Equal

“The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends. Whoever depises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.”

Is there really such a thing as friendship free from self-interest? Is it truly possible to love someone without looking for anything return?

We like people when we feel like we can gain something from them, whether that is actual wealth, good social standing, even things that are beneficial, like advice. I’ve never been “rich” (in American standards). But I do know what it’s like to feel used.

I’m a pastor’s kid of fast-growing church, and my family is well liked. For some reason it was “cool” to be close to my family, to be my friend, to get the “in” with the McKinzie family. I realize this is on such a small scale in comparison to many other people, but it’s what I know and how I can relate. I’ve had to grow up a lot of the time questioning whether people were trying to get to know me because of my name or if they really cared about who I was as a person.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we treat people according to their riches. And I use riches beyond just a monetary meaning. We put the “poor” or the “not as cool” in a certain category and we treat them differently. I do.

Love your neighbor, Jesus says. Your neighbors are the people around you. The hip, the nerdy, the rich, the poor. The people next door, the barista at the local coffee shop, the homeless man down the street. These are our neighbors. And WHAT IF we treated the poor man like the rich man? What if we love people not based on what we can get from them, but simply because Jesus loves them and tells us to love them too.

We’re all the same. The poor man wants to be seen, but so does the rich man. We are all so in need of real love, of real friendship.

The next verse is about generosity. Blessed are those who don’t hold on to what they have too tightly. The material things of this world pass away, but how we give and help and love others, that is what is remembered. Are we seeing the needs around us? Are we too concerned with our own problems and our lives or even our own blessings that we forget that there are people who need our help?

God, may you use your word to call us out of selfishness, out of pride, out greed, and into an abundant life of selflessness, humility and generosity.