Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
In a January 3, 2014, report for the DailyMail.com, correspondent Melissa Kite describes donning a “fat suit” made in the United States for the Peterborough City Hospital in England, to the tune of over $1600US. Kite, a svelte 119 pounds (8½ stone in British terms), donned a “bariatric suit” that elevated her weight to 40 stone…or 560 pounds. The hospital is using this suit to help provide nurses with empathy for the obese patients they treat in their facility. Hite points out that over a million people are classified as “morbidly obese” in Great Britain. Given the added health risks that come with obesity, it’s a sure bet that more than handful of these folks will visit the hospital for some sort of treatment. I encourage you to read this thought-provoking report for yourself.*
I chose a fairly “mainstream” example of “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes”…but only because this is one we can physically imagine and envision. We can also visualize simulating homelessness for a weekend, restraining an arm or leg or wearing a blindfold and trying to imagine what it would be like to function without a limb or our eyesight. But how do we gain insight into the more “invisible” lives - and burdens - of others? Are we able to imagine what it would be like to be bullied? Can we truly understand the emotional anguish of someone who has suffered the loss of a child? Do you know what it feels like to be mistreated because of the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, something that happened to you in the past, your ethnicity, or your social status?
Can you possibly imagine what it is like to suffer from some form of mental illness? Have you considered the challenges that come to the family members of those who do? Are you able to truly understand what it is to wake up hungry every day… and go to bed wondering whether you will survive another? Can you relate to the terminally ill person who is facing his/her own mortality, and all of the worries and concerns for those left behind? Do you have any idea the mental and emotional torment that may plague an addict, adulterer, prostitute, gang member, or psychopath? Do you know firsthand the heartache of parents who are filled with worry and anguish over delinquent children or a child with mental, physical or emotional issues? Have you personally been charged with responsibilities of caring for an aging loved one…and had to make difficult “life decisions” in the process?
I do not believe that Paul is calling on us to literally become one of these people…even for a short term experience. But in essence, He is telling us to stop for just a minute and try to envision their world…to “put on their fat suit” in our minds and hearts…and to see what – and who – God sees. Then…and only then…will we have a shot at truly sharing the compassion – and Good News – of Christ with them. There is an adage that is attributed to several people that essentially says, “People don’t care what you know…until they know that you care.” This is what Paul is trying to share with us in this passage of scripture. So my question today for all of us is…do people know that we care? Isn’t it time they did?
©2014 Debbie Robus
*Wearing fat suits can make you sympathise with the obese...
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