The following is my most recent article for the Winnebago County Tribune. To God be all glory!
When you look at a person, what do you see? Before you answer that, do you see the problem with that first sentence? No? Well, you are not alone, and that right there is the issue. Many, when they see a person, they see a “what” and not a “who”. Meaning, they see a white person or a black person. They see a Republican or a Democrat. They see an American or an “illegal”. And when you see a person as a “what”, a stereotyped category, they become something less than human. And when someone is less than human, then all bets are off. You can justify behavior that you would never allow towards someone you consider a “who”, a person with a face, name, family, and story. A “who”, and not a cute little person from a Dr Suess story, have feelings, hopes, and dreams. They are people you love and for whom you care. But our culture has become conditioned to using categories and thus has become blind to who people really are.
You do not need me to tell you that there is a lot of tension in this country, “what’s” fighting other “what’s”. There are loving “who’s” living in fear because someone has categorized them, or someone they love, as a “what”, and it should not be this way. I am not living in fear for myself, but I am living in fear for others, “who’s” who are nothing more than a faceless “what” to others. We saw this in spades during the civil rights movement, but things are different now, and in some ways, worse. Something has to change.
When God created man and woman, he created special people in His own image. But since the entrance of sin into the world, this beautiful handiwork, you and me, has become marred. We have become power hungry, selfish, and blind, and have lost sight of our awesome God and fellow human being. What is that “something” that has to change? First, it is redemption which has come through faith in Jesus Christ, and thus a restored creation someday. In the meantime, we need to put on some new glasses that see people as a “who” and not a “what”. See faces, stories, families, children, and imperfect people just trusting to make their way in this complicated world. Stop seeing categories that need to be put in their place and see people who need a place in your heart. Let us live as a community of “who’s” who dispel labels and thus do away with all the “what’s”. You are not a “what” with God rather you are a special “who”. Let us live in a godly way and not in a “what” way.
The Heart of a Pastor 