We often think that as we grow spiritually, we will leave people behind. We tend to struggle with how to approach or talk to people we see as “beneath us” because we are just so “spiritually mature.” We act like we have entered some other realm they cannot even come near.

Then I look at Jesus, who embodied perfect consciousness, all wisdom, maturity and strength and I see how he treated people who might have been seen as “beneath him.” Beggars, cripples, the utterly poor, spiritual zeroes, prostitutes, sinners, the demon-possessed, little children – these were his beloveds. He called them to himself, loved them and had a profound effect on them – each one. They were better for having been near him, and something tells me they did not feel belittled, but valued and helped.

It makes me think that as we grow in strength and maturity that it should be easier for us to sit with the poor and broken, not harder. As we grow in stature spiritually, we should become more relevant and helpful to the very young and hated and hard-to-be-around, not less. We do not outgrow them. If we have outgrown them, we are probably growing the wrong way.