How Do I See Others?

I tilted my head a bit to look for myself in his stick figure drawing. I wondered is this truly how he saw me?

He nodded. He held a felt tip marker in a small hand stained with reds and greens. He waited. Proudly. Seriously. Expectantly.

I went for the, “that’s so good!” response instead of saying, “looks just like me.” I fervently hoped the big head and round circles for eyes and mouth was not an accurate representation.

“It’s you Gamma,” he confirmed. We both stepped back to silently contemplate.

And as I regarded the straight lined legs connected directly to the massive head, my then four-year-old grandson’s personal-perception made me wonder, “How do I see people?”

Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable with my answer. Because often when I see others, I filter them through a quick and superficial comparative lens.

Fat or thin?
Rich or poor?
Attractive or plain?
Pleasant or Sand Paper?
Friendly or reserved?
Outgoing or shy?
Confident or insecure?
Politically aligned or opposed?

What is your list?

I might be presumptuous, but I’ll bet you have a list too. How do you see people?

When God asked Samuel to anoint a king, Samuel’s spiritual sight failed. What he saw and what God saw didn’t match up. David’s seven brothers paraded past him, all seemed strong, handsome, and fit to be king. Leader material. But the Lord did not choose any of them.

“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

While the early Christians faced persecution from a young religious Jew named Saul, God’s hand picked him to do great things for the Kingdom. Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. A murderer and blasphemer of Christ, Jesus proclaimed him to be “a chosen vessel” to bear His name “before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15 NKJV)

My eyes often see people with labels attached, and those tags may either dismiss or enlarge who they are in my esteem.

And sometimes I wonder with shame how I would have judged Jesus when He walked on this earth. Would I have recognized Him as God’s Son, or been distracted by the dust on His hem? Would I have seen Him as needing a haircut or too meek and mild?

Our Father chooses through different criteria. His lens is not ours. He sees past the outward. He chooses in mercy. He sees in grace.

God picked Abraham out of paganism to become the Father of a nation. Jesus chose twelve distinctly different disciples, not by their own merit, to turn the world upside down. The Holy Spirit visited a young obscure virgin to be the mother of the Christ-Child.

No one remains the same after His choosing

He sees us as a new creation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)

He sees us as reconciled to Him.

who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, (2 Corinthians 5:18 NKJV)

He sees us as ambassadors for Christ to the world.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20 NKJV)

He sees us as righteous before God.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

How does God see you?

I’m grateful that God sees past all the labels which could be attached to my being. I’m humbled that He gazes deep within through the lens of love and forgiveness where he finds a grandma with a striking resemblance to a simple stick figure drawing.