1 John 4:8
But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
My friend Michael shared a
link on Facebook to a devotional blog written for the United Church of
Christ website by Matthew Laney, Senior Minister of Asylum Hill
Congregational Church, UCC, in Hartford, Connecticut. The title of this
post is “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin?*”…and Laney notes that he has
never been a fan of this phrase. He adds that this comment has been
used frequently in reference to members of the LGBTQ community.
But
lately, Laney has found himself making (or thinking) the same comment
with regard to fellow “Christians” who want to disrespect and
discriminate against others. Have a brother or sister in Christ who is
vocal about a certain person or group of people? “Love the sinner…hate
the sin.” Know someone who “is truly a good person”…AND a bigot? “Love
the sinner…hate the sin.” Sit on a pew with someone who sings praises
to God every Sunday and then rants at the coffee shop all week about
this leader or issue or another (with off-color, hate-filled jokes
included)? “Love the sinner…hate his/her sin.”
Laney says that
he came to the conclusion that this sentiment…”always struck me as a way
to feign love for someone right before kicking them in the teeth!” He
suggests that instead, we try to “do what Jesus did…love the sinner and
love the sinner some more - and pray the prayer He prayed: ‘Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do.’”
I’ll be honest…I
have spent the better part of a day trying to create a mental list of
Christians in my personal “circle” who consistently operate in the love
of Christ…whose tone is never critical or condescending…and I’ve come up
with a terribly short list - and I’m not sure I could even put myself
on it! Why is this? I believe it’s because we are human…and
sinners…and none of us is perfect. But I DID come up with a list of
people I know and love who demonstrate Jesus’ love and acceptance of
others pretty consistently…people who I know without any doubt have the
goal of loving the sinner – and then loving him/her some more. And as
the old gospel hymn says, “Oh, LORD, I want to be in that number!”
Let’s
make this the day that we truly begin to “walk the walk” that lines up
with our “talk.” Let’s show others how much we love God by only
speaking kindly…with love, acceptance, grace and mercy. Let’s
demonstrate with every breath and movement that we have fully committed
our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ…that we acknowledge that we are ALL
sinners in some way – and our job is not to judge another in any
way/shape/form. Let’s ask God to forgive ALL sinners…even those whose
“sin” is that of deriding or rejecting others. Let’s remove the phrase,
“love the sinner, hate the sin” from our vocabulary…and our daily
living. If we truly know God and love Him, this should be a
no-brainer. Are you with me?
©2015 Debbie Robus
* http://www.ucc.org/daily_devotional_love_the_sinner_hate_the_sin
Showing posts with label bigotry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bigotry. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for August 20, 2012
Acts 10:27-28
Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this—visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I was so excited to begin my student teaching block in college. I would spend approximately six weeks in a kindergarten classroom, and another six weeks in a third grade setting. The kindergarten teacher to whom I was assigned was preparing to go on maternity leave. She would only be my mentor for one week. A replacement teacher spent much of that week with us… learning the ropes before she took over on Monday morning.
On Friday afternoon, the principal came to the classroom to speak with the replacement teacher. She informed her that the administration had decided that someone of color needed to be in the classroom on Monday. So this woman (who was white) would not be taking over in this classroom. Instead, a young woman who had student taught the previous semester (and was African-American) was being hired. I had shared some college classes with the new replacement, so I sort of knew her already. And on Monday morning, she was the new “teacher” in my kindergarten class.
I really liked this woman. But sadly, she had not really been allowed to do much teaching as a student teacher, and she was as lost as a goose. Since my mother had been a kindergarten teacher for decades, I was in more familiar territory. So we “co-taught” for the next five weeks. I wish I could say that the parents of the students in this classroom embraced my friend and made her transition an easy one… but this was not the case. I felt terrible knowing that she knew the only reason she was there was because of her skin color.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how – or why – we treat people this way. How can we look at another of God’s children and decide that he/she is different from us because of race, ethnicity, or lifestyle choices? Do we really think God makes mistakes? And if so, what makes us think that WE aren’t the mistake rather than the other guy? I bet you didn’t want to think about that… did you?!
I don’t know why God created different races. I don’t know why I have coarse, naturally curly hair, and others have stick-straight, baby-fine manes! Why are some of us short and others tall? Why are some individuals able to perform athletic feats that defy logic… while others are incredible musicians or artists from an early age? Why did God make mosquitoes… and even several species?
I don’t know the answers to such questions… and I’m not supposed to. Neither are you! But we are supposed to respect God’s creations… and to recognize that no race is better than another! To do any less is to exercise arrogance and to insult Almighty God… to imply that we know better than He, which is preposterous.
If you harbor any feelings of bias or bigotry, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer - and ask God to help you. Humbly call on Him to show you how to be more loving and accepting of all people… regardless of their skin color, ethnicity or beliefs. Show others the encompassing love and kindness that Jesus shows to each of us, and take a page from Peter’s book. Follow what God shows you… not the world. Don’t question Him… just do what He says. Sit back, relax…and love all others as God loves you!
©2012 Debbie Robus
Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this—visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I was so excited to begin my student teaching block in college. I would spend approximately six weeks in a kindergarten classroom, and another six weeks in a third grade setting. The kindergarten teacher to whom I was assigned was preparing to go on maternity leave. She would only be my mentor for one week. A replacement teacher spent much of that week with us… learning the ropes before she took over on Monday morning.
On Friday afternoon, the principal came to the classroom to speak with the replacement teacher. She informed her that the administration had decided that someone of color needed to be in the classroom on Monday. So this woman (who was white) would not be taking over in this classroom. Instead, a young woman who had student taught the previous semester (and was African-American) was being hired. I had shared some college classes with the new replacement, so I sort of knew her already. And on Monday morning, she was the new “teacher” in my kindergarten class.
I really liked this woman. But sadly, she had not really been allowed to do much teaching as a student teacher, and she was as lost as a goose. Since my mother had been a kindergarten teacher for decades, I was in more familiar territory. So we “co-taught” for the next five weeks. I wish I could say that the parents of the students in this classroom embraced my friend and made her transition an easy one… but this was not the case. I felt terrible knowing that she knew the only reason she was there was because of her skin color.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how – or why – we treat people this way. How can we look at another of God’s children and decide that he/she is different from us because of race, ethnicity, or lifestyle choices? Do we really think God makes mistakes? And if so, what makes us think that WE aren’t the mistake rather than the other guy? I bet you didn’t want to think about that… did you?!
I don’t know why God created different races. I don’t know why I have coarse, naturally curly hair, and others have stick-straight, baby-fine manes! Why are some of us short and others tall? Why are some individuals able to perform athletic feats that defy logic… while others are incredible musicians or artists from an early age? Why did God make mosquitoes… and even several species?
I don’t know the answers to such questions… and I’m not supposed to. Neither are you! But we are supposed to respect God’s creations… and to recognize that no race is better than another! To do any less is to exercise arrogance and to insult Almighty God… to imply that we know better than He, which is preposterous.
If you harbor any feelings of bias or bigotry, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer - and ask God to help you. Humbly call on Him to show you how to be more loving and accepting of all people… regardless of their skin color, ethnicity or beliefs. Show others the encompassing love and kindness that Jesus shows to each of us, and take a page from Peter’s book. Follow what God shows you… not the world. Don’t question Him… just do what He says. Sit back, relax…and love all others as God loves you!
©2012 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for January 17, 2011
Romans 12:2
Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
A student from my very first class of first graders wrote on Facebook over the weekend about a conversation with his 7-year-old, second-grade son. The conversation was about Martin Luther King, Jr. My now-grown student asked his son what he learned about Dr. King, and the little boy said he learned that “brown” people were not allowed to sit up front, had to use different bathrooms, and that the home of Dr. King’s parents was bombed. He asked, “Did you know that, Daddy?” My student asked his son, “Why do you think they did this?” and the little boy said, “Because they were mad at them.”
My student continued in his post – and again on his personal blog – to discuss how sad he is that like many of us, he grew up in a community where… “I never saw a face in school or anywhere else in town that was not Caucasian - unless you count the folks who owned the local Chinese restaurant.” He and I – and others – commiserated that our own childhood attitudes toward those of other races and ethnicities was influenced in large part by the racial isolation of our upbringing. Things are somewhat different in our area of the country now, but not greatly. For many, our true introduction to people of other races, ethnicities, and cultures comes when we move away to attend college.
Although I heard plenty of talk around me, I never grew up with negative feelings toward others of any race, creed, or color. When we moved to Oklahoma for a few months during my fifth-grade year, my best friend was a full-blooded Indian girl named Leona. In college, some of my closest friends were black. And while Dr. King had paved the way toward more tolerance and acceptance of others, I still saw tremendous evidence of inequality in the late 1970’s when I attended college.
My student teaching experience was a prime example of this. The kindergarten teacher to whom I was assigned for a little more than four weeks left for maternity leave one week after I arrived in her classroom. Another teacher was hired to replace her, but in a dramatic shift on Friday afternoon, word came from the administration office that “a black face must be behind the desk on Monday.” The “quota” for an integrated faculty was low. A girl who had graduated just a few weeks earlier – and student taught the previous semester in this same elementary school – was flown in from South Carolina, where she had moved with her son. On Monday morning, Deborah was my new “mentor.”
The sad part is that Deborah had not had a good student teaching experience. The principal had tried to intervene and change this, but the attitudes were so strong that she faced an uphill battle. She told me, “You will have to help each other.” And that’s what we did. As I look back on this situation, I see how God orchestrated the details. My mother was already a kindergarten teacher, so making lesson plans and pulling the classroom together was easy for me. I knew Deborah from classes we had shared, and I liked her. There were some volatile situations with angry parents, and I was able to help mediate… to serve as a bridge in the gap. And all too soon, my time in that kindergarten classroom was over… but not before Deborah had settled in and some of the anger had diffused.
I honestly don’t know what happened to Deborah after that year. We moved back to Heber Springs, and I lost touch. But I do know that, sadly, a lot of attitudes have not changed much in 34 years. There would still be parents today who would throw a royal fit if this same situation occurred. Too many people are listening to the attitudes, prejudices and fears of the people of this world.
Maya Angelou says, “When you know better, you do better.” Unfortunately, in this arena, that’s not always the case. But it can be. We do know better. We know that God created people of all races, creeds and colors… and all are precious to Him. We are no different in God’s eyes than our neighbors from Africa, the Native Americans, those of Asian descent, and others. When we were little, we sang, “Jesus loves the little children… red and yellow, black and white - they are precious in His sight.” But do we believe this? Have we listened to God and let Him change our mind? Don’t we want to please our Heavenly Father and do everything that is good? Isn’t today a perfect time to let God change the way you think?
©2011 Debbie Robus
Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
A student from my very first class of first graders wrote on Facebook over the weekend about a conversation with his 7-year-old, second-grade son. The conversation was about Martin Luther King, Jr. My now-grown student asked his son what he learned about Dr. King, and the little boy said he learned that “brown” people were not allowed to sit up front, had to use different bathrooms, and that the home of Dr. King’s parents was bombed. He asked, “Did you know that, Daddy?” My student asked his son, “Why do you think they did this?” and the little boy said, “Because they were mad at them.”
My student continued in his post – and again on his personal blog – to discuss how sad he is that like many of us, he grew up in a community where… “I never saw a face in school or anywhere else in town that was not Caucasian - unless you count the folks who owned the local Chinese restaurant.” He and I – and others – commiserated that our own childhood attitudes toward those of other races and ethnicities was influenced in large part by the racial isolation of our upbringing. Things are somewhat different in our area of the country now, but not greatly. For many, our true introduction to people of other races, ethnicities, and cultures comes when we move away to attend college.
Although I heard plenty of talk around me, I never grew up with negative feelings toward others of any race, creed, or color. When we moved to Oklahoma for a few months during my fifth-grade year, my best friend was a full-blooded Indian girl named Leona. In college, some of my closest friends were black. And while Dr. King had paved the way toward more tolerance and acceptance of others, I still saw tremendous evidence of inequality in the late 1970’s when I attended college.
My student teaching experience was a prime example of this. The kindergarten teacher to whom I was assigned for a little more than four weeks left for maternity leave one week after I arrived in her classroom. Another teacher was hired to replace her, but in a dramatic shift on Friday afternoon, word came from the administration office that “a black face must be behind the desk on Monday.” The “quota” for an integrated faculty was low. A girl who had graduated just a few weeks earlier – and student taught the previous semester in this same elementary school – was flown in from South Carolina, where she had moved with her son. On Monday morning, Deborah was my new “mentor.”
The sad part is that Deborah had not had a good student teaching experience. The principal had tried to intervene and change this, but the attitudes were so strong that she faced an uphill battle. She told me, “You will have to help each other.” And that’s what we did. As I look back on this situation, I see how God orchestrated the details. My mother was already a kindergarten teacher, so making lesson plans and pulling the classroom together was easy for me. I knew Deborah from classes we had shared, and I liked her. There were some volatile situations with angry parents, and I was able to help mediate… to serve as a bridge in the gap. And all too soon, my time in that kindergarten classroom was over… but not before Deborah had settled in and some of the anger had diffused.
I honestly don’t know what happened to Deborah after that year. We moved back to Heber Springs, and I lost touch. But I do know that, sadly, a lot of attitudes have not changed much in 34 years. There would still be parents today who would throw a royal fit if this same situation occurred. Too many people are listening to the attitudes, prejudices and fears of the people of this world.
Maya Angelou says, “When you know better, you do better.” Unfortunately, in this arena, that’s not always the case. But it can be. We do know better. We know that God created people of all races, creeds and colors… and all are precious to Him. We are no different in God’s eyes than our neighbors from Africa, the Native Americans, those of Asian descent, and others. When we were little, we sang, “Jesus loves the little children… red and yellow, black and white - they are precious in His sight.” But do we believe this? Have we listened to God and let Him change our mind? Don’t we want to please our Heavenly Father and do everything that is good? Isn’t today a perfect time to let God change the way you think?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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