How To Human..Carlos Whittaker

Be Love

The overwhelming amount of news and chatter that floods our devices every single day tells us that the world has gone to hell. But what if I told you that it doesn’t have to be this way? What if I told you that the world is full of people like you and like me: many of whom simply need a recalibration to live with the kind of generosity and goodness they were made for?

So often, I overcomplicate being a follower of Jesus. Now, I’m grateful for all the smart people around me who have gone to seminary to help me have a clearer understanding of Jesus. But if we’re talking about keeping it simple, that’s one thing that Jesus did well. He kept it simple.

If you gave someone who had never heard of Jesus one of the gospel accounts of his life—let’s say the gospel of Luke—and asked them read it, they wouldn’t need a doctorate to let you know how Jesus lived and what He was all about. I’m certain after their reading of the gospel of Luke they would say Jesus was about two things: Loving God and loving people.

It’s that simple for us.

Love God and love people.

If you fall in love with God, it allows you to love people in impossible ways. Jesus showed that over and over in Scripture. He simply loved.

In Jesus’s humanity, He taught others how to love in simple ways as well. In John 15:12 he states it so simply: “This is my commandment. Love each other as I have loved you.”

When we take a step back, we see how Jesus did this. Throughout His ministry, He showed His love for others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick, and the distressed. I mean I don’t need to do a deep dive into theology for us to understand this part of Being Human.

Now I’m not saying that loving someone can’t get complicated. But the beginning of love, the human decision to make someone feel loved, that isn’t complicated.

So let’s start here, let’s keep Being Human as simple as it gets. Find ways to love God and love others.

Why does loving God lead us to love people? What is one way you can show your love for God through loving people this week?

Be Compassion

Compassion isn’t supposed to be just about those people who stick to your belief systems. That’s not how Jesus did compassion. When I think about compassion and Jesus, I think of His story about the lost sheep from Matthew 18:

What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. (Matthew 18:12-13)

Now let’s think about these ninety-nine sheep for just a second. They must have been like,“Hey Shepherd! Why you leaving us for that straggler? It’s his own fault for getting lost! He had the chance to stick with us, but he decided to risk it!”

But the Shepherd left the flock and went after one sheep. He went to find the one that probably didn’t do things the way the rest of those that followed Him did. He went after the one.

So here’s a good start to getting our compassion back.

Go after the one.

No, seriously.

Go after the one that left and got lost. Who’s left out? Who’s forgotten, overlooked? Go after them.

And don’t go after the one simply to bring them back to wherever you are. Maybe they left the group you lead because they didn’t want to hang out with all the other sheep following you. Whatever their reasons… go after them.

Go find them wherever they are and let them know that they are loved. Tell them that you’ll love them if they decide to come back and hang with you, and that you’ll love them just as much if they don’t come back at all. Because the point of going after the one isn’t to bring them back. The point of going after them is to show them true compassion. That kind of compassion is what has been missing in our world in recent years. If we want to get back to Being Human, we must recover our compassion.

Who comes to your mind when you think of someone who is left out or overlooked? What could you do to show that person compassion? What inner hurdles or prejudices might you need to overcome to look out for that person?

Be Justice

Somebody told me once that Jesus would never say, “Black Lives Matter.” Jesus would obviously say, “All Lives Matter.”

I get it. Jesus lived on this earth for the purpose of all lives. Absolutely. But when you read the gospels, you can make a case not only that Jesus would have said Black Lives Matter but that He also would have said Samaritan Lives Matter… Gentile Lives Matter… Jewish Lives Matter… Leper Lives Matter…

Jesus was not vague in his standing up for oppressed people groups. He shattered the status quo. He spoke up for marginalized people again and again. His agenda was bigger than politics or culture wars. It was human.

Jesus was completely interested in those forgotten, overlooked, oppressed. We can’t escape it. So instead we join it. This means that to Be Human, we put action to our conviction to follow Jesus.

Remember when I said I didn’t want to complicate this more than it needs to be? Here you go: Justice is standing up for someone who cannot stand up for themselves.

This is about the point we realize that Being Human is going to cost us something. In fact, if it feels too safe, take up the risk factor a bit. Ask yourself if you will lose any friends by taking a stand. I’m not saying that you must sacrifice friends to Be Justice, but I am saying that it may happen. The beautiful thing is that you may lose them for a minute, but the more they look at you and what you are about, the more they will realize that they actually want to be part of justice as well. The more they will realize that to Be Human is to Be Justice.

Deep down everyone believes in justice. If we start by simply letting those in need of our justice know that they matter, that will open us up to relationships that will in turn lead to us being able to advocate for them in other ways.

You have it in you. You have this justice muscle. And you can start using it today.

Why was Jesus so intentional about loving those outside His own people group? Do you believe standing up for others is a part of loving as Jesus loved? Why or why not?

Be Wonder

Jesus had a busy ministry. He was always going from one place to another. But He moved at what I like to call God Speed. And what speed was that? Three miles an hour. That is how fast an average person walks.

As Jesus traveled the Holy Land, dropping miracles, signs, and wonders everywhere He went, he did it at three miles an hour. Because of His slow speed, Jesus could tell stories, have conversations, connect with individuals and with His community. Not being in a hurry made space for wonder. It allowed Him to Be Human.

What are some simple ways that you can slow down this week? Maybe take a walk—without your phone. Experience things around you that you haven’t experienced before because you have only driven that road.

Another thing I love to do is to not use GPS to get places. What happens when you do that? You end up getting lost. Getting lost is something that allows us to tap into our humanity. Here’s the thing. Humanity, up until the last 100 years or so, used to get lost all the time. There is something beautiful about that. Getting lost opens our senses in ways we have long since forgotten. There is something human about finding your way.

So try turning off your phone before you go somewhere. Revert to 1992, when you would have to write down directions before you left home and then follow those directions to get to where you are going. I did this last week and I loved it. I had to stop and ask directions three times. The interaction I had with the gas station attendants pulled us all back thirty years. It was incredible.

Want to leave your phone on? That’s fine. You can still relearn what it’s like to get lost.

Slow down. Wonder more. Wander more. You might just find God Speed feels more human.

What is something you can do this week to slow down and increase your sense of wonder?

I See You

We get comfortable seeing the filtered version of people. The highlight reel. The version that they want you to see. That’s what makes us feel better. Because seeing people for who they really are doesn’t feel amazing. We don’t know how to handle the awkwardness of their situation or how they are different from us.

But Jesus was not scared of seeing people. He loved seeing groups of people that others didn’t want to see. Women. The poor. Racial enemies.

For example, in Jesus’s day, men simply didn’t speak to women outside their family. Women had very few rights. But Jesus saw them. He spoke to them (see John 4). He ministered with them (see Luke 24). He equalized their status with men (see Luke 13:16). You would be hard pressed to convince me that Jesus treated men and women differently. He. Saw. Them.

Jesus also humanized the poor: “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13–14).

And Jesus healed the racial divide. It’s not a secret that Jews and Samaritans were not fond of each other. In John 4:4, Jesus ends up alone at a local watering hole with a Samaritan woman. They discuss differences between Jewish and Samaritan worship while Jesus simultaneously displays obvious concern for the Samaritan woman.

When I read those sections of scripture I am immediately placed on alert in my own life. How am I treating the poor? How am I treating women? How am I trying to reconcile any racial bias in my own life?

Ephesians tells us: “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:15–16).

We are talking about intentionally seeing past who we think they are and into who they really are. That’s what Jesus did so well. That’s what it means to Be Love, Be Compassion, Be Justice, Be Wonder. That’s what it means to Be Human.

When has someone truly seen you for who you are? What did that tell you about your value in God’s eyes?

We hope this plan encouraged you. Learn more about How To Human by Carlos Whittaker here.