Different=Wrong

                “Different equals wrong.” The first time I heard these words, I felt like a mystery in my life had finally been solved. It was always a mystery to me that someone could so quickly dismiss an idea, an opinion, or a person without even realizing the rejection they had just delivered. In the year 2000 I sat in a small town restaurant with my family and was surrounded by a sea of white faces. The whole room suddenly became very quiet and every eye turned to the door. A young black boy about my age at nearly 10 years old had just entered the establishment to ask for directions for his family and anger seemed to fill the eyes of everyone in the room. The owner approached the boy and said in a low but firm voice, “You best be on your way, boy.” When the boy left, everyone returned to their meal and I could not have been more confused at what I had just seen. Sadly, this “different equals wrong” mentality is often praised in Christianity because “we must not allow others to turn us from our faith!” Unfortunately, this mentality allows us to use ourselves as the standard for right and wrong rather than the using God’s standard for right and wrong.

                1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.” I have been referencing this quite a bit lately, but I think this message is an important one. Many of us have overcome our personal battles against racism, but our churches still represent a segregated society. I think this has a lot to do with our attitude towards differences. Within most churches, it is perfectly acceptable to argue different views on the bible even though we are told specifically in 2 Timothy 2:23 not to get caught up in these things. When someone comes into our church with different beliefs, it often becomes our goal to prove them wrong rather than demonstrate love. “For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love God…” Even in friendship, we often argue things that have no real importance because we want other people to think and act and look just like we do.

                How open am I to people who look different than me? Do I still struggle to accept those of different backgrounds? Am I more interested in proving myself to be right than hearing and understanding someone else’s opinion? How can I change my attitude in order to be more accepting of things that are different?

                God, please help me to be more open to those who are different than me. Help me to love the way that You have taught me to love. Please help me not to miss an opportunity to encourage rather than argue with those in my life. Amen.