Hey everyone!
It has been a while since I’ve updated you on my travels. I am currently in Phuket. It’s an island in the south of Thailand, and we are staying about a five-minute walk from the beach. It is really pretty incredible to go on a mission trip and end up in a place like this. The reality, though, is that anyone here who is without God is every bit as poor and desperate as a homeless child on the street. We don’t often see it that way, but it is certainly the truth. Poverty, in my own words, is the state of lacking the basic needs of life, so that a person struggles to just survive. How is it not poverty if a rich man lacks the knowledge of God the Father? What distinction is there between a wealthy heiress and a beggar, if neither of them has Jesus? There is none. One may have privilege, success, honor, notoriety, and whatever else, while the other only has food for the hour and one set of ragged clothes, but they are both dead in sins. We are all on a level playing field, whether we know it or not. We either have the righteousness that comes by faith or we don’t. It’s that simple.
I know that Jesus was awfully fond of the poor, along with the early disciples, as we all should be. However, the rich are not rich unless they know Him. What would it look like if we saw everyone as a lost child of God instead of as a beggar or a rich person or a middle-class citizen? There are no classes in the Kingdom. I think that’s the point. We care for the poor because they deserve it, not because of merit, accomplishments, or deeds, but because of the inherent value of a human – any human, every human. In the same way, the rich deserve to be cared for. They are not in need of goods, but everyone needs love. Love is the bond of perfection, the thing that holds all things together in perfect harmony. God is love. Why should we see any person differently because of money?
I have been guilty of this kind of classification in my life, but God is teaching me more all the time. I cannot care about a poor person more than a rich person because of the lack of basic needs, and I cannot love a rich person more for the allure of wealth and prestige. Who cares what they have or don’t have when it comes to the way I look at them? This world is full of sin and darkness, so the last thing I want to do is allow myself to be swayed by anything besides the love of God in my heart. To me, it seems that a distorted worldview is as good as blinders on a horse. Who is steering the horse if God isn’t? God’s love doesn’t see riches or poverty. Love sees a person, a beautiful creation, worthy of a relationship with the Creator God. Is that not a revolutionary thought?
I bet you would agree with me that all of us are as guilty as the next person without Jesus. Therefore, why should I be critical of a person based on deed, prestige, race, privilege, lack of privilege, or anything else? I have the same value as you do. You have the same value as your neighbor, and the same price tag that was on your head is the same ransom price for that person’s life, regardless of who they are or what they have done. We know that Jesus has already paid that price. Now, what are we going to do about it? If we have His life within us, then we have the privilege of loving every person the same way – whether a beggar, cripple, ruler, king, judge, lawyer, doctor, child, heroin addict, racecar driver, or whatever, it doesn’t even matter at all. Do we not understand that none of those things can define a human being?
Though we are all very unique in personality, shape, size, and experience, we are all essentially the same. We are God’s kids. And the person who seems hard to love is literally your brother, your sister. If we press into God’s love for us, we will have a lot less trouble loving people. One of my favorite things about my Father is how He loves to open my eyes, removing the trash from my perspective so that I can see what He sees. Seeing clearly should be a top goal of any believer. I think it is maybe the most incredible thing about Jesus because He was never thrown off by distraction or personal favoritism. What would it be like if we lived that way, if we saw the world like Jesus? I encourage us together, as a family, to make this our personal prayer daily: God, give me grace to see the world, others, and myself exactly the way You do and help me to know You for who You truly are, above all else, as my Father and Maker. In Jesus’ name!
That answered prayer alone would change the world, even today!
Jesus is the express image, the exact representation, of the Father; so the best way to know God the Father is to follow Christ the Son and to have fellowship with God the Holy Spirit, who will teach us all things and lead us into all truth. I think “all truth” is way better and FAR more possible than we realize. He can do more than we can think or imagine. We can know His love and be filled with all His fullness (check Ephesians 3). Let’s go after it with God. Let’s go after people. Let’s love with everything we have. Let’s die to ourselves and let God fashion our hearts into replicas of His own. I assure you that He wants to do that, right now. He wants it so much that He sent Jesus. And you want it too, even if you don’t know it. Seek Him today for yourself, alone. There’s no other way to develop a relationship besides spending time; if you want a deep one, then you have to develop intimacy, which involves being alone with a person. It’s really easy. He loves us and wants to speak and be heard. We get that privilege whether we’re rich or poor, healthy or sick, in prison or free, in Phuket or Pennsylvania (or wherever else, it just sounded good).
Thanks for reading! I love you all. I appreciate your support. I still need about $3,000 to complete my fundraising. Let me know if you’d like to give! Bless you.
For clarity, this blog is not intended to be a commentary on poverty and wealth (if you are passionate about the poor, I’m with you. Please don’t read this as me speaking against anyone or any type of ministry. It’s exactly the opposite!), but the purpose of this blog is to update my friends and supporters, as well as to encourage the reader to ponder these questions:
Who are You, God?
Who am I?
Who are they?
If we can answer these questions from God’s perspective, then we can do really well for ourselves and for one another. How fun! Let’s not get it twisted. Life in God is super fun, no matter how challenging it can be.
Peace and love,
Reece
I’ll leave with this quote that has so been rocking me lately:
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
God loves us, we love God; we love ourselves, we love each other. In that order!
