Someone recently pointed out to me that it was others, not
Jesus, who referred to him as a “friend of sinners.” He never used those kinds of labels in
referring to the people-in-need that he hung out with.
In fact, Jesus did not classify them at all, except perhaps
when he called them ‘sheep without a shepherd.’
To him they were just people who needed to be cared about, cared for,
and loved while living among. He had
dinner with them, hung out with them, and naturally experienced life in their
midst.
In many ways, the people that others classified as ‘sinners’
were simply Jesus’ peops whom he deeply loved.
Maybe that’s why he had such an impact on them. And maybe we would have more peops to hang
out with if we didn’t have our own labels and classifications that are often
barriers to simple, raw love.
Who are your peops?
Note: the Urban Dictionary defines peops as “a common abbreviation
of the plural term ‘people’; i.e., peoples; i.e., peops (phonetically ‘peeps’).
Comments
One response to “Who Are Your Peops?”
This is a good, thought-provoking post. Thanks.
I’ve been wrestling, for years since I returned from missions work, with how hard it can be to simply relate with people, even with others in the Lord.
When I was with fellow believers overseas, we simply made ourselves available, and the Lord did awesome things.
For a good example, you can simply click on my name above, which is a link to a story, “The Living Body of Christ”.
Keep up the good work.