Personally
Studying, this time around, the four gospels, which recounted Christ’s daily interactions with people more than any other scriptures, I was most taken by one aspect of the manner of man our Lord was: in every encounter with people, and with people of every kind, He was always intently personal. Personal as in one by one; personal as in according to the person; and personal as in loving the person.
A quick sampling would include: Nicodemus, a Pharisee; the woman at the well, a Samaritan; the woman who touched His hem, an unknown; one who asked about eternal life, a lawyer; another one who asked about eternal life, a rich young man; a woman who washed His feet, a sinner; Zacchaeus, a chief publican; and a fellow sufferer on the cross, a thief.
If the Lord’s examples weren’t sufficiently obvious, the precepts He taught certainly were. Like when He spoke of a priest and a Levite, who came upon a robbed, wounded person, but passed him by (Luke 10). Or when He told about a rich man who ignored the person that was laid at his gate (Luke 16). And who can forget the parable of the hundred sheep, where the story was really about the importance of one person (Matthew18)?
He knows each of us by name. He hears and speaks to us individually. He equated what we do to the least person to doing it to Him (Matthew 25:40, 45). Consider the degree on top of the numberless numbers. Profoundly, the Lord is a person person.
Although on an infinitely smaller scale, in time, His apostles in the Holy Land acquired the same nature. Paul, for example, was beaten and cast into prison, and of all the wounds and troubles he should be minding, he minded the person who was his jailor and saved him (Acts 16:27-34).
Mindfulness of and love for the person, especially one who may be different from us, are the substance of our Lord’s life and the mark of His true disciples. Persons are the substrate for all the truths and doctrines they teach.
What might be different if we follow more closely our Lord’s examples and teachings and make singular persons our center of attention in life?
For one, I would have stayed by my one missionary companion’s side, sitting with him through a bad day, instead of dragging him out, ironically, to teach the gospel of love.
Brother Jones would have fellowshipped Mr. Anderson, a newcomer to the Church, even though nobody asked Brother Jones and he didn’t have any missionary-related callings.
And Sister Smith, a faithful Primary teacher, would have been able to find interest in, share her joys and sorrows with, love, and be loved by, Sister Brown, her teaching partner of two years, and vice versa, if they had spent 1/20th the time they spend on preparing their lessons getting to know each other.
Other peculiar things may happen too. Say we go out to a restaurant … instead of the specials on the menu, perhaps our focus would fall on the server, or a fellow customer!
But then, what is more peculiar: to mind the beings that are eternal and of infinite value, or some transient things?
As we try to see what God sees in each person we meet and to admire and love the good in each of His children, our every outing to the world of persons may become a trip to splendor.
What manner of man ought we to be? Even as the Lord is — personally.
Akron Ohio Stake News 