The Outcasts

I was never one of the “popular” kids in school. I had a long awkward phase and it took a long time for me to figure out where I fit in. I went to a private, Christian school from preschool through 12th grade. My parents sacrificed to send me and my sister there because they had made a commitment to the Lord. My graduating class was small - under 50 kids. When you go to a school like that, everyone knows who you are and everyone sees you as you make your way through every awkward phase of life. Some people breeze through adolescence without the outwardly awkward changes in body shape, skin (acne), make-up and hair experiments, etc. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones in this area. I was an ugly duckling and my classmates were unwilling to overlook (or forget) my awkward phases. Until late high school, my best friend was my next door neighbor (from an atheist family). All this meant that I was available when a new person enrolled in our school. The kids who fit in with the “popular” crowd were immediately accepted into that group but the kids who were there because they were kicked out of a previous school, for instance, and sent to our school to get a more positive influence in their lives, were shunned by the more popular kids. Being an outcast myself I was able to befriend some of these kids who did not seem to fit in anywhere.

One such “misfit” when I was in junior high was a girl who wore black leather, smelled of cigarettes and carried a small flask of alcohol with her at school. She confided many disturbing things to me about her life and I was able to witness to her. I sent her a subscription to a Christian teen magazine too and tried really hard to influence her for good. The “popular” kids wouldn’t talk to her but they ALL wanted to know her story so they would ask ME. I was so angry- they only wanted to gossip about her but didn’t really want to know her. She didn’t attend our school for very long - I think she was only there for one semester. This was before email, social media and cellphones and I lost all contact with her. This might have been her only opportunity to be reached for Christ and I was the ONLY one in our school willing to befriend her. Looking back, I am grateful for the opportunity to be a witness for Christ. I am thankful now that I was NOT one of the “popular” kids because I was able to be available to be used by God in a way I couldn’t have been if I had a group of “friends” to impress.

Since then I have tended to look for the people who are more on the fringe - outside the “popular” groups. I have found them to be more genuinely interested in developing meaningful relationships with people and they are genuinely grateful when someone shows an interest in them. Some of these people are actually IN the “popular” group but are seeking genuine friendship they are unable to find inside their “friend” group.

The Pharisees were the “popular kids” in Bible times. Always trying to impress others and unwilling to “defile” themselves by associating with the outcasts of society. Jesus was an outcast. He was a carpenter by trade. Many of his disciples were fishermen. One was a tax collector. Sunday school children have cute songs and hear sweet stories about Peter, James and John leaving their boats and becoming fishers of men. But if you really consider what the life of a fisherman is like you understand that it is a hard life - hard work, hard living and they become hard men. Brawling, fighting, cursing, partying in their off time, men who smell of fish and sweat and who are on the fringe of society. Jesus was able to reach them because they more clearly understood their desperate need of acceptance and love.

We have had many people walk through the doors of our church who were on the fringe, outcasts of society. How do we react to them? Do we greet them? Do we spend time trying to get to know them? Do we show them care and concern?

One Sunday morning several years ago a man stood up at our breaking of bread service and said that before the service had started a woman walked in to our church who said she had cancer and wanted to know how to be saved. She was one of the homeless people that used to hang around outside our church but this was her first time actually coming INSIDE. She was scared, probably an addict of some sort, but recognizing her time was short she was looking for hope. This man told us that he hadn’t had the time to spend really talking with her because the service was about to start and he didn’t want to be late. He used the story to illustrate some point that was lost on me because I couldn’t believe he would view being on time for a church service as more important then BEING the church and giving this poor lost soul enough of his time to at least tell her how to be saved. She left and never came back. Is it possible, as the above verse suggests, that she could have been an angel sent to test the practicality of our teaching? Are we practicing what we preach?

I decided after that to do my best to meet every visitor to our church and spend time getting to know them. And not just the first Sunday they visit- but to greet them and spend a few minutes talking with them on every Sunday they come until I know they are firmly established and have others to talk to. I also really try to be approachable and available when anyone needs to talk or a word of encouragement. We don’t have to make a big investment to make a big impact on the lives of others. And I have met some of the most interesting people! You should try it… maybe you’ll meet an angel.😉