The Least Among Us

Is it profoundly unrealistic to expect people to exercise compassion outside of the communities in which they live? Is compassion segregated, and if so, why is there a fundamental disconnect between the reservoirs of compassion and the communities that need it? It sometimes seems as though many people only have compassion for those who are most like themselves.
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. The He said to His disciples, "the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Luke 10:2,3.
The fact is, very few inner-city residents experience the benefits of programs run by suburbanites who abandon their cushy pads to live beside "the least among us." For the last five years, I have worked with homeless people and children in youth ministries, only to find that it is just as much emotionally draining as it is rewarding. One cold night when our ministry was handing out coats on the streets downtown, someone asked me how I knew who to give to and who to refuse. I guess I had never thought to have an answer to a question like that. It has never been my mission to judge who is more in need, this one or the next. As far as I knew, we were all in need of something, including myself. Aren't we all in a place of need at sometime or another? Who am I to judge the drug addicted, the single unmarried mothers, or the absentee fathers? I do know one thing, or should I say from my experience, I have never seen judgment lead a person to the Savior. However, I have seen prayer, support, genuine love, and let's not forget compassion, lead them there and onward. Some might say my optimism lacks a basis in reality when it comes to these matters. I'll never win them all, but I'll keep trying.