Generosity...how far will we go?

As a follower of Christ, I claim to be generous, loving & understanding...I claim to want to help others...to show them the love Christ has for them through my actions. How far am I willing to go? Am I willing to give generosity to those who I don't feel agree with me? Do things the way I want them to? Am I willing to hug someone who might smell a little bad...maybe puts me at risk for head lice?
Our pastor preached a sermon yesterday that has had me thinking long and hard about this...
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
How often do we say, well, if they would just do things THIS way.....or maybe we don't say it...maybe we just think it. SHOULD we? or is Christ just calling us to help...and not question the reasons for the call?
Do we need to know the reasons BEFORE we show generosity?
Do we need the person to think like we do before we help them? Years ago, I met a lady who is probably one of the most compassionate people I have still yet to ever meet. When she walks up and says "how are you?" she looks you in the face and waits for your answer. She truly wants to know...This sweet lady also showed me some things, just in her actions that caused me to pause. You see, Jenny, and I worked at an emergency shelter for abused & neglected children. If a child was removed from the home, sometimes in the middle of the night, they were brought to Rainbow House. Jenny was the director. I was a hired hand...but the lessons I learned I will carry to my grave. One day, Jenny was talking about this case of a little boy who was being abused by his mom. The court was allowing the mom to come for supervised visits. I was stunned and said as much....The venom in my words caused Jenny to look up at me with such a look of compassion that it forever changed me. She said, "Misty, they just don't know any better. Abuse is a cycle. It's how they were raised...it's our job to teach them, there IS a better way." I went home that night and prayed, "God make me compassionate like Jenny...let me see the good in ALL...not just the good in who act like me or who I feel need my compassion."
I started to notice the change almost immediately...When Josh and I are driving and someone cuts him off...he gets mad and says so, and my immediate thought is...well, maybe they are in a hurry or maybe they are just so busy with their kids they didn't see us...It's not that I am this awesome self less person...no, God honored me with the compassion I saw in my friend.
Matthew West sings a song "In my Own Little World". This is one of Britton's favorite songs. He sings it regularly. The lyrics are amazing...

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I've never gone hungry and always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population me
I try to stay awake through the Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give 'til it hurts
and I turn off the news when I don't like what I see
it's easy to do when it's
population me
What if there's a bigger picture
what if I'm missing out
What if there's a greater purpose
I could be living right now
outside my own little world
Stopped at the red light, looked out my window
Outside the car, saw a sign, said "Help this homeless widow"
Just above this sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, "God, what have I been doing?"
So I rolled down my window and I looked her in the eye
Oh how many times have I just passed her by
I gave her some money then I drove on through
in my own little world there's
Population two
What if there's a bigger picture
what if I'm missing out
What if there's a greater purpose
I could be living right now
outside my own little world
Start breaking my heart for what breaks Yours
give me open hands and open doors
put Your light in my eyes and let me see
that my own little world is not about me

We will go to Africa to help little children...educate the adults...but here in America we turn our nose up in our own church at a family struggling...WHY?
They may not be like me...they may even seem prideful..but you know what, God did not ask me to CONDEMN them..he asked me to HELP them...(only he can do the saving). We will rush to the plains to serve the Native American population, but what if God asks us to serve a family in our church secretly struggling to put food on the table? What do we do then? If we've helped them once, do we move on and say, well they should have figured it out by now? Or....do we pray for guidance and HELP them AGAIN? We will pull the entire community together and raise thousands of dollars to help ONE person struggling with a sickness...while doing the bare minimum for another...is THIS the way HE calls us to be? Or should we do all for as many as we can...yes, we will probably get tired...yes, we will probably have to work hard...BUT what exactly do we think He wants us to do? Just enough to be socially acceptable? Just enough to show the world that, hey look at me/us, see how AWESOME we are?
We are a hurting people...there is poverty, sickness, sadness, brokenness....I don't have to go to Zimbabwe to serve..I can do it in my own community....Do I? or do I keep my head down and say, "Well, I've had to work hard for what I have...they should work too." Umm, no..God has BLESSED us with what we have...we should use those blessings to help his other lambs.
So, I end this diatribe with a thought...there is another song that has always touched me...it is by Brandon Heath...

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tar
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath

Theres a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well, I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all alone

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

So...Lord give me your eyes...but not only give me the ability to NOT condemn...to follow and serve you almost blindly...to see only the LOVE....