One Question That Can Change Your Perspective
As a high schooler, my first official part-time job was at Gordman’s, the department store. It was a fantastic first job! I learned so much about customer service, hard work, time management and how to be a good employee. Most importantly, I learned a ton about the retail industry, including the certain fact that it was definitely not in my long term future. Ha! Working at a retail store was stressful! Every shift felt like a go-go-go race against the clock. I worked in the women’s clothing department, and in the midst of completing projects from my manager, I was also charged with keeping the racks and shelves picked up and straightened. In addition, this was back in the days when people actually came into the store to try things on… And whatever they didn’t purchase got added to a rack, which slowly accumulated throughout the course of a shift, and all items needed to be put in their rightful places before I clocked out for the night. I never wanted to be the one who was still trying to finish everything after we closed, so each shift presented a hefty, busy challenge.
Another added challenge was the “secret shopper” program. As employees, we were periodically evaluated by secret shoppers, who were just that–secret. We didn’t know who they were and when they might pop up in our departments. But whenever they did, they then filled out reports that were submitted to management. These reports gave insight on employees’ performances. Every time I had an interaction with a customer, I was thinking in the back of my mind: Is he/she a secret shopper? I better make sure to say and do all the right things just in case!
In the past few years I’ve been able to see the other side of the secret shopper life because my sister loves doing “secret shops,” as she calls them. She signs up for gigs at all kinds of businesses and has the most interesting experiences. After signing up, she receives a detailed set of instructions about what she should do and look for, and then after visiting the business, she writes up and submits a careful report recapping her experience.
A convicting thought crossed my mind about this… What if I thought about Jesus as a secret shopper of sorts? What if, in the back of my mind, I’m wondering if every person I encounter might–just might!–be Jesus in the flesh? How would that change my tone of voice? the words I use? the help I offer? What if you imagine every person you encounter today is Jesus in disguise?
For example, when one of my students is lingering in my classroom just a little bit too long at the start of my lunch break… I’ve definitely been known to rush him out the door so I can unzip my lunch cooler and satisfy my growling tummy ASAP. But if I stopped and considered the possibility of that student actually being Jesus, my interaction with him would surely feature a lot more patience and compassion.
Can you imagine how different the world might be if we all thought about other people that way? If we talked to them and interacted with them as if they were actually Jesus?
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus said that when He returns and the nations gather before Him, He will separate people out into two groups–sheep on His right, goats on His left. Those on His right will be invited into His kingdom.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” -Matthew 25:35-36
The passage goes on to say that the righteous will then ask Jesus, when did we feed you? When did we clothe you? When did we help you out?
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” -Matthew 25:40
Jesus was in secret shopper mode! When His people were helping their friends and neighbors, they were actually helping Him. He lives in the heart of every believer, so when we help them, we help Jesus. Even those we encounter who have not invited Jesus into their hearts are still the carefully designed creations of our Creator God. So when we help them, we are helping His masterpieces. And the opposite is also true, as told at the end of Matthew 25. When we choose not to help others, choose not to treat them with dignity and respect, choose not to show them love and kindness, we are not just slighting them. We are slighting Jesus.
Don’t you love the power of the Bible to call us out and convict us? I mean, wow. I’m going into tomorrow trying my best to embrace and interact with each person I encounter as if he/she is Jesus. Not just because I want a good evaluation added to my file up in Heaven, but because that is what I’m called to do as a believer. Whatever I do (or don’t do) for the “least of these,” I do (or don’t do) for Jesus! Consider my secret shopper mode activated.