What Do We See?

When you're telling someone about a person they haven't met, how do you describe him or her?  Do you talk about the outward appearance such as hair, eyes, skin tone, weight?  Do you mention the person's race, his or her belief system, what he or she does for a living?  Maybe throw in something about activities he or she likes to do in his or her spare time or information about family?  Depending on the situation, any of these could be appropriate.  

I recently had someone described to me as "a nice guy, but he's Hispanic so…"  So what?  So he tans a lot easier than I do?  So he probably speaks at least some Spanish and might teach me if I asked him?  So he makes a mean burrito?  No, none of those we're meant by that ellipses.  I was supposed to infer that the speaker thought the man was untrustworthy, a trouble maker, and not worth my time.  

How many times do we look at someone and make judgments based only on what we see without getting to know the person?  How frequently do we let outward differences get in the way of what could turn into something beautiful? How many times do we see the sin and forget that there's a broken person in there who needs the healing love of God instead of a judgmental tirade?  

John 13 verses 34-35 says “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  That was Jesus telling us to go out and love on our neighbors.  The ones down the street with the nice house, the guy who hasn't bathed or brushed his teeth in who knows how long, the woman who has more kids than she knows what to do with and not a dad in sight.  Are we loving someone by sticking labels that mean so very little on them?  How often do we as Christians drive people away because we are so quick to point out the speck in someone else's eye while ignoring the oak tree growing out of our own eye?  We are all sinners.  The only thing that sets us apart is being saved by grace.  And even after we're saved, we continue to sin. 

Remember that everyone started out the same - just an egg and a sperm, half a set of DNA each, that God wove together, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) by a Creator who longs for us to know Him intimately.