We all have many friends. I mean, we may not all have many friends but we know a lot of people, hopefully. We all have seen from personal experiences, history textbooks, articles, books, and teachings from our family and friends, how people act. Every day we go through life and we catalog all our information subconsciously. We all take notice and before we know it, we’ve placed people into boxes. Everything about them, we relate them to other people who are similar to those people. One of my good friends said that she never had an Asian friend before she met me and I have Tourette’s Syndrome. So, due to her primitive mind organization and comprehension as a 3rd grader, she assumed that all Asians were like that. We can all look back at this story and laugh at how silly this is, however, there are people nowadays who unfortunately do the same thing.
In today’s world, we are very divided. Easternization vs. Westernization, Liberals vs. Conservatives, Atheism vs. Christianity, Pro-choicers vs. Pro-lifers, and the list goes on and on. It’s hard to connect with people when you look at someone as only what you portray them as, then you lock the door to trying to understanding who they really are. As seen in recent history, people with polar opposite views do not get along very well. We see constant riots and protests nationwide, and then in our communities, we see people get discriminated or bullied for what they believe in. However, all of these protests and awareness movements are not doing a thing for anyone.
The Black Lives matter movement is a movement that has taken considerable speed, especially recently. I’ve had many recent discussions on different beliefs and the way others think about these situations from both sides of the spectrum. It appeared to me that, whether we like to admit it or not, stereotypes are controlling the very essence of our thoughts and behaviors on both sides. For many black people, they profile most cops as racists who want to put them in jail for any reason they can find. For many policemen, they look at black people as high potential criminals in which they might be guilty of something. In both cases, these generalizations are dangerous because they both create fear. If we live in a society that only fears each other due to a small number of examples in which we use to generalize a larger group of people, we will ultimately fail as a country and as a people. It is impossible to love someone if you fear them. Are there reasons to fear? I believe that there are reasons to be aware but if you let your awareness cloud your judgment and your perspective then you will ultimately be living a fake naïve life. It is true that there are racist cops out there that will try and personally persecute blacks and it is also true that there are dangerous black criminals out there. But, if you let that get in the way of seeing that person for who they are and giving them the benefit of the doubt, then you shouldn’t make yourself aware of that in the first place.
As Christians, we are here to show God’s love for everyone. One of the main things that we are told, when living out our vocation to preach the gospel, is that you will not convert someone to Christ if you yourself are afraid of them or hate them. How are we at all supposed to show God’s love and emulate who God is if we can’t love everyone as if God would? Even if they are a serial killer, they are nonetheless God’s child and your sibling in Christ. Some parents nowadays would disown their child if they turned into a criminal. Those parents are not doing their job. Just like how there’s a social contract between government and its people, there is a family contract as well. Always being there when the other needs it and never giving up on them. It’s never too late for anyone. By saying it’s too late for someone limits God’s power and it limits the things he can do through us. Think about it, if God could split the red sea through Moses, imagine what he can do through you.
The main thing I am getting at is that in order to have a heart of God and to really start caring for those around you, you must change your mentality. One of my favorite quotes from the best TV show ever made, The Mentalist, states: “If you stop looking at the world in terms of what you like and dislike and, instead, look at people for who they truly are, you’ll find a great deal more peace in your life.”
