deeper awareness

How could a deeper awareness of the spiritual trauma and miscategorizations of Jesus and God that others have experienced cause you to approach others with more compassion and care?

Luke 12:14

But he said to him “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

I recently became friends with some folks who have left a conservative, fundamentalist worldview and theology and are experiencing broad, expansive, inclusive understandings of God for the first time. It is magic to watch them internalize that they are beloved simply because they exist, and it is has challenged me to be compassionate to others around me because I have been raised to approach Jesus as a friend, a model for ministry and faith, as a man who overturned unjust systems and was murdered by the hunger of empire and capitalism. 

I have never considered Jesus to be a judge and arbitrator. I am realizing that in that, I am profoundly lucky, and I find myself renewed in my sense of call to share the good news of the love of God as expressed in the gift of Jesus- Emmanuel, God with us. I guess you could say I am more of an evangelist than I thought.

How could a deeper awareness of the spiritual trauma and miscategorizations of Jesus and God that others have experienced cause you to approach others (including yourself) with more compassion and care?

—Pepa Paniagua