I Want to See The Person, Not the Box

It’s really easy to put people in boxes and then only see the box, not the person.

I know, because I’ve done it.

I also know what being put in a box feels like, and it feels like one big misunderstanding. How many of us feel misunderstood? How many times do we misunderstand others?

I’ve been walking out this Christian life for longer than I recognize (because God chose me before I chose Him) and I’m finally getting used to the fact that so much of this life intertwined with God is mysterious, upsetting, unnerving, practical, impractical, hard, easy, ugly, and beautiful. It’s complex, like I am.

Life and people are full of complexities; when we box them up we take the easy road. We can move and place boxes without looking inside. The black ink on the front says, “Fragile” or “Trash” or “Emerging” or “Fundie” or whatever and so we don’t have to think. But God doesn’t do that – He doesn’t put us in a box; He unwraps our hearts. He pursues our souls and He invites the ugly. People are wildly intricate and messy and fascinating. If we box people up, we close up the opportunity to really love. People are one-million dimensional.

I think sometimes we create boxes because we forget that the Bible, the Word, is alive and active, able to reach deep into the complexities of the human make-up. That Word made flesh works inside, in the deep places, piercing souls and spirit, joints and marrow. There is nothing superficial about the work that goes on behind the flesh when the Spirit is moving. The knitting of our being by the Creator of everything is too much to wrap our minds around, let alone put a box around. This is why the greatest commandment is to love. We just don’t understand the big picture; we cannot see the completion that God sees.

Boxes are walls that keep us from getting too close to each other.

Boxes are walls that keep us from love.

By Sarah Mae, SarahMae.com

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Photo Credit: Klara by Andreas Øverland