Why Does No One See Me?

You know that feeling when you purchase a new-to-you car and suddenly start seeing this model every time you drive? One month before, you didn’t give Toyota Corollas a second thought. Now, you see them everywhere.

Or, to use a more personal analogy, have you ever become friends with someone who was completely different than you? It felt like you had nothing in common. But as they spoke, it was as if you had a window to a new world. You suddenly realized why they thought about politics, race, religion, class, and values in different ways than you.

After building this friendship, you started seeing people like them pop up all over and couldn’t imagine a world where they didn’t exist. In the words of C.S. Lewis,

“Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."

It's only after a few "you too?" (not to be confused with U2) breakthrough moments like these that you start to recognize the value of seeing the overlooked—our fifth of seven ways to cast our bread and invest in others.

The reality is we live in a world where people have vast differences. And as is the case with many, the natural default is to gravitate towards our own group of people. The rich avoid making friendships with those in the slums, and the rural avoid connecting with those in urban communities.

It’s an isolationist mentality. If people are in need, that’s too bad, but it’s not our problem. If people in our community have radically different political opinions, that’s OK, but it’s not on us to try and become friends with them. And if people don’t share our personality, they need to find friends that do.

Sadly, the fruits of this mindset are on full display across every social media platform today. And it stands in direct opposition to the way Jesus lived. Here’s why.

How Jesus Saw the Overlooked

One can scarcely read a few paragraphs of the New Testament without noticing Jesus’ love for those who are overlooked. It’s everywhere. Not only do we have him born in a humble stable, raised by a poor family, worshipped by humble shepherds, and raised in a community much of the world dismissed, but we see a man who interacted with marginalized voices out of love.

And the way he interacted doesn’t line up with the battlelines many of drawn today. Consider a few examples:

Jesus saw common fisherman in Matthew 4 |These were men without a strong education background. Men who would be ridiculed and thought of as especially ordinary. Men who had accomplished virtually nothing on their own.  

Jesus saw those who had diseases in Matthew 8 | Jesus touches a man with leprosy. To say this was taboo would be a vast understatement. Jesus positioned himself near someone who was thought an outcast. By taking this step, Jesus placed himself and those around him at risk. To onlookers, this was an unconscionable decision—one that violated the safety of Jesus and his followers.

Jesus saw Simon the Zealot in Matthew 10 | We might call Simon the first “Christian Nationalist.” A Jewish zealot’s goal was to overthrow Roman occupiers by force. That is what they studied and trained to do. Their mission couldn’t have stood in starker contrast to Christ’s approach. You can just hear the mumbles that must have emerged in Jesus’ entourage when Simon joined the party. “Great, now we have a zealot on board. He’s going to get us all killed.” And yet, Jesus makes this man one of his twelve disciples.

Jesus saw the poor in Matthew 11 | The widows in Mark 12, and a woman caught in adultery (a huge deal in Jewish culture) in John 8. In each of these cases, Jesus didn’t waver from his mission or message. He didn’t become a chameleon to fit a narrative. He was who he had come to be and loved from a heart of perfection.

Jesus saw Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke 19 | Much different than an IRS agent today, tax collectors were Jewish residents who worked for Roman occupiers. They helped create a culture that led to systemic injustice and discrimination against the Jewish people. Not only that, but tax collectors were also notorious for charging residents higher fees than Rome required and stuffing the difference in their pockets. Such was the case with Zacchaeus. And yet, Jesus looked through a crowd of people to notice Zacchaeus and even visit his home.

The list goes on.

Do You See Others?

Jesus’ actions wouldn’t have played out very well on social media today. He’d be labelled “simple,” “a health risk,” “a man of dangerous friends,” “scandalous,” “traitorous,” and “sinful.” But the bottom line was Jesus saw overlooked people at every level, regardless their background.