Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Reach Out To Others

“I will be merciful only if you stop your wicked thoughts and deeds and are fair to others; and if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; and if you stop your murdering; and if you stop worshiping idols as you now do to your own harm.” -- Jeremiah 7:5-6

How many friends do you have who are of a different race? How many people do you know who are of a different religion? How many people do you see regularly who are in a different economic bracket than you?

Yeah. I know. You’re either defensive or apologetic about now. Maybe both. There’s no need to be. We tend to hang around people who are like us. There’s nothing wrong with that -- until it turns us against certain segments of our population, until we become blind to others, until we use differences to justify our own abominable behavior.

The media has shown repeated stories about a Florida shooting that cost a young black man his life. The police have refused to arrest the neighborhood watch volunteer who fired the fatal shots. It likely will be a long time before we know the full story, if we ever really do. But it sure has ignited yet another debate.

Do we automatically fear someone who is different from us? Had this young man been white, would he still be alive? Had the shooter been black, would he have reacted differently? We don’t know. We only know that differences heighten the emotions of conflict.

How do we change? How do we see others as God sees them? How do we look beyond the differences while not being sucked into places we really shouldn’t be? There is a line. We know that. But how do we find it?

Prayer. And by loving people where they are. A woman recently talked about how her elderly mother has befriended her gay neighbors. Her mother doesn’t approve of homosexuality but she has decided to love them anyway. Her attitude is slowly changing one of the men from anti-Christian to someone with a more open mind. Love is that way. It brings out the best in all of us.

Every day each of us is faced with potential conflict. We can look the other way. We can be kind even when we disagree. We can show people Jesus in the midst of our differences.

So reach out before you reject. Take a step back before you attack. Try kindness instead of rejection. The results might amaze you.