“It’s very important to have a broader perspective. Torture has gone on, kind of everywhere and every time.”Anderson said. “It’s not a novelty, and in conflicts, bad stuff happens, so it should not surprise us.”

A broader perspective brings our own little world into view. 

When we open our eyes to the people of the world, we run smack into the reality that our life is not what it’s all about.  We have to cultivate a curiosity about the world, a desire to know and understand.  We need to train ourselves to listen to the stories of other people, to want to understand a different worldview.

It’s good to be reminded that our problems pale in comparison to what they could be.  The hashtag #firstworldproblems is so accurate and helpful.  It reminds us of our privilege, while still validating the struggles we have.  I loved how Susan Isaacs, in Angry Conversations with God, talks about her first world problems, and says ‘but they’re my problems.’ 

Learning to see and understand and love everyone else on this planet does not mean that our own lives and problems don’t matter.  But they aren’t the be-all, end-all of problems, and maybe a little perspective would do us some good.  Maybe we could gain a sense of maturity in how we handle what we’ve been given.

Because when we don’t acknowledge this divide, we become insulated and selfish. 

We lump people into a nondescript group called ‘the poor.’   We tune out the globe, assuming their issues don’t affect us, when sometimes, our votes and our policies directly affect people.  And then we complain when we have made their lives miserable and they dare to try and come to our country to improve their lives.

If we are unaware of situations around the world, we speak and act ignorantly.  We react instead of respond.  We fail to understand.  We fail to care.  When we don’t care about people, we dehumanize them.  When we dehumanize them in theory, it is very easy to dehumanize them in practice.  When we don’t love them, we stand silent as our nations perpetuate crimes against humanity.

It is easy to convince ourselves that our little world is the only one that matters. 

That we don’t have a responsibility to anyone else.  But it’s a lie, one that we constantly have to fight against.  When people are silent, it gives power to the oppressor.  We have to be aware so we can be advocates and helpers.

Understanding the causes of poverty and devastation helps us understand how to find solutions.  We have to know the past to understand the present.  When we understand that things happened, like colonialism, to cause people to be broken, we can more easily see their humanity.  We won’t want to rush in as a savior, but will empower them to change their own communities.

When articles don’t affect us, when news from around the world does not inspire our curiosity, we are effectively ignoring cries for help, pleas for peace.

The world has grown small.

We have the ability now to directly help small business owners lift themselves out of poverty.  We can help build schools and libraries.  We can help communities in war-torn countries rebuild and become self-sustaining.  Thanks to technology, we can actually change the world.

The responsibility to be aware is on us. 

We have the privilege to use our privilege to help other people.  But we have to see them as people.  We have to remember that every single person who walks this earth is made in the image of God.  And when that image hurts, we all hurt.  We don’t have the option to sit back in ignorance and apathy anymore.

Violence is routine in our human story.  Poverty will always exist.  Discrimination and dehumanization are still commonplace.  But as people walking in the path of Jesus, we do not have the option of supporting the oppressor.  We have the responsibility, the spiritual obligation to rescue and defend.  The call is on us to break the chains.  To look until our eyes burn. And that can only begin to happen when we honor their humanity.  When we stop calling them ‘the poor‘ and start calling them by their names.

Viviana

Marcia

Deysi

Simras

Simeesh

Pwe

And maybe one day we won’t retaliate.  Maybe one day governments will include repentance as part of their foreign policy.  One day, we won’t have to worry about our sins returning to haunt us. 

This post is Day 2 in the 31 Days to Loving the World series.