Outside the Box

​​As I watched and observed the behavior of those in Charlottesville and in Seattle, I can’t help but think of Captain Woodrow F. Call of “Lonesome Dove” fame. Following an ugly incident when he had to take up for a young boy being abused by an angry adult, he said, “I hate rudeness in a man; won’t tolerate it.”
The violent events last week in Charlottesville and Seattle are at their core rude, ugly, hateful and mean-spirited. There is NO PLACE for such behavior, especially in the name of God. I unapologetically proclaim that those who demonstrated or fueled hatefulness, racism, discrimination and violence do NOT represent God in any form or fashion. They are wrong and deceived.
It would appear that too many people have forgotten—or choose to ignore—that there is only one race: the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs and Jews are not really different races. Rather, they are different ethnicities of the human race.
More importantly, all human beings are equally created in the image and likeness of God.
God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us. The “world” obviously includes all ethnic groups and all human beings.
It is important to understand and proclaim, “God does not show partiality or favoritism and neither should we. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.”
What makes all forms of racism, prejudice and discrimination so ugly is that such opinions are an affront to the work of Christ on the cross; Christ died for all. Since God’s love is impartial, we need to set that as our standard. Stop mistreating any person created in God’s image; we are hurting somebody whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.
Final Thoughts:
Those who practice racism, prejudice and discrimination need to repent.
Victims of racism, prejudice and discrimination need to forgive just as God in Christ forgave you. While racists may not deserve your forgiveness, we deserved God’s forgiveness far less.
I pray that Galatians 3:28 would be more fully realized in our association with one another: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Please, let’s all try turning off the television and begin to love our neighbor.