Mark 10:21-22 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Someone has observed that “a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.” Most of the heresies of the church developed through a lopsided view of Christ. One aspect of Jesus’ character was emphasized at the neglect of another. His justice but not his mercy, his humility but not his majesty, his accessibility but not his holiness. We need the complete picture of Jesus if we hope to walk in his steps.
The book of Mark describes the “complete” picture of Jesus when he related to the young rich man. The man ran up to Jesus, kneeling before him, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus told him to obey the commands of God, he assured him he had kept all the commandments since his youth. But Jesus saw beyond the man’s good deeds, his success, his flattery. He looked at him-—really looked at him—and saw a man trapped by money. So how did Jesus respond? With complete compassion and total truth. Jesus was able to look past who the man was on the outside as well as the inside. And he still saw someone he wanted to spend eternity with.
I think we should apply this principle in all our relationships. Refuse to define people by just the part of them we see. There’s another side to that man who complains all the time, or to that woman who wears her bitterness like a crown.
I have a friend whose husband is entering the shadowlands of dementia. He grieves over the accumulation of one loss after another. The greater the loss, the deeper his sense of insignificance. My friend knows her assignment is to help him see he is no less important today than he was in his heyday of productivity. She has to look past the dementia to the complete man—who he was, who he is and who he will be in eternity.
Ahhhh, let’s determine not to entertain lopsided views. Of Jesus or of our fellow image bearers.