Life Below the Line

"Rich people who see a brother or sister in need, yet close their hearts against them, cannot claim that they love God." Such convicting truth stated in 1 John 3:17. We don't even calculate that homeless people are there a majority of the time. We may see them out of our peripheral vision, but we continue along our way. Don't be so quick to judge them; you could just as easily be in their shoes. As a society we blame their pain on them, saying, "they are just lazy" or "all they want is drugs." We judge humans by their state of appearance instead of taking the time to learn their story.

Imagine going a week without saying a word to anyone. Imagine sitting on a street corner being ignored by everyone who passes, or getting kicked out of coffee shops even though you've bought a cup of coffee simply because of your current conditions of worn, tattered clothing. Imagine being stripped of your humanity, feeling completely alone, hungry, tired, and hopeless. What does it really look like to be homeless? Just as you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, you shouldn't judge people without understanding their stories.

In NO way do I understand what it is like to be homeless. I can barely imagine the pain and heartbreak to be in that unfortunate situation. While I don’t know what it is like to be homeless, I know that their lives are still valuable. Often, we get passionate about issues, but we ignore the individuals. We are headed to serve at a soup kitchen yet we drive pass so many in need of food on the way. We go off on mission trips but trip over the ones in need and the mission at our doorstep. We sponsor children in other countries, but we don’t engage. Does this solve this issue? Let’s stop focusing on the issues because it is about the individuals.

The system is broken, and no matter where you are poverty is practically inescapable. Life below the line of poverty is way more than a human piece of trash. They are fighter; they are survivors, they are much stronger than most of us will ever be. I’m not calling you to sell everything you own and experience poverty, but I do want you to step out of your bubble and look at the world from the view of a street corner with a growling stomach and the knowledge that you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. You smell yourself. Your clothing is hanging on by its last thread. Your heart breaks a little every time someone glances over your way in disgust as the desire to cling to anything for hope wells inside of you. Understand life below the line, and suddenly it isn’t an issue it’s an individual.

I know tomorrow it is Thanksgiving and gratitude it grand but this week I want to challenge you to build unforeseen relationships. If the door opens experience life below the line. Don’t just jump out of your world and enter there’s for a day, open your eye and embrace a brother or sister when you cross paths with them.

Every person is a book; they have a story, are you going to make it past the front cover?

#poverty #love #broken