What

an interesting idea! By showing kindness to strangers, you could be

showing kindness to a messenger of God. Buying an extra burger to

share with a homeless person, helping someone change a flat tire on

their car, offering a ride to a colleague who needs one—in these

ways and more, God often gives us opportunities to show hospitality

and compassion for someone who has a need.

As

I encounter people who are not part of a faith community, it saddens

me when they describe Christians as less-than-compassionate people.

Words I often hear in these conversations are that Christians are

judgmental

and condescending.

Many people see church buildings in their communities as little more

than clubs or political action organizations. They hear church people

speak out mostly about what the members oppose.

The

world needs to see Christians as people of compassion—good-news

people who act like Jesus. That will happen when we nurture a habit

of practicing compassion.

It

is not by accident that the writer of Hebrews urges readers to love

each other and to look out for the needs of strangers. It’s easy to

overlook the unusual or the unfamiliar. It takes the love of Christ

to reach out to the stranger who might just bring a unique blessing

that you never saw coming.