I had a friend who was almost moved to a class for special needs kids in Kindergarten because he couldn’t learn his colors. It should be so simple, right? Red is different from Blue. Yellow is not Purple. Egg shell could never be mistaken for Alabaster. The teachers weren’t sure what to do with him; he seemed to be guessing every time he was asked the question. Turns out he was just profoundly colorblind. To hear him describe it, he lives life in sepia tones. His issue had a very specific cause, but his teachers just assumed he was a “little too slow” and wouldn’t give the time to find the real issue (Small disclaimer: when this happened, the state he was in was 48th in the nation in education, so they weren’t exactly hiring the cream of the crop).
By the time he was in high school he was taking all the advanced classes possible and scored 50 points shy of perfect on his SATs. How different would his life have been if a lazy teacher had just pushed him off as one of the slow kids? Unfortunately, this is something we do all the time. Instead of looking to help someone with what might be a minor issue we push them off. The specter of busyness is always there to get us off the hook of seeing a “them” that might need an “us.”
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says, “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” And Paul continues in verse 31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
You have stuff you need to do; we all do. However, if you claim the cross of Christ as the means to your salvation you have also been given the higher calling. A calling to be there for people who need you. It’s not always easy, it’s rarely convenient, but if you are a mature believer you know what the right thing to do is.
My friend could have easily been sent down a path where no one expected anything from him because he was pigeon-holed as one of the slow kids. How often have we ignored someone because we have already categorized them? This person looks weird, or talks to much, or not enough and I’m too busy to show them grace.
Reach for your higher calling, you’re never too busy to be kind.