Jesus hung out with those who had tried all the other options. These are people who, like King Solomon, have already tried every other way to fill the void… so they know God is the only answer. They have a righteous desperation.

The early disciples often felt the same kind of righteous desperation. When Jesus asked his disciples if they were leaving him too, Peter responded: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Staying with Jesus wasn’t some grand gesture of faith on Peter’s part—it was a lack of other viable options. Simply put:  nothing else works.

Too many of us—and I’m including Christians here—mistakenly believe we have other options. We trust in our wealth or our security or our family or our intellect. We need to get in touch with our righteous desperation by being with people who are experiencing that reality—the broken, the desperate, the people who have run out of other options. Only then do we see our own need clearly. In reality we are no different; we are equals.