PREPARATION

I asked a non-Christian friend, "What do Christians do that makes them stand out in a crowd?" The answer was short and simple, "They judge everyone who doesn't agree with them." I know, it sounds unfair and bit judgmental in its on right, but that  single voice is worth a response.

What about this indictment?

In spite of all the church language and religious posturing, breaking the rules doesn't make you a bad person any more than drinking a glass of wine makes you an alcoholic. We are in dangerous territory when we judge people and label them before we know them, or their circumstance.

Watching something pornographic once-in-a-while doesn't make you a sex addict, or a pervert.

Smoking an occasional cigar doesn't mean you have a smoking habit, or you don't care about your health.

Conserving energy and filling the Recycle Bin doesn't identify you as a tree hugger, or indicate that Al Gore is your hero. And, driving an SUV doesn't mean you don't care about the planet.

Listening to Rush Limbaugh doesn't mean you are a ditto-head any more than going to church on Sunday means you agree with everything the preacher says.

Approaching life from a labeling frame-of-mind is dangerous. It breeds arrogance. It turns us into adult tattle-tales with condemning spirits. It becomes second nature to point out how wrong people are, and after while we grow more addicted to doing so.  

This tendency to rush to judgement is one reason why Jesus clearly taught that we will be judged the same way we judge others.

It's time for introspection.

Faith forces us to tear the labels off and eliminate snap judgements. Faith see beyond the distortions and struggles; it reveals the vulnerable human inside our skin and the skin of those we don't really know yet.

Our labeling keeps people away. When we don't have a good word for anyone except ourselves, our voice grows caustic and harmful. And after a while, God keeps his distance, can you blame him?

INSPIRATION

Ann was the substitute teacher in a second grade classroom This is her story:

I noticed one desk separate from the others, hidden beside a bookshelf. I peered around the corner and saw an eight-year-old girl resting her head against her arms.

I was surprised. Why was this student separated from the rest? Why was she hidden behind this bookshelf… alone? One of the students volunteered, "Because she´s a trouble-maker, she doesn't do her schoolwork and fights with the boys at recess."

After excusing the children, I talked to the little girl. It took quite a while to soften her angry eyes and her rebellious attitude. But after a time, I had the young girl smiling. I moved the student´s desk up front beside my own so she could be near me. As the day wore on, I spent much of my time with this young girl, helping her, talking to her, having her pass out papers to the other students. By the end of the day, I had grown to love this youngster and my heart went out to her. Below the surface she was so difference than the label she had been given. 

At the end of the day, I was supposed to write a note about the young girl´s behavior so she could give it to her parents. After all the students had gone, I packed up and walked out the door.

To my surprise, that little girl's mother walked up to me with the note in hand and asked, &quotid you write this?" After acknowledging that I had, the young mother´s eyes welled up with tears as she said, "Her teacher has never written anything positive about my daughter. Thank you! Thank you!"

MOTIVATION

Are you a label maker? Do you freeze-frame people and refuse to let them grow, or become, or morph into a better version of the person you've labeled? Do you allow them to change? Or, do you look for weaknesses and mess-ups and more labels?

Do you bring out the best in people, or do you point out the worst in them?

Make a list of the people you know who wear a label you have created, Pray for God's forgiveness and his help in tearing out that label. Ask his Spirit to transform your heart, to turn you into a seer of the good and the "about to be good" in others.  Get rid of labels.

Thank God for the people who have seen the good in you.