange for Needs Met.

Cooking and cleaning is something I can do. It's easier than having a conversation, searching for things in common with someone who lives a very different life. Practical service necessary - and safer. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs clearly states that Basic needs must be filled in order to begin addressing higher needs, including Spiritual ones. (This is one reason I struggle with ministries that require attending a Gospel service before the meal. But that is a different post.) However, Practical service is a contact point, an in to some relationship.

Because I am Needy and still invited into wholeness in Christ, His friendship compels me to open myself to others in Need - Everyone. If I truly believe He died for ALL, I should see them as Deeply Loved, just as I see myself. I can look at them through Christ's Eyes, have compassion on them, identify with them.

"17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Cor. 5:17-20a).

Although I cannot vouch for their Belief, I can testify to my transformation, my responsibility to accept others because I am accepted. I am Being Made New every morning because of His faithfulness and love (Lam. 3:22-23). As a recipient of His grace, a Being changed from glory to increased glory (2 Cor. 3:18), He asked me - sometimes commands me - to do what I can, where I am to bring others into His Love.

Miraculously, I was able to see each man as an individual, see past their shabby exterior, see their humanness in the midst of their struggle to survive. Many would not meet my eyes; some would only mumble that they wanted everything available on their taco. They seemed crushed under the weight of Deep Need.

Some may call what I felt Pity, but I placed myself in their shoes. I pray they felt more than Pity, that they felt Compassion - Compassion beyond me, from the very heart of God.