The Art of Seeing People

“If Satan can’t make you sin, he will make you busy.” Author Unknown

Ok, I confess. Sometimes I see a great crowd and run. I am not the only one. Have you ever avoided someone at the mall or the market? Yes, you have, and so have I. Boy, confession sure is freeing.

There was something so common about the ministry of Jesus, so subtle and sustainable that it can be easily overlooked. Jesus was available. Jesus was moved by people. He moved towards people, not away from them. The gospel writers wrote often that Jesus was with his disciples. Jesus was with the crowds. Jesus was with sinners and tax collectors. It seems that if you were willing to be with Jesus, he was ready and willing to be with you. Simply stated, Jesus made himself available to others. Why? His mission was people . . . to seek and save the lost. You never pick up an aloofness in his ministry.

When Jesus looked out on the crowd, his first emotion was not exhaustion but compassion. It says in Mark 6:34, “When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” Jesus leaned into relationships instead of running from them. He sought out people and made himself available to them.

We have lost the practice of “being with.” Instead, we place our Beats headphones on and we block out the world around us so we can be lost in our solitude. We fail to remember that we were created to be in community. Even our anatomy points to this community. We have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth so that we can be with each other. We are built to engage.

Today you and I can choose to go offline, use “Do not disturb,” or in the old days, just take the phone off the hook. Is your default to move towards people or away? Do you look for ways to engage others to impact them for the cause of Christ? This is a gut-level check of the heart. You cannot manufacture this available attitude, but you can ask the Lord to give you the heart, eyes, and ears of Jesus.

Here are three ways to increase your availability this week: First, slow down so you can see the crowd like Jesus did. Second, see the need people have, just ,as Jesus saw their need for a shepherd. This requires a lot of “why” and “how” questions. Third and finally, consciously choose to see people this week, not as projects, but as people . . . people with real needs, real hopes, and who need what you have to offer. Choose to truly see people this week.