There has never been a time in our history where we are seemingly more connected to persons we know. Yet at the same time, we are suffering from greater loneliness in epidemic proportions. Social media and the dopamine rush from “likes” and “hearts” responding to our posts give us a sense of false intimacy. How does this happen? We have never been pitched to more than now from people that want to exploit us. Scammers harass us on our phones via unsolicited calls and through Facebook, as do other social media hackers. Seems like people who we do not care about want to have contact with us just to defraud us. And, we may not have more than casual relationships with people that we really do want to know. We have more sources of entertainment from our screens than we could ever absorb. There seems to be less and less urgency to achieve a sense of belonging and face to face communication.
I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by our youth ministry at South, headed up by Sean and Nathan. If I were not a part of Watchmen Prayer or the Celebration Choir, I would have never come to know the youth of our church. It appears to be a place where people are clearly seen and valued. Those that attend the youth group seem to have an eagerness for authenticity in a very bold way. I believe this is spawned by love for Christ. Love is modeled, and love is reciprocated. The same John that wrote the Gospel, says in 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us”. Jesus can be utterly trusted with our whole self, warts and all, because he chose to love us while we were “by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.” (Ephesians 2:3b.}
Jesus’ encounters with two of the apostles echoes this sacrificial and omniscient love of both Simon “Peter” and Nathaniel. In both accounts, he elevates them in His first face to face interaction with them. Cephas (Aramaic) is given a new name “Peter” that suggests great stability and integrity – Πέτρος, petros “the Rock” in Greek. He was not really that stable prior to receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, yet Jesus saw him differently. He saw Peter as he was to be. Then, Nathaniel was called by Jesus a man of no “guile or deceit, a true Israelite”. What an honor for a man that was skeptical. His skepticism led to belief when Jesus said he saw Nathaniel under the fig tree. Nathaniel had previously questioned, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
In my 30’s, I had just left a “church” that some considered a cult and had landed at Mission Hills Church. It was very difficult to separate myself from former ties. I will never forget when a Pastor that was one of the founders of Mission Hills Church met me in his office and asked me, “Tell me about yourself”. I never had anyone ask me that before. I had free reign to construct my answer any way I thought was right. He was willing to squander his time on getting to know me. I felt that he truly wanted to know me, and I felt seen in a way that I had not before. That was a pivotal moment for me. I often still ask myself, “What would Chuck do?” because I saw Christ in this man in a way that was very real.
When you feel seen by Christ or someone that emulates Christ, it is life changing. Many ministries are born from such encounters. Someone sees in you something you may not see in yourself. They draw out the best and call you higher. Jesus elevated all those he came in contact with that had ears to hear. Remember the woman with the issue of blood or blind Bartimaeus or the woman caught in adultery?
So, what might this mean for you? I encourage you to position yourself in an environment where people can see you with those that you respect or see the workings of Christ in. This could be through joining a small group, a ministry, or Emotionally Health Spirituality starting in mid-September.
An even greater application would be this. Be the person, like Christ, who sees others and invests in them more than they feel they deserve. Call them to something higher. It could be someone that sits alone in church, sits in the back, races out after church without saying a word to anyone. Someone seeing them could be a pivotal point in their life. What risk is there to this? You could ask them to join you for coffee and ask those glorious four words, “tell me about yourself”, and just give them the floor.
by John Colvin
