Becoming Sensitive To Others

For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Matt 23:4 (NKJV)

We have to become more sensitive to other people. We have to be careful that we are not so busy making sure other people are getting their Christianity right that we miss our own imperfections. Being a disciple or learner that follows Christ is a growth process.. It is a life-long pursuit of God.

While in pursuit of God, some people make the mistake of not having a holistic view of themselevs as a Christian. Holistic simply means we look to take care of our mind, body, and spirit. We need to learn how tend to each area of our life in order to become more balanced, without striving for perfection. Holiness should be the test of our progress.

For example, Jesus says that having intentional sexual thoughts about someone (other than a wife or husband) is a sin just the same as having a sexual relationship with someone without being married to that person. Therefore, we have to care about how we process our thoughts. This means protecting our minds by being aware of the types of images and sounds we encounter in movies, online, in music or books. If these things deter from our ability to have a better thought life, then we probably should avoid those things.

We are going to make mistakes. We are going to misjudge some things in life. We are going to encounter sin. The test of holiness reveals how we have prepared ourselves to deal with uncertainties or mistakes, yet doing this in God's designed way without creating to-do lists that even Jesus would discard.

When we learn how to care for our whole selves, we find ourselves more sensitive to others. We become more concerned with them and how to encourage them without being perceived as being overly concerned with curing their problem. Relationships with others should have boundaries which allows a person to be private and allows the person to grow more comfortable with the idea of sharing problems or uncertainties.

In other words, they need to feel as if they themselves are not strange or aliens. They need to know that they are not the only ones struggling with a life-issue or a sin issue. They need to know that Christians also have the same problems dealing with life, and how through Christ we are able to deal with those problems or sins. They need to know that Jesus really is the difference in our life and they need to see it in our life.

If we are to begin removing the stain of hypocrisy from the church, we will have to learn how to help the whole person and not just be concerned with solving their sin problem. Until then, people who do not go to church will continue to look at the church (you and me) with disdain. They will continue to see us as judges and not as people who care.

Our job is to live a life "in Christ that bursts with freedom to love, restoration, purity, and transparency." - unChristian

How are you living this out?