Let me start this article by stating that I know racism still exists. I would have to be blind to think it doesn't. More than anything though, I want to see us heal this divide created between our races. Growing up, I'm sure we've all heard the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" at least once or twice. Part of that song says "red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight." This doesn't say one specific race. He loves us all.
I look back on events of the past few months and ask myself why we aren't treating each other like brothers and sisters in Christ. Why do we care so much that another person has a different color skin than we do? God might have created us in different skin tones, but that's where that ends.
I was raised in a home that didn't notice the differences in a person's skin color. My parents have always told me that there are good people and bad people in the world, but they do not belong solely to one race. They taught me that I am no better than any other person. We were all created equally and we are not to treat other people differently because they look different than we do.
Last week, on Monday night, my college held our weekly Revive meeting. This particular meeting was a little different. We talked about the racial divide in our country and how we at Judson College could begin to heal it in even the smallest way. Our director of campus ministries, Laura Lee, said exactly what I was thinking as I walked into the chapel. How are we going to make a difference? We're just some tiny college in the middle of rural Alabama.
The answer is very simple. John 15:12 states "My command is this: love one another as I have loved you." We don't have to make a huge statement to begin healing. It starts with the small things: respecting one another and showing love to each other. Stop letting the media cloud our judgment with their over sensationalized, biased view of this country.
In a perfect world, we would not have this problem. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have any of the problems from the past or the present. But this world isn't perfect, nothing ever is. It's our job to step forward. Healing has to start somewhere, why not with us?
