Zoe Dixon comments

Zoe Dixon

Imagine the scene; you have been working on a project for your boss for four months. The project involves liaising with another organisation to run a launch for a campaign they are running. You have really gone out of your way to help the other organisation and feel like you have developed a good relationship with them. The day of the launch arrives and you finally get to meet those you have helped, the thing is your boss is there too and they seem to be much more interested in him, in fact you feel a bit invisible... and hurt.

Now picture this; church has just finished and it's the post meeting chat time over a cup of coffee and cake. Unfortunately you've found yourself backed into a corner speaking to someone who is there for the first time. You keep glancing over their shoulder at your friends who you see having a laugh across the room. You keep looking at your watch hoping your assailant will take the hint. Eventually you extricate yourself from the situation by pretending to need the loo. Phew... but then you left the person behind to feel invisible... and hurt.

No one likes to feel invisible. I find one of the most frustrating things in life is to be ignored or not taken seriously. I hate to be judged by people before they even know me and yet I have a feeling that I do it to others all the time.

In this day and age we are always in such a rush that we have become accustomed to making snap decisions about people based on their appearance and the way they speak. It is very easy to fall into the trap of measuring someone's worth on their physical appearance, the size of their wallet and the clothes that they wear. It is very easy to give preferential treatment to the most important, powerful or beautiful person in the room. This isn't a modern problem.

In the book of James in the Bible, he writes on this exact subject:

'... don't show favouritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "you stand there" or "sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts'.

This is as relevant today as it was when it was first written. You could even substitute different titles into those categories; CEO and assistant, consultant and hospital porter, celebrity and aid, or perhaps more appropriately for this article MP and researcher. The power game is rife in politics.

If you are a follower of Christ then your model for behaviour is Jesus. When we look at the way he lived his life we see that he wasn't moved by the best looking or most important people; he wasn't concerned with impressing the powerful people of his day. Jesus saw people as people, whatever their station. The Bible teaches us that not only did he extend love and grace towards those society had shunned, but he spent time with them and became their friend.

It's easy to just spend time with people who are like us. I know I'm as guilty as anyone on this. I think of the people I surround myself with in an average week and most of them look similar to me, dress the same as me, think and speak as I do and work the same kind of job. Again I'm challenged by Jesus. In the book of Philippians the apostle Paul wrote these words:

'Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of the status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - and the worst kind of death - crucifixion.'

Wow, this is quite a challenge. Jesus left the ultimate power house and took on human limitations. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could live in a totally counter-cultural way? To go out of our way to leave our comfort zone and befriend those people who society has shunned, to take pleasure in speaking to someone stood on their own at a party and to converse and make eye contact with the assistant as well as the boss?