What I never forgot growing up amidst a “marginalized community”, was the mentality of many of the people trying to find something that separated them as “better than” those in the same community.  Since no one had a financial status to be proud of, people looked at how they kept their apartment clean, children behaved, nice clothes, or even having a car, as something that kept them from relating to others who didn’t…

Yet even as Christians, the idea of not relating to those who are apart of the same “community of believers” plagues the Church today.  When that is dominant within a community, the clear issue is our embrace of status and prestige, over the image of Christ.  Jesus has compassion and mercy for all, because there is no status “good enough” for Him, yet He came and died to relate and redeem us…(Matthew 5:46-48, Hebrews 4:15)

If we think about how Jesus was mistreated, and He was truly perfect and compassionate.  Being conformed to the image of Christ must start with our thinking, which Paul concludes in Galatians 6:3-For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 

So when the writer of Hebrews tells us to consider ourselves in prison, or with those mistreated, a prideful response will “prophesy” as if we’re too good to be in prison. Or will always fight back when mistreated, because we are too proud to let that happen (Acts 8:32).  Sadly protecting our pride and image in that way, keeps us from being effective in relating to a world full of mistreated people!

You may not know anyone in prison, and you shouldn’t have to in order to have compassion.  But surely you know what being mistreated is like.  Instead of having the natural proclivity to defend ourselves, or try and achieve so high that we are too “important” to be mistreated.  Ironically, that kind of pride deems itself more important than Jesus!  Instead, use those experiences to relate to the mistreated, because it will make you more effective to bless and help others, who need you to relate for Christ sake. (Hebrews 13:12-13)

In His Love, Ld