Let's Go Back to the Bible

You know who they are. They’re all just like you.

Have you met them? They’re young, rowdy, disrespectful and immature.  You know who they are, right?

Have you met them? They’re old, cranky, stuck in their ways and not willing to try anything new.  You know who they are, right?

Have you met them? They’ve got multiple tattoos and piercings, unusual hair styles and fashion choices.  You know who they are, right?

Have you met them? They’re those good ole Southern folks, who some would characterize as “backwoods” or “country,” due to the way they talk or live.  You know who they are, right?

Have you met them? They’re those city folks, who some would characterize as “highfalutin” or “uppity,” due to their style of dress or living.  You know who they are, right?

Have you met them? They’re kind of the ordinary, plain, boring type people.  Nothing unusual about them to make them stand out.  You know who they are, right?

Unfortunately, we put people into categories and make certain judgments about them based upon those categories.  People are old, young or middle-aged; rich, poor or middle-class; black, white, Hispanic, Oriental or middle-eastern; fun, boring, cool, nerds or arrogant; etc.

However, God only puts mankind into two categories with one thing in common.  In God’s eyes, man is either saved or lost (Luke 19:10; 1 Tim. 2:4); man is either on the narrow way or traveling the broad way (Matt. 7:13-14); man will either spend an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell (Matt. 25:31-46).  Yet, when God looks at mankind (no matter the age, race, education level, personality traits, etc.), He finds one thing that every person on earth has in common—the thing that God has given to each of us—an eternal soul.

Everyone you meet in the world has an eternal soul.  Everyone you meet in the church has an eternal soul.  Every “strange/weird person” you meet has an eternal soul.  As Christians, we must see souls!  We must see souls in need of the gospel (no matter what they look like or what “category” they might resemble).  We must see souls of our brethren who need encouragement and love (no matter what they have in their background or what “category” they might fit).  As Christians, we must esteem others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3-4), but we must not esteem anyone better or anyone worse than others (James 2:9).  Souls matter!