Why Do You Care About People?

I'm sure you have an immediate answer to the question posed in the title. Why do you, as a Christian (if you are one), care about other people? Why do you care for other people in the church? Why do you care about your family? Why do you care about lost people? What is driving your love?

Like me, I'm sure you have at least a surface-level answer. But what is at the heart of it?

Spending years in the church, I have seen all kinds of answers to this problem. Some people lead a small group because they want people to experience the freedom they have found in Christ from addiction. Some have led a Bible study because it makes them feel important. Some have served behind the scenes because they hate being in the limelight so much that they want to serve God in a way that can go almost completely unnoticed by others. Some have been church leaders because they crave power and authority. Some seek lost people because it breaks their hearts that people don't know the grace of God. Some do it seemingly only because it's a duty of a Christian. I've seen the whole spectrum.

A couple weeks ago I was in Houston, sitting with a bunch of church leaders - some who have planted multiple churches, some who are leading churches who are supporting the church planting movement, and some who are like me - just starting to get their toes wet. It was a very encouraging and quite enjoyable evening.

The next morning, I was reflecting on the time and the question popped in my mind, Why do these guys care about me at all? These guys had decades of life on me, tons of wisdom, a lot of knowledge, and I'm sure could have spent their time doing far more important things than sitting and talking with me, answering what I'm sure were some very ignorant questions.

Then it hit me - they don't. They don't care about Ben Graber because of who I am. I'm no rockstar. They care about Jesus. They care about church planting. They care about discipleship and multiplication. They are so committed to the mission of Christ that they care about me - not because of who I am, but because of who Christ is. But it's not just about the task. They don't care because I'm useful to their cause. Their love for Jesus and for building his kingdom manifests in a way that they see it valuable

to care for me and the calling God has put on my heart.

Why do you care about people? Do you see them as tools to help get what you want? Do you try to care about everyone and therefore, deeply care about no one? Is the love of Christ overflowing in your life that you actually care about those who logically don't deserve your attention?

We don't need help making our story about us. We need a lot of help making our story about him.