As Christians, we certainly want to behave as closely as possible to the way Jesus did. We constantly pray to be made more like Jesus. We want to be like Him in every way, His forgiveness, His compassion, His mercy, His unwillingness to compromise with sin. So let's take a look at the two biggest, in my humble opinion, attributes Jesus displays in His interactions with people. Let's look at two attitudes Jesus displays.
1) He behaved as holy, but not holier-than-thou. Phillipians 2:3-11 warns us not to have the attitude that we are somehow better than those around us. It explains that even Jesus, who was, in fact, equal to God, humbled Himself to the form of a servant. Folks, if Jesus treated others with respect, who are we to stick our pious noses in the air when dealing with people who we see as "less" holy than we are? We didn't get holy on our own! In fact, scripture says that our own righteousness is filth before God (Isaiah 64:6). So remember that verse the next time you begin to feel self-importance rise up in you, repent, and then represent! In John 4:1-27 we see a prime example of Jesus being holy, but not holier-than-thou. We see the Samaritan woman, who a normal Jewish rabbi would never have considered speaking to, being actively engaged by Jesus. She is treated with care and gentleness. He acknowledged her bad lifestyle, but still allowed her to become one of the first female evangelists! We have to learn from this example that we must never be "too good" to spend time with, and present the gospel to, those that have been marginalized. In Luke 7:36-50 we see yet another example of Jesus treating an unsaved person with grace. Jesus was at a religious leader's home for a meal, and this woman came in and fell at His feet, weeping, and washing His feet with her tears and her hair. In His holiness, He allowed this extravagant display of repentance. In His "not holier-than-thou" attitude, He reprimanded the religious leaders who began to complain among themselves, reminding them that the woman had provided for Him a service that they had been too arrogant to provide. Finally, in Mark 1:40-41 we see Jesus willing to physically touch someone untouchable in order to heal them. This man had a horrible skin disease, and to touch him was considered "unclean". Thus example shows us that we are called to get our precious hands dirty in ministry!
2) He was compassionate, not condemning. Jesus came into contact with sinful people every day. So do we. If we are to be Jesus' representatives, we should behave as He did. He never ignored the sins of those he met, but he confronted them with compassion, not condemnation. In Mark 2:1-12 we read that Jesus meets a paralytic man. We read that not only does He willingly heal the man, but addresses the issue of his sinfulness as well. And how does this happen? Does Jesus say, "you are sinful, I can not be near you"? No, quite the opposite. He says "your sins are forgiven." He shows love, not a judgemental attitude! He never told the man to straighten up his life, and THEN he would be healed. Mercy came first. Another example of Jesus showing compassion rather than condemnation can be found in John 8:1-11. Here we find some poor woman who has not only committed sin, but has managed to get caught. We see that the religious leaders are ready to stone her to death for adultery. But Jesus turns the tables on religious law and exhibits great compassion by giving the religious leaders an ultimatum. He says that the one of them with no sin may cast the first stone. Maybe as He was writing on the ground with His finger, He was writing out a list of their sins (purely speculation of course). Of course, we see that there is a slow shuffling away of any stone-throwers, and Jesus is left alone with the woman. Here we see the great compassion, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. " Jesus always showed compassion. Even at the very end of His ministry, when He hung on the cross, He asked the Father to have mercy on the people (Luke 23:32-34).
If we want to be successful as followers, disciples, of Jesus Christ, we must learn to behave as He behaved. We must cast down our self-importance and pour out the Savior's heart before those He loves.
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