People don't care about how much you know...

     ...until they know how much you care.  I could stop there but I've a whole page to write on!  Bear with me.  We all know the starting statement is true.  Well most people do.  While I was a mental health counselor there were 2 groups of people who came into my office.  The first were the ones who cared more about status.  They would see my Masters diploma from Notre Dame on the wall and comment on that prestigious college.  They didn't know that the Notre Dame that most people think of was famous for football.  I'm sure scholastic were important as well.  The Notre Dame I attended was in Belmont, CA and used to be a private women's college.  They had excellent programs and equally excellent instructors.  But they weren't famous for sports.  The second group came into my office and didn't even see my diplomas on the walls.  They usually began with "I need help."  Most of my clients came from the second group.  When I had sought counseling for myself I always went with the counselors who were from the second group.  It's just safer and more productive that way.
     There are constraints on caring that sometimes clash with our Christian belief and perspective.  How can the same Jesus who healed, preached, and cared also be the same Jesus that braided a whip (that took some time) and chased the money changers and idolaters out of the temple with righteous anger?  Yet, both were caring in essence.  The first was caring for people in their situation, condition and need.  The second was caring about keeping spiritual relationships in right perspective.  Both are necessary.  Often the Christian has those backwards.  We find ourselves condemning people for who they are and for being in the situation they are in but are bigots, biased and hypocritical about our own faith.  Caring has become something we do for ourselves and condemning is what we do for others.  Forgetting that we, before we receive Jesus, are condemned, we play god in the lives of others delivering anything but a caring love of Jesus message.
     The ability of people to truly care for God and others is innate in every one of us.  Some have that care buried deep within themselves and ending up not caring at all for anyone but themselves.  Some people care so much for others that they don't care about themselves and become enslaved in a vicious cycle of codependency.  While the former is all about narcissism, the later is all about meeting needs at any cost for personal identity.  Neither of these options are Christian.  The Bible is clear and Jesus states himself (see the red print) that there are only two commands for the believer.  The first is to "love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind."  and the second is "love your neighbor as you love yourself."  When we take these two commands into consideration we are confronted with two dilemmas.  The first is whether we really love God with our WHOLE being or not.  The second is whether we love in such a selfish way that our neighbor feels loved for (cared for) so much that they see Jesus in you.  They are both contingent upon each other.  IF we love God with all of our being, we will by that nature care with the heart of God towards all mankind.  IF we love others in such a way that shows unselfish love (like Christ did on the cross) then we aren't concerned with out needs and distracted from our doing what Christ commanded:  Love one another.
     People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care.  That's the question, isn't it?  Other people's perception about the ability of Christians to truly care by the love Christ has given to us.  We can argue, wrestle, rationalize, and justify all we want.  In the end, we will either hear the words "well done thou faithful servant" or we won't.  Those are the only two choices.  Nothing in between and everything about being a servant.