Today was the first time in a long time that I’d spent some time in public with some poor people. We had a benevolence situation at church and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon getting this young couple squared away on some of their needs. I realized today that there’s a certain look that the poor receive from other people, a look that’s impossible to interpret as anything but a look of condescension. It begins with the upper lip curling up, almost in disgust, and it’s quickly followed with a head-to-toe glance that let’s them know they don’t measure up. My poor friends received this look several times over the course of our time together.

I’m not trying to be judgmental as much as confessional. I know I’m guilty of looking at the poor the same way. Tonight I’m just repenting of it. I hope I never look at anybody the way my poor friends were looked at today. God forgive us.