You never know how much you stereotype people until you try to buy a house and move your new wife to a new neighborhood. It's easy to think that I'm perfectly accepting until I have to leave my wife alone in that house for the two weeks I'm gone to youth camp, then it get's a little harder. All of a sudden everyone becomes a potential intruder, but especially people that fit certain stereotypes that I have fought my whole life to defeat.It's very convicting.
It's very humbling.
It's very uncomfortable.
It makes me wonder how accepting I actually am.
It makes me wonder how accepting our churches really are.
Carl Lentz said that if you feel comfortable leaving your wallet unattended you're going to the wrong church.
In my heart I agree. In my head I'm uncomfortable.
I don't think I'm the only one who struggles through this. I don't think it does us any good to pretend like it's not there either.
It's not that any of us think that grace is only for certain people groups that we're comfortable with. It's just that many of us wish someone else would be called to extend grace to them.
We say amen when people quote Paul.
"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. " - 1 Corinthians 9:22b
But we still reach for our wallets and hit the lock button a few extra times when we see certain people.
I am convinced of one thing- God doesn't call us to be comfortable, he calls us to suck it up.
The story of the good samaritan is the perfect example. The samaritan was in the wrong place, about to get jumped, and walked up to somebody who doesn't really want his help, but he stopped anyway. There is no way he didn't feel uncomfortable, but grace goes beyond comfort.
Grace says "We're really different, lets be friends." Grace says "I'm nervous in this neighborhood, let's have a prayer walk." "Grace says they don't look like they belong here. I'll help them belong."
Grace doesn't always say "I'll walk alone after dark in a sketchy part of town." Dumb says that.
Grace says "I have been affected by the stereotypes, but I'm fighting my judgmental nature. I love people anyway."
We don't need to be comfortable in every single place with every single person. We need to love them anyway.
