00:00Yeah, I want to tell you something that's really cool. Yesterday I was looking in the mirror
00:04and I was still wearing that Depeche Mode t-shirt that I wore for the video yesterday.
00:09And across it, under Depeche Mode, it said, People are People. Now, you've probably heard that phrase
00:17before. It's one of their most popular songs and it's the name of a popular album. But I can't tell
00:24you how inspiration seems to work in my life. Christ uses just regular everyday activities
00:31to get me to talk about things in a certain way on this channel. I'm not saying I hear voices.
00:37I'm
00:38just saying I'm inspired by Christ. I never understood that before. People say, Oh, Christ
00:44inspired me to do this, that, or the other thing. And I'm thinking, I don't hear voices like you,
00:50but it's not a voice. It's a movement. The Holy Spirit can get you to do things. And
00:57it's incredible. Some days I'm in the shower getting ready to come down and sit in front of
01:02the camera in the morning and I'll think I have it all figured out, right? I know exactly what we're
01:08going to talk about today. I'm going to go downstairs, write some notes, turn the camera
01:12on, and I'm going to do a video. And you know what? By the time my butt hits this chair,
01:17we're not
01:18talking about that anymore at all. I'm inspired to talk about something completely different.
01:24And so that's what we do. But you know, I want to get back to this phrase that inspired me
01:30yesterday. So I'm looking in the mirror and I see people are people and it stopped me. Maybe
01:37because as I thought about it for the moment, we're living in a world that seems determined to
01:43forget that phrase. We divide people by politics, religion, income, race, education, age, mistakes,
01:53and appearance. We decide who is good, who is bad, who belongs, who does not, who deserves patience,
02:03and who deserves to be pushed aside. You know, people are people. And that sounds simple until
02:13somebody disappoints us. It sounds compassionate until somebody has hurt us, embarrassed us,
02:21voted differently than us, failed publicly, or made choices we would never make. Then we stop seeing
02:30a person and start seeing a category, a label. We call them toxic, ignorant, immoral, hopeless,
02:39dangerous, dangerous, lazy, or just lost. Those words may describe behavior, but they can never describe
02:49the total value of a human life. You see, Jesus understood that people are people. And when Jesus
02:57walked through towns, villages, homes, marketplaces, and religious gatherings, he met every kind of
03:05person. He met faithful people and dishonest people. He met wealthy rulers and desperate beggars. He met
03:14people who were respected and people whose names were spoken and discussed. He met people who wanted to
03:21follow him, those that wanted to use him, and people who wanted to kill him. Yet, Jesus never forgot that
03:32every person standing in front of him was a human being created by God. Now, that did not mean that
03:42Jesus approved of everything people did. Think about it. Jesus was not confused about right and wrong.
03:48He confronted hypocrisy. He called people to repent. He told the truth even when the truth was
03:58uncomfortable. But he never used truth as an excuse to stop loving people. He could challenge someone's
04:06choices without denying their humanity. He could expose sin without treating the sinner like garbage.
04:15Now, we need to learn that from Jesus. I mean, we often think we only have two choices, right?
04:22We can accept everything a person does or reject the person completely. And Jesus showed us another way.
04:31He loved people honestly. His love was not blind, weak, or sentimental, however. It was strong enough to
04:41see the whole truth and remain present. Now, I want you to consider this. Think about the woman caught in
04:49adultery. The crowd did not see a person. They saw a scandal, a religious argument, and someone they could
05:00use to trap Jesus. She had become a label. Now, Jesus restored her humanity before he redirected her life.
05:12Remember, he did not say her actions were harmless. He told her to leave her life of sin. But before
05:22he said
05:22that, he stood between her and the stones. He refused to let a crowd pretend that her failure made them
05:30righteous. Jesus protected her life and then invited her into a new one, a better one.
05:40Now, people are people. Zacchaeus was not simply a tax collector. He was a man who had made himself wealthy
05:49through a corrupt system. But he was still capable of change. The Samaritan woman was not simply someone
05:58with a complicated relationship history. She was a person carrying thirst deeper than the water jar in her hands.
06:07Peter? Now, Peter was not simply the disciple who denied Jesus. He was a frightened man who failed in a
06:16terrible
06:17moment and still had a calling beyond that failure. Thomas was not simply a doubter. He was a grieving
06:27friend who needed to know that hope was real. Jesus looked beyond the label without ignoring the truth.
06:37You see, labels make life easier. Labels save us from curiosity. Once we've named someone, we no longer feel
06:46responsible for understanding them. Once we decide what kind of person they are, we do not have to listen.
06:56We do not have to ask what happened to them, what they fear, what they survived, or what burden they
07:06currently carry. But Jesus listened to people. He asked questions even when he knew the answer. He allowed
07:16people to speak. He noticed the person everybody else overlooked. He heard the blind man shouting beside the
07:24road when others told him to be quiet. He felt the touch of a suffering woman in a crowd. He
07:32saw Zacchaeus
07:33in a tree. He noticed children when the disciples considered them an interruption. Jesus was never too
07:41important to see a person. Imagine how different our homes would be if we remembered that people are
07:51people. Your spouse is not merely the person who forgot something or disappointed you. Your child
07:59is not merely a bad attitude, a poor grade, or a difficult season. Your parent is not merely the wound
08:08they
08:09caused years ago. And your co-worker is not merely the obstacle between you and a peaceful day.
08:17Every person has a story you cannot see. And that does not mean you should remain in
08:26unsafe situations. Don't get me wrong. It does not mean boundaries are unloving. Jesus sometimes walked
08:34away from hostile crowds. Love does not require us to become available for abuse. But even when boundaries
08:43are necessary, hatred is not. We can protect our peace without celebrating someone else's pain.
08:51We can disagree without dehumanizing. We can hold people accountable without acting as though we never
08:59needed mercy. We can tell the truth without enjoying the moment it wounds someone.
09:06We can refuse harmful behavior while still praying that the person responsible finds healing,
09:15wisdom, and transformation.
09:20And my friends, the cross proves that people are people because Jesus did not die for categories.
09:28He died for human beings. He died for people who had failed. People who were confused. People who were
09:37religious. People who were rebellious. People who were ashamed. People who thought they were better than
09:45everyone else. People who knew they were not. He died for the people who loved him. The people who
09:53abandoned him. And the people who drove the nails. From the cross, Jesus said, Father,
10:02forgive them. Now, that does not make evil less evil. It shows us that love can remain love even when
10:11evil is being exposed. Jesus did not become like the people who harmed him. He did not let cruelty decide
10:20the
10:20condition of the condition of his heart. The world will give you endless reasons to stop seeing people as
10:27people. Someone may insult you. Someone will misunderstand you. Someone will make a terrible decision and
10:37refuse to apologize. Someone will represent everything you oppose. And you may need distance. You may need
10:47justice. You may need to speak clearly and stand firmly. But do not surrender your humanity while
10:56defending it. Do not become cruel in the name of being correct. Do not become dishonest in the name of
11:04winning. Do not ask Jesus to bless contempt. The person across from you may be wrong. But they're still a
11:14person. They may need consequences. But they also need God. They may never become your friend. But they
11:25should never become an excuse for you to abandon the character of Christ. People are people. They are
11:35complicated, inconsistent, beautiful, broken, hopeful, frightened, selfish, generous, wounded,
11:43and capable of change. The list goes on. So are we. Maybe that is why Jesus told us to love
11:52our neighbor and
11:52our enemies. Our neighbors remind us that people need kindness. Our enemies remind us that love must be more
12:01more than a feeling. The next time you are tempted to reduce someone to one mistake, one opinion, one moment,
12:11or one label. I want you to remember how Jesus has treated you. He knows everything about you, including the
12:21parts that you hide. And he still calls you toward grace, truth, forgiveness, and a new life. Remember,
12:31everyone matters. Everyone matters. Jesus sees people. Let us learn to see them, too.
12:42My name is Douglas Vandergraaf, and I believe in Jesus Christ. God bless every single one of you.
12:52God bless you. Every single one. Bye-bye.
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