One of my undergraduate students from Haiti came to class this morning looking like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ magazine. His suit was well tailored, double vented with creases on his trousers that would cut your finger. His tie matched a handkerchief in the breast pocket of his jacket and all was spotless. The first words out of my mouth were “You look hirable.”
It is so easy to judge someone by their appearance. It is such a natural thing to do that James, Jesus’ brother, speaks of it in chapter 2. “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
One of my favorite stories about Jesus is he touched the leper while the leper was still a leper. Jesus honored everyone. He could sit with Nicodemus or with Zacchaeus. Of course they were both well dressed so let’s remember the demoniacs of Gergesenes. Both were disgusting to look at but in Jesus’ eyes they were his first two missionaries sent out to preach.
If we are to be like Jesus, everyone no matter how they appear, is a soul for the Kingdom. Jesus saves to the uttermost. Hebrews 7:25.
In my case this morning I am happy to say the inside perfectly matched the outside. He is a fine, fine young man. He really is hirable.
Written by Roger Bothwell on February 1, 2017
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