After receiving a number of complaints about how disabled people were mistreated, Mayor Carlos Tena, of Cuauhtémoc city, Mexico, disguised himself as a disabled man, in a wheelchair, in need of help, in order to test the attitudes of his local public servants. (photo)
Tena asked them for a free meal, which disabled and poor citizens are entitled to according to law, but he was ignored and even discriminated against. After this bad experience, Tena went and visited his own office, asking to speak with the mayor, but was told that he was not in. When he asked to speak to the Secretary of the City Council, he was rudely told to wait in the hallway, as the Secretary wouldn’t arrive for another hour and a half.
At that point, Tena was convinced that the complaints he had received were justified, so he got out of the wheelchair and took off his disguise, leaving the City Hall staff in a state of shock.
I have read stories of church pastors who dressed up as homeless people and sat outside their own churches on a Sunday morning, asking for help, and no one would help them.
Do you think if Jesus were walking into church, and a homeless man asked for help, would Jesus help him?
I’m not suggesting that we throw money at every pan-handler in town, but I AM suggesting that we treat everyone we meet with kindness and respect. Why is this?
Because Hebrews 13:2 says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
And these days we might even say, “Mayors of cities” or even “Pastors of churches”.